Rhetorical Analysis Of Preface To A Dictionary Of The English Language By Samuel Johnson

Samuel Johnson in his, Preface to a Dictionary of the English Language, employs a multitude of rhetorical strategies to aid the development of his argument that the English language must be standardized and that lexicographers have had their valuable positions destroyed. Johnson begins by constructing the first paragraph through the employment of anaphora, continually repeating “to be” at the beginning of each clause. Through this structure, Johnson presents to the reader how the lower class workers, including lexicographers, live according to principles that are the exact opposite of obtaining greatness whether it be that they are “driven by fear” or that they are “exposed to censure.” Furthermore, he juxtaposes each negative attribute with
a positive attribute in order to emphasize the negative lifestyles which lexicographers lived due to the subordination they faced by intellectuals of higher status. In addition, Johnson incorporates parallel structure multiple times throughout the preface in order to develop his argument. For example in paragraph four, he repeated the structure “to be…without” to depict how the odds were against his favor in creating a new dictionary as he was on is own and lacked the support of others. Along with this, Johnson builds his ethos by displaying the hardships he undertook which portray him as a knowledgeable, quick witted individual. He employs parallel structure again in paragraph six to highlight the need to standardize the English language. Through structuring each clause with “may not be,” Johnson highlights how during his time spent gathering information for his dictionary, he discovered “anomalies” within the language. He emphasizes to the reader that he seeks to lessen the extensive use of these imperfections of the tongue and will aid in bringing a standard English language to America. Samuel Johnson fashions multiple rhetorical strategies with a knowledgeable tone to further display his argument that standardization must be brought upon language and that the lexicographer has had the grandeur of their position destroyed.