Analyse rhetorical strategies in historical texts: set 1
Key Notes :
Rhetorical strategies are the ways that a writer or speaker uses language to influence their audience. They include decisions about word choice, sentence structure and tone, as well as repetition, metaphors and other devices.
When you analyse an author’s rhetorical strategy, you can better understand what makes a text so effective. To do so, first consider the author’s purpose, or what the author hopes to accomplish with the text. For example, an author might want to inspire their audience, or to persuade them to do something.
Then consider how an author’s use of language advances that purpose. For example, a metaphor may make a key idea more memorable, or a touching story may make the author’s causes seem more sympathetic.
Learn with an example
📢 Read the following excerpt. It is adapted from a speech that Napoleon Bonaparte gave to his soldiers after being forced to step down as Emperor of France in 1814.
Soldiers of my Old Guard: I bid you farewell. For twenty years I have constantly accompanied you on the road to honour and glory. In these latter times, as in the days of our prosperity, you have invariably been models of courage and fidelity. With men such as you our cause could not be lost; but the war would have been interminable; it would have been civil war, and that would have entailed deeper misfortunes on France.
I have sacrificed all of my interests to those of the country.
I go, but you, my friends, will continue to serve France. Her happiness was my only thought. It will still be the object of my wishes. Do not regret my fate; if I have consented to survive, it is to serve your glory. I intend to write the history of the great achievements we have performed together. Adieu, my friends. Would I could press you all to my heart.
Adapted from Napoleon Bonaparte, ‘Farewell to the Old Guard’
Based on the excerpt, what is the purpose of Napoleon Bonaparte’s speech?
- to say goodbye to his officers
- to mourn the loss of prosperity
- to question his soldiers’ courage
The purpose of Napoleon Bonaparte’s speech is to say goodbye to his officers.
You can tell because Bonaparte begins by saying ‘I bid you farewell’, and he ends with ‘Adieu, my friends.’
📢 Read the following excerpt. It is adapted from a 532 CE speech that Byzantine Empress Theodora gave to her husband, Justinian I, and his advisors. The court was preparing to surrender the throne due to a rebellion.
My lords, the present occasion is too serious to allow me to follow the convention that a woman should not speak in a man’s council. Those whose interests are threatened by extreme danger should think only of the wisest course of action, not of conventions.
In my opinion, flight is not the right course, even if it should bring us to safety. It is impossible for a person, having been born into this world, not to die; but for one who has reigned it is intolerable to be a fugitive. May I never be deprived of this purple robe, and may I never see the day when those who meet me do not call me empress.
If you wish to save yourself, my lord, there is no difficulty. We are provisioned; over there is the sea, and yonder are the ships. Yet reflect for a moment whether, when you have once escaped to a place of security, you would not gladly exchange such safety for death. As for me, I agree with the adage that the royal purple is the noblest shroud.
Adapted from Empress Theodora, ‘The Royal Purple is the Noblest Shroud’
Based on the excerpt, what is the purpose of Empress Theodora’s speech?
- to promote the rights of women to speak in the council
- to convince her husband to stay and fight
- to persuade the council to surrender peaceably
The purpose of Empress Theodora’s speech is to convince her husband to stay and fight.
You can tell because Empress Theodora insists that retreat is ‘intolerable’ and beneath the dignity of ‘one who has reigned’.
📢 Read the following excerpt. It is adapted from a 1921 speech that Marie Curie, a physicist and chemist, delivered at Vassar College in the US state of New York.
Now, the special interest of radium is in the intensity of its rays which is several million times greater than the uranium rays. And the effects of the rays make the radium so important. If we take a practical point of view, then the most important property of the rays is the production of physiological effects on the cells of the human organism. These effects may be used for the cure of several diseases. Good results have been obtained in many cases. What is considered particularly important is the treatment of cancer.
But we must not forget that when radium was discovered no one knew that it would prove useful in hospitals. The work was one of pure science. And this is a proof that scientific work must not be considered from the point of view of the direct usefulness of it. It must be done for itself, for the beauty of science, and then there is always the chance that a scientific discovery may become like the radium a benefit for humanity.
Adapted from Marie Curie, ‘On the Discovery of Radium’
Based on the excerpt, what is the purpose of Marie Curie’s speech?
- to illustrate the importance of scientific inquiry for its own sake
- to explain the scientific properties and diverse uses of radium
- to demonstrate both the benefits and dangers of chemistry
The purpose of Marie Curie’s speech is to illustrate the importance of scientific inquiry for its own sake.
You can tell because Curie notes that scientific work must be done ‘for the beauty of science,’ not for direct outcomes.
let’s practice!
Read the following excerpt. It is adapted from US President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 inaugural speech.
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty. . . .
In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility—I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavour will light our country and all who serve it. And the glow from that fire can truly light the world.
And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.
My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.