Rhetorical Arguments in the Film, 12 Angry Men
Yann Redon
Period 2
Ms. Harris
APLA Extra Credit Rhetorical strategies are used all throughout 12 Angry Men as Juror #8 (Henry Fonda) attempts to convince all of his peers that the child on trial for murdering his father is innocent. Juror #8 is originally outnumbered eleven to one but using his persuasive skills and rhetorical strategies he is able to woe the other jurors in his direction. During their time in the deliberation room not only Juror #8 uses rhetorical strategies but the rest of the jurors all participate in the action. Of all the rhetorical strategies used in 12 Angry Men the most prevalent were guilt trip, induction, refute the opposition, juxtaposition, invective, ethos, logos, and deduction.. Juror #8 used guilt trip to make the other jurors realize what a tough life the kid on trial had. Juror #8 points out that the kid on trial had a very tough upbringing, coming from “the slums”. This strategy was effective because it made the other jurors feel bad for the kid on trial. Induction is used by all of the jurors in the period of deliberation. The jurors took the evidence and facts they were presented with the trial with them to the deliberation room and used them to come to a conclusion on the trial. Every juror except for Juror #8 argued only from the facts presented during the trial, they had an over reliance on authority. Juror #8 posed more hypothetical questions, but used a lot of induction and deduction while backing up his points. One of the arguments the opposing jurors had was the because the boy was of Latin American descent he was more likely to be a delinquent. Juror #8 and Juror #9 used refute the opposition to disprove their point. They stated that racial bias is to be kept out of courtrooms because it goes against “American Ideals”. Juror #3 uses juxtaposition when trying to argue that the boy on trial is guilty. The juror says that he himself had a boy around the same age and that his boy was always getting into trouble
Period 2
Ms. Harris
APLA Extra Credit Rhetorical strategies are used all throughout 12 Angry Men as Juror #8 (Henry Fonda) attempts to convince all of his peers that the child on trial for murdering his father is innocent. Juror #8 is originally outnumbered eleven to one but using his persuasive skills and rhetorical strategies he is able to woe the other jurors in his direction. During their time in the deliberation room not only Juror #8 uses rhetorical strategies but the rest of the jurors all participate in the action. Of all the rhetorical strategies used in 12 Angry Men the most prevalent were guilt trip, induction, refute the opposition, juxtaposition, invective, ethos, logos, and deduction.. Juror #8 used guilt trip to make the other jurors realize what a tough life the kid on trial had. Juror #8 points out that the kid on trial had a very tough upbringing, coming from “the slums”. This strategy was effective because it made the other jurors feel bad for the kid on trial. Induction is used by all of the jurors in the period of deliberation. The jurors took the evidence and facts they were presented with the trial with them to the deliberation room and used them to come to a conclusion on the trial. Every juror except for Juror #8 argued only from the facts presented during the trial, they had an over reliance on authority. Juror #8 posed more hypothetical questions, but used a lot of induction and deduction while backing up his points. One of the arguments the opposing jurors had was the because the boy was of Latin American descent he was more likely to be a delinquent. Juror #8 and Juror #9 used refute the opposition to disprove their point. They stated that racial bias is to be kept out of courtrooms because it goes against “American Ideals”. Juror #3 uses juxtaposition when trying to argue that the boy on trial is guilty. The juror says that he himself had a boy around the same age and that his boy was always getting into trouble