Analysis Of The Rhetoric Of Empire By David Spurr

"European opinion ran the gamut from admiration to contempt; for example, some European poets and painters expressed admiration for the Noble Savage, while other Europeans accepted as a rationalization for military aggression the sentiment that “the only good savage is a dead one.”" (Text p. 184) It was very

David Foster Wallace, author of the essay “Authority and American Usage*,” praises and advocates for “good” writers who have a strong rhetorical ability, which he defines as “the persuasive use of language to influence the thoughts and actions of an audience” (Wallace 628). To have a strong rhetorical ability, an author needs to be aware of whom their audience is, in order to present their information in a way that will be influential on their audience. Wallace recognizes that an author who applies a strong rhetorical ability will be able to connect with the audience so that they respond “not just to [their] utterance but also to [them]” (Wallace 641). An author needs to take into consideration not just content, syntax and grammatical

Some may wonder, does the use of rhetorical devices like logos, pathos, and ethos enhance an argument? Well, does a bear shit in the woods? William Apess fills “An Indian’s Looking-glass for the White Man” with all three forms of rhetoric, but perhaps the one of most significance is ethos. Apess spends a good deal of time using ethos to establish a connection between himself and the intended audience, white Christians; this collective identity that Apess forms allows him to make better use of pathos and ethos in his writing. Even though Apess’s ideas may not have presented well to his audience, his arguments based in logos and pathos would have gone over rather poorly had he not established a clear connection between himself and his

In Basil Davidson’s video “Different but Equal,” he outlines the European perception of Africa upon their discovery of the continent. Claims that the Europeans were making about African culture, however, were far fetched and did not depict Africa in a positive manner. History according to pre-European Africa was rich and diverse, but once Europeans saw for themselves how different their continent was from Africa, they began to make up their own version of African history.

The cultural diversity and advancements portray the progression developed in African history. The growth of these two subcontinents prove that American and European historians were incorrect on how advanced and civilized Africa was.

European powers shamelessly exploited the people and resources of Africa in the 19th century. They often tried to justify their actions by using ideology, religion and moralism. After the end of the African slave trade, the development of steam power, and medical discovery, European nations started exploring not only the coast but also the unmapped interior of the continent. In this essay, I will explain the main driving forces behind African Imperialism. The Western europeans countries all competed for land and resources because of their self interest. They sought natural resources, and technology gave them the ability to exploit them. The philosophy of national pride however, was the primary reason. (Main document) (Doc C, D & B)

‘A text of timeless appeal is marked by effective construction of rhetoric to support its main ideas.’

The history of rhetorical Invention is a long one that has been looked at in different dimensions and forms. Thus, with this vast history “invention” managed to claim different views from different rhetoricians on how it’s implemented and understood. To go further in describing my point of view I need to backtrack some of the views and notions that took invention to different venues in the history of rhetoric. Therefore, this paper will work to identify the arguments that plunged invention into “Current Traditional Rhetoric” and the “ New Rhetoric”. These, fields will only work to help recognize how invention has taken shape in the margins of “Second language Writing”. Thus, I being my search by introducing how the term “Invention” have delivered

Throughout history, Africa has been a vulnerable player in the eyes of the rest of the world. From the slave trade to various civil right injustices that have taken place over in every century, we have studied in this class, we have been able to see the lasting impact on the continent as a ramification of certain events occurring. Using sources from the text, I will attempt to prove how the western world, exercised their power to capitalize on the African continent, in addition to the exploitation of the African people and land.

During the nineteenth century, Whites illustrated themselves as a superior race. To prove that they are the superior race, they observed different races to show the differences between other races compare to themselves. Whites used Religion as a factor to convert non-White Americans into Christians. White tried to make the Anglo-Saxon race equal with Christianity by turning them to Christ, “White Americans hoped to make veritable Anglo-Saxons of all of the people in America” (Lee 86). Whites also used their economic and political power to show their effectiveness as a race. Lee used many different references to show the powers of the whites in the society at that

Throughout history, civilizations have risen to and fallen from power. The accomplishments of these peoples are not important only because of their place in history, but they are also important because of the impact that they had on the world. Some of these groups of people were only able to create small, but still important settlements. Others were able to establish large empires that controlled vast areas and directly changed the lives of many who were under their rule. The Roman civilization was one of these massive empires that lasted for over a thousand years, and it has had a powerful influence on the world ever since. The impact of the Romans is not just the hegemony that they had over the people groups

This chapter in Africans and Their History by Joseph Harris presents some of the roots of the stereotypes and myths about Africa in the past and for the most part are still held today. Harris discusses how the “greats” of history, geography, and literature starting a path of devaluation of Africans that writers after their time followed. Harris also denounced the language that these “greats” used to describe and talk about Africans. He asserts that this language inherently painted Africans as inferior and subhuman.

There were attempts to rationalize the Scramble for Africa such as little knowledge of the region, the political implications, and the preciseness in distribution of supply that would come with separation into smaller “states”. Though there was “rationale” the 1884 Berlin Conference and Scramble for Africa can be seen as cultural genocide.

“Ghana’s history is a metaphor for what occurred in the immediate aftermath of independence in Africa,” is a quote by Kofi Awoonor, Ghana’s leading literary figure and one of Africa’s most acclaimed authors. Three of his poems illustrate the hardships and trials that the Africans faced after their claim of independence from Britain. As said by Awoonor himself, “...high hopes were crushed by the greed, corruption, and lust for power…”. The author uses multiple literary devices as a way to emphasize the adversities they faced. Kofi Awoonor symbolizes the downfall of Ghana after independence through the use of theme, mood, and symbolism in his Three Poems.

In studying the continent of Africa, a person simply cannot underestimate the importance and impact the time period 1770-1875 had on the shaping of pre-colonial Africa’s historical experience. By diving head first into Africa’s past and closely examining several themes and concepts of the time, one can fully comprehend just how much the colonization of Africa changed it forever, both for the better and the worse. The many reasons as to the “how and why” Africa was shaped into what it has become today can be seen within Thomas Getz’s book, Cosmopolitan Africa. Specifically, it is through the examination of the themes of the globalization of Africa in the oceanic era, the practice and belief of religions, and the significance of the Industrial Revolution, that the specific ways Africa was shaped from 1770-1875 can clearly be demonstrated.