Rhetorical Devices

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Pages: 1

For this rhetorical analysis, we were allowed to choose any American speech to close read and analyze. Standard expectations for a rhetorical analysis applied. We were expected to carefully read the piece and provide an in-depth evaluation of the author's use of rhetorical devices. The essay had a limit of five hundred words. Most often we write a rhetorical analysis as an in-class essay. Due to the extra time we were offered, our essay was expected to be especially well-developed and intricately address a wide range of devices the author used. It was suggested that we focused on how the speaker used the common oratorical mistakes George Orwell outlined in "Politics and the English Language." These criticisms include dying metaphors, operators or verbal false limbs, pretentious diction, and meaningless words. …show more content…
Though this speech was ripe with rhetorical devices, it did not breaking many of Orwell's rules. The suggestion to focus on Orwell's connections proved to be an added challenge. If given the chance to rework the essay, I would focus more on alternate rhetorical devices instead of limiting myself to just a few subjective oratorical rules. In the end, I did enjoy the assignment. Kennedy's speech was interesting to analyze and I enjoyed pulling out his techniques meant to manipulate the