IXL | Analyze rhetorical strategies in historical texts: set 1

Read the following excerpt. It is adapted from a 1787 speech written by Benjamin Franklin and delivered by James Wilson, at the Constitutional Convention. At the time, delegates were deciding whether to sign the latest draft of the Constitution.

In these sentiments, Sir, I agree to this Constitution, with all its faults, if they are such; because I think a general Government necessary for us, and there is no form of government but what may be a blessing to the people if well administered, and believe farther that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years. I doubt too whether any other Convention we can obtain, may be able to make a better Constitution. For when you assemble a number of men to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, you inevitably assemble with those men, all their prejudices, their passions, their errors of opinion, their local interests, and their selfish views. From such an assembly can a perfect production be expected? It therefore astonishes me, Sir, to find this system approaching so near to perfection as it does; and I think it will astonish our enemies, who are waiting with confidence to hear that our councils are confounded like those of the Builders of Babel; and that our States are on the point of separation, only to meet hereafter for the purpose of cutting one another's throats.

Adapted from Benjamin Franklin, "On the Constitution"

Based on the excerpt, what is the purpose of Benjamin Franklin's speech?

to urge the delegates to accept the Constitution

to persuade the delegates to rewrite the Constitution

to assure the delegates that the Constitution is perfect

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Learn with an example

question

Read the following excerpt. It is adapted from a speech delivered by Edmund Burke, an Ireland-born British politician and philosopher. He spoke in response to the beheading of Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France.

It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the Queen of France at Versailles; and surely never lighted on this world a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, glittering like the morning star, full of life and splendor and joy.
Oh, what a revolution! Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fallen upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor, and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look that threatened her with insult.
But the age of chivalry is gone and the glory of Europe is extinguished forever. Never, never more, shall we behold that generous loyalty to rank and sex, that proud submission, that dignified obedience, that subordination of the heart, which kept alive, even in servitude itself, the spirit of an exalted freedom! It is gone, that sensibility of principle, that chastity of honor, which felt a stain like a wound, which inspired courage while it mitigated ferocity, which ennobled whatever it touched.

Adapted from Edmund Burke, "On the Death of Marie Antoinette"

Based on the excerpt, what is the purpose of Edmund Burke's speech?

to convince the audience to seek freedom from the monarchy

to lament the passing of the queen and of old social conventions

to detail the qualities the audience should seek in their new queen

key idea

Rhetorical strategies are the ways that a writer or speaker uses language to influence his or her audience. They include decisions about word choice, sentence structure, and tone, as well as repetition, metaphors, and other devices.

When you analyze 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 his or her 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.

solution

The purpose of Edmund Burke's speech is to lament the passing of the queen and of old social conventions.

You can tell because Burke describes Marie Antoinette as "glittering like the morning star" and complains that the "age of chivalry is gone."

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B.3Identify audience and purpose

C.4Interpret the figure of speech

L.2Use appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos in persuasive writing

E.5Analyze rhetorical strategies in historical texts: set 1

B.4Compare passages for tone

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