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Rhetorical Analysis Of Declaration Of Independence

1148 Words5 Pages

Maxwell Zinkievich
Ms. Darrough
18th Century Rhetorical Analysis Essay
18th of January 2017

Rhetorical Analysis of the United States’ Declaration of Independence In Congress, on the 11th of June 1776, one of the most important pieces of American literature was drafted. This work would kick-start a massive and terrible war, that ended in the birth of a new nation. the United States of America’s Declaration of Independence contains the specific reasons that the U.S. was obligated to fight for its independence against an Imperial tyrant. these reasons are euphorically stated within the document and through use of authoritarian diction as well as immense use of parallel structure throughout the document in order to create a powerful, and moving …show more content…

the authors explain in this section that if people are pushed into a government that does not allow them to uphold their rights, then they are in their own rights to overthrow the current rulers in the pursuit of a better, and more just mode of governing. these beliefs are outlined in the next paragraph, where parallel structures are used in order to create a more impactful and riveting read.“. . . That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government . . .” (CITATION NEEDED). the repetition of the word “That” at the beginning of each clause ties together this paragraph in order to create a sense of cogency as well as overall impact in the list of beliefs. Having this rhetorical strategy here for this purpose is vital for the text to be able to have the same level of weight that it needs to have, as dictated by the rhetorical situation. the strategy of parallel structure is used widely through the rest of the text for similar reasons, and they all work towards building the most effective argument to the British Crown as …show more content…

the use of this strategy adds to the impact of the argument, and feels as though one is hit with blow after blow of completely logical reasons to resent a ruler. the power that is created by using these two rhetorical strategies in conjunction with each other makes for a very compelling, and therefore effective argument that, not only are the colonies being treated unjustly, but also that they have all the right to declare independence and institute self

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