Benjamin Banneker Letter Rhetorical Analysis

Words: 592
Pages: 3
Open Document
In the excerpt from the letter, Benjamin Banneker was a son of former slaves that became so much more, “a farmer, astronomer, mathematician, surveyor, and author.” In the year of 1791, he challenged framer of the Declaration of Independence and secretary of state to President George Washington, Thomas Jefferson. Banneker uses a variety of rhetorical strategies to argue against slavery, being a son of slaves, as stated. Using rhetorical strategies, his use of language makes him come off intense and emotional about the topic in his letter. Banneker’s use of pathos allows him to get on a deeper and personal level with Thomas Jefferson. On lines 4 through 7 he states, “look back I entreat you on the variety of dangers to which you were exposed; …show more content…
The use of syntax creates an effect for his thought process. On lines 26 through 41 Banneker writes, “Here, sir, was a time in which your tender feelings for yourselves had engaged you thus to declare, you were then impressed with proper ideas of the great allow valuation of liberty and the free possession of those blessings to which you were entitled by nature; but, sir, how pitiable is it to reflect that although you were so fully convinced of the benevolence of the Father of mankind and of his equal and impartial distribution of those rights and privileges which he had conferred upon them, that you should at the same time counteract his mercies in detaining by fraud and violence so numerous a part of my brethren under groaning captivity and cruel oppression, that you should at the same time be found guilty of that most criminal act which you professedly detested in others with respect to yourselves.”(26-41) The long flowy sentence allows the reader to really understand and follow what Banneker is feeling. Benjamin Banneker, a man with less authority than framer of the Declaration of Independence and secretary of state to President George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, questioned Jefferson. Getting Banneker’s point across was done in a way that was both logical and emotional. He also was able to use some written evidence to support his argument, along with allusion, syntax, and other rhetorical
Show More

Related Documents: Benjamin Banneker Letter Rhetorical Analysis

Rhetorical Analysis Of Letter To Benjamin Banneker

To speak out against this unbearable affliction, Benjamin Banneker, the son of former slaves, among many other things, wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson in 1791. In his letter, Banneker, to argue against slavery, incorporates irony, repetition, and formal diction. Banneker pens his letter to Jefferson with an undertone of irony in order to express that the father of the Declaration is not supporting the morally correct practices. Banneker, while addressing Jefferson claims that he (Jefferson)…

Words 738 - Pages 3

Rhetorical Analysis Of Benjamin Banneker Letter

author and theologian C.S. Lewis, “you can make anything by writing.” Similarly, Benjamin Banneker, a renowned intellectual and the son of a former slave, hoped his words would have the power to influence Thomas Jefferson. He aimed to help Jefferson realize his vision of making America a truly free country would only come to fruition by eliminating the enslavement of African Americans. Throughout the letter, Banneker effectively communicates the need of ending slavery to Jefferson through purposeful…

Words 945 - Pages 4

Rhetorical Analysis Of Thomas Jefferson's Letter To Benjamin Banneker

Slavery is a scar on the past of America that is still healing to this day. In this letter Benjamin Banneker, a former slave, is writing to Thomas Jefferson regarding the present state of slavery in the United States. Urging him humbly and earnestly, not to be forced to do something about the state of slavery, but to have a sincere conviction upon the fact thereof. In his letter he writes using all three of the rhetoric devices: ethos, pathos, and logos. When he uses ethos, he writes, not of the…

Words 284 - Pages 2

Banneker Reflection Essays

In writing my rhetorical analysis of Benjamin Banneker’s letter to Thomas Jefferson, I would have been more successful and possibly earned a higher score if I would have, gave more elaboration and support within each paragraph, used better structuring of paragraphs and elaborated vocabulary and transitions, and took more time to connect with the prompt. In the opening of my first body paragraph, I gave basic reasoning of how Banneker used emotional diction while writing to Jefferson. I successfully…

Words 823 - Pages 4