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Wednesday, January 30, 2008

rhetorical analysis of v's speech to London




Would you believe it if you read in the newspaper that a terrorist crime was committed in the United States for the benefit of the American people? Would you turn the other cheek and pretend as if nothing is happening around you? Knowing that your government wasnt the best, but you could go on pretending not to see it? Or would you be the one who opened your eyes to what was ACTUALLY going on around you? V[played by Hugo Weaving in the movie 'V for Vendetta'] saw this. He saw it happening right in front of the citizens of London. But did they listen? Would they finally see the reason behind V's "madness"?
In my opinion, the speech that was given to the people by V was attempting to tell them that they were being taken as fools and the government knew exactly what they were doing. It came down to V having to destroy the central criminal court[the Old Bailey]to get the peoples' attention. V was fighting a losing battle at the time. Trying to destroy the whole totalitarianist government. He first tells the people that he knows the government is ultimatly to blame. But, he also says that every person that allowed this to continue on was also to blame.
This speech was mostly a mixture of an evaluative and forensic argument. V even mentioned that "words offer means to meaning...and the enunciation of truth". That quote brings out the more forensic side of V's argument. But there is also a means to an end argument coming through to me in the speech when V tries to give reason behind the attacks. He explains that it has come to the point where this attack had to be done in order to solve the issue of London's government and regain the attention of the people. He is ultimately trying to open the eyes and minds of the people. For the evaluative side of this speech, he tells them "I know why you did it. I know you were afraid." He is telling him he truly understands why no one except himself really stepped up and tried to solve the issue. He understands that as humans, we normally are afraid to step up to fight for something when you think you're alone.
When it all comes down to it, the speech given by V was an eye opener not only for the people of London, it also opened my eyes and made me ask myself this question: would I stand up for something that was right, even if I was alone?Even if it meant going to great lengths to achieve justice? Would you?

1 comments:

Mr. Hughes said...

Put your para. in block format when posting to the internet

P1:
--avoid "you" and "your"
--thesis sentence must mention the speaker's purpose and the rhetorical strategies you plan to discuss in your analysis

P2:
--never use the phrase "in my opinion"; your audience is fully aware that this is your opinion without you stating this
--fragment: "Trying to destroy..."
--you are summarizing more than analyzing; the words of the text are most important

P3:
--first sentence is rigid
--how do these words bring out the forensic aspect of the argument. you must explain
--never mention phrases like "to me"
--no need to evaluate the speech and discuss its effect on you in a rhetorical analysis

FINAL THOUGHTS: you hint at the tone but do not mention it directly; you hint at logos (the word "reason" appears at one point when you are discussing the means/end aspect of V's argument), but make this connection obvious.

You hit some of the components from the frameworks (types, modes, triangle) but others you vaguely hint at.