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Rhetorical Devices

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Rhetorical Devices
Patterson 1
Rachel Patterson
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English 3 AP
15 November 2012 Expository Draft

Paine and Jefferson's literacy works both inform the reader of the separation of Britain. They utilized very different rhetorical stratagies to express the significance of each of their piece. The pamphlet Common Sense, written by Thomas Paine, inspired colonists to strive for independence. Soon after the publication of Common Sense, Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. It is said that Paine's pamphlet greatly influenced the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence established an informative tone that appealed to logos, while Common Sense appealed to pathos by expressing emotion. Paine and Jefferson both used certain rhetorical devices that emphasized their point. In the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson states "He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has..." Jefferson goes on listing thirteen facts that Britain's Tyranny over these states is unethical. He applied the device repetition to emphasize his point and prove Tyranny was wrong. Paine applied emphasis to certain words by using capitalization. "Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness POSITIVELY by uniting our affections, the latter NEGATIVELY by restraining our vices." He capitalized those specific words to ... By reading this quote you can tell Paine was strongly against government. He believed that no one has the right to govern anyone and that the king shouldn't rule the colonies.
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