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Rhetorical Devices In The Declaration Of Independence

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Rhetorical Devices In The Declaration Of Independence
The Declaration of Independence
Rhetorical Analysis
Christian Johnson / P6

PART I

The Declaration of Independence is considered by many to be the finest piece of political prose ever written. It can be seen as a document in five parts: the introduction, the preamble, the denunciation of George III, the denunciation of the British people, and the conclusion. We are going to closely examine the first three as a way to understand how Jefferson's rhetorical strategies serves the political aims of the young colonies.

The introduction consists of the first paragraph, which is a single long sentence (periodic sentence for those who will do well in May). Read the first paragraph and come up with two reasons why Jefferson would frame …show more content…
Now take a look at the predicate of each one of Jefferson's propositions and compare it to the subject of the following proposition. What has Jefferson done here? Chart out how the follow if ideas throughout this paragraph is controlled by the subjects and predicates (use a T-chart).

|Subject |Predicate |
|they |all men, from proposition one |
|these |man's unalienable rights, from proposition two |
|these |man's unalienable rights, from propositions two and three |
|these |securing man's unalienable rights, from propositions two, three and |
| |four
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