Rhetorical Analysis Of Sitting Bull's Speech
Sitting Bull's speech to his fellow natives relied on a strong emotional appeal. He effectively used an ethos appeal in garnering his Indian family's support in fighting back against the invaders who have gained power and numbers.
His whole speech has an overlapping tug at the emotions of his audience by first presenting a quick synopsis of Native life and how they have "the same right as ourselves to inhabit this vast land (par 1),” talking about the animals that roam the lands. The next appeal he uses throughout the majority of the second paragraph is logos. He examines and criticizes the foreigners civilization structure in how the rich get richer and the poor are held down and struggle because of the rich. Sitting bull makes clear at the end of paragraph two how the white invaders do not view this world like the Native Americans. "They claim this mother of ours, the Earth, for their own use (par 2)," the invaders view Earth as an object they can manipulate for their advancement. Unlike the natives who put Mother Earth above their own existence. …show more content…
He believes their is an inevitable conflict between the two sides that only one can live on this land they originated on, "we cannot dwell side by side (par 3)." To support this belief he feeds his audience a fact. He tells them of how only seven years ago a treaty was made, in this treaty the natives were promised the buffalo country forever. Sitting bull then argues that they, the whites, are now threatening to take even that away from them. Lastly he excites his crowd with an ethos appeal, "my brothers, shall we submit? or shall we say to them: 'First kill me, before you can take possession of my fatherland (par 3)!" He urges his brothers to take up arms against the injustice against not only against them but the Earth
His whole speech has an overlapping tug at the emotions of his audience by first presenting a quick synopsis of Native life and how they have "the same right as ourselves to inhabit this vast land (par 1),” talking about the animals that roam the lands. The next appeal he uses throughout the majority of the second paragraph is logos. He examines and criticizes the foreigners civilization structure in how the rich get richer and the poor are held down and struggle because of the rich. Sitting bull makes clear at the end of paragraph two how the white invaders do not view this world like the Native Americans. "They claim this mother of ours, the Earth, for their own use (par 2)," the invaders view Earth as an object they can manipulate for their advancement. Unlike the natives who put Mother Earth above their own existence. …show more content…
He believes their is an inevitable conflict between the two sides that only one can live on this land they originated on, "we cannot dwell side by side (par 3)." To support this belief he feeds his audience a fact. He tells them of how only seven years ago a treaty was made, in this treaty the natives were promised the buffalo country forever. Sitting bull then argues that they, the whites, are now threatening to take even that away from them. Lastly he excites his crowd with an ethos appeal, "my brothers, shall we submit? or shall we say to them: 'First kill me, before you can take possession of my fatherland (par 3)!" He urges his brothers to take up arms against the injustice against not only against them but the Earth