Revolutionary Period/Age of Reason (1750-1800) Overview of Revolutionary Period/Age of Reason Genre/Style: Political Pamphlets, Travel Writing, and highly ornate persuasive writing. Effect/Aspects: Patriotism and pride grows, creates unity about issues, and creates American character. Historical Context: Encouraged Revolutionary War support.

Characteristics of Deism & Rationalism DEISTS Like the Puritans, they did believe that God created the universe, but unlike the Puritans, they believed that he walked away and left us in control of our own decisions and destinies. God does NOT interfere with the running of the universe. RATIONALISTS Naturally, the universe is orderly and good. The universe works like a clock, managing and running itself. Reason and rational thought is valued over imagination, intuition, and religious faith.

Revolutionary Period/Age of Reason (1750-1800) Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin, “practical yet idealistic, hard-working and enormously successful,” was a second-generation immigrant who lived in Boston Massachusetts. Writer, printer, publisher, scientist, philanthropist, and diplomat, Mr. Franklin was the most famous and respected private figure of his time. He was the first great self-made man in America, a poor democrat born in an aristocratic age that he helped to loosen up through his excellent example. From Autobiography and Poor Richard’s Almanack Tells how he strives to live an orderly and good life by adhering to the 13 virtues and practicing them in everyday life

Patrick Henry (1737 – 1809) “Speech in the Virginia Convention” Author of the famous quote, “Give me liberty or give me death!” Persuaded early Americans to take armed action against the British because the situation would never improve unless they did

Age of Reason Thomas Paine (1737-1809) Paine wrote mostly pamphlets that would spur ideas and immediate action. In the document "The American Crisis," Paine wrote about the oppression that America suffered from Britain, and propelled America into a war with Britain. Wrote this work to build morale of the soldiers during the American Revolution so they would not leave the war to return home. Even though they are suffering now, God will not desert them because what they are doing is good

The Three Appeals of Argument Aristotle postulated three argumentative appeals: logical, ethical, and emotional Strong arguments have a balance of all of three, though logical (logos) is essential for a strong, valid argument. Appeals, however, can also be misused, creating arguments that are not credible. http://laroucheplanet.info/pmwiki/images/plato_aristotle.jpg

The Three Appeals of Argument Logical appeal is the strategic use of logic, claims, and evidence to convince an audience of a certain point. When used correctly, logical appeal contains the following elements ... Strong, clear claims Reasonable qualifiers for claims Warrants that are valid Clear reasons for claims Strong evidence (facts, statistics, personal experience, expert authority, interviews, observations, anecdotes) Acknowledgement of the opposition

The Three Appeals of Argument When used poorly, logical appeals may include ... Over-generalized claims Reasons that are not fully explained or supported Logical fallacies Evidence misused or ignored No recognition of opposing views

The Three Appeals of Argument Ethical Appeal (ethos) Ethical appeal is used to establish the writer as fair, open-minded, honest, and knowledgeable about the subject matter. The writer creates a sense of him or herself as trustworthy and credible. When used correctly, the writer is seen as ... Well-informed about the topic Confident in his or her position Sincere and honest Understanding of the reader's concerns and possible objections Humane and considerate

The Three Appeals of Argument Emotional Appeal (pathos) Not surprisingly, emotional appeals target the emotions of the reader to create some kind of connection with the writer. Since humans are in many ways emotional creatures, pathos can be a very powerful strategy in argument. For this same reason, however, emotional appeal is often misused...sometimes to intentionally mislead readers or to hide an argument that is weak in logical appeal. A lot of visual appeal is emotional in nature (think of advertisements, with their powerful imagery, colors, fonts, and symbols).

The Three Appeals of Argument When done well, emotional appeals ... Reinforce logical arguments Use diction and imagery to create a bond with the reader in a human way Appeal to idealism, beauty, humor, nostalgia, or pity (or other emotions) in a balanced way Are presented in a fair manner

The Three Appeals of Argument When emotional appeal is used incorrectly, the writer can be viewed as ... Unfair or dishonest Distorting or misrepresenting information (biased) Insulting or dismissive of other viewpoints Advocating intolerant ideas

When evaluating a speech, a listener should ask themselves the following questions: 1. Is the speech a logical argument? How does it begin, handle evidence and counter objections, conclude? 2. Does it appeal to the imagination and to the emotions? (Here you need to identify the rhythm of speech, its imagery, repetition, lists, antithesis, and other language techniques.) 3. Does it give the speaker an air of authority, and gain the confidence of the listeners? 4. Is it effective? Will the speech achieve the speaker’s intentions, and persuade the listeners? 5. How should the speech be spoken to be most persuasive?

Rhetorical Devices Covered in Unit II: A Nation is Born Repetition – Generally speaking, repetition is the act of restating an idea by using the same words. There are many, many rhetorical devices that we have covered that fall under this category. A few that you have seen and a few more that you may add to your literary arsenal are as follows: Ploce – Repeating words in a line or clause. Epizeuxis – Repeating words in immediate succession. Antanaclasis – punning on a repeated word to obtain different meanings.

Rhetorical Devices Covered in Unit II: A Nation is Born Restatement – Generally speaking, restatement is the repeating of an idea in a variety of ways. We have seen some interesting examples of restatement this semester already. Some other forms of restatement that you may add to your literary arsenal are as follows: Anaphora – the same words begin successive sentences. Parison – repeating words in a line or clause.

Rhetorical Devices Covered in Unit II: A Nation is Born A sentence has parallelism when the same forms are used to express ideas of equal, or parallel, importance. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that; hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” Martin Luther King, Jr. Ex: The soldiers, marched into the field, loaded their muskets, and then had pointed their bayonets. Corrected: marched into the field, loaded their muskets, and pointed their bayonets. Ex: The actress is lovely, talented, and sings. Corrected: The actress is a lovely and talented singer.

Rhetorical Devices Covered in Unit II: A Nation is Born Rhetorical Question – Asking a question whose answer is axiomatic or self-evident. Patrick Henry and Thomas Paine both use rhetorical questions in their speeches. Examples are as follows: Thomas Paine, “… if a thief breaks into my house, burns and destroys my property, and kills or threatens to kill me, or those that are in it, and to “bind me in all cases whatsoever,” to his absolute will, am I to suffer it?” Patrick Henry, “They tell us, sir, that we are weak – unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be next week or next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house?”

Rhetorical Devices Covered in Unit II: A Nation is Born Charged Words are words that are likely to produce a strong emotional response (page 155 of your textbook). To avoid being swayed by charged words, look for support to back up the words. Think about the meaning of the word. Then consider what connotation the word being used may have. What emotion does this connotation evoke or bring about in a reader? Ask yourself why or for what purpose the author would want to provoke such a strong emotional response in a reader or listener.