Sinner In The Hands Of An Angry God Analysis

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Pages: 2

Authors strive to enforce an emotion or belief into their audience through specific diction, reasonably arguing their side, and carefully selecting their sentence structure. Jonathan Edwards, the author of “Sinner in the Hands of an Angry God,” was specifically successful in including these nonfiction literacy tools in his 1741 sermon. Although not many facts were widely known 276 years ago, Edwards was able to incorporate multiple inductive, causal, analogical reasonings into his speech. Religion was, and still is, a very touchy subject. Edward’s sermon is a harsh topic for his audience to relate to as he very openly shares his opinion of God. In order for the readers to understand his point of view, it was critical for Edwards to use an effective persuasive method; in fact, the entire first page (lines 1-22) and a paragraph on page 3 (lines 70-90) is dedicated to persuading them by using captivating …show more content…
Unfortunately, legitimate facts (inductive) and clever connections (causal) are more potent than syllogism (deductive) and simple comparisons (analogical); as a result, a few of Edward’s literary LOGOS are insufficient in providing the necessary material to make his point notable. Analogies are a specific type of inductive reasoning that compare one situation, process, person decision with another. Edward’s utilizes analogical reasoning minimally in his sermon, only stating “the God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider,” you are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours” and “God is not altogether such an one as themselves.” Although these metaphors can occasionally prove advantageous, more often, as in these examples, the writing can do without them and still be convincing. Edwards fails to utilize deductive reasoning, therefore not allowing the readers to experience a