Rhetorical Devices In Brutus's Death Speech

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Malik Grant Mr.Womack 11-27-12 World Lit. Death Speech The great question of our existence is not who is worthy of life, but rather, who among us is worthy of death. The events leading to Caesar's death were the accumulation of power by Caesar. The senate flattered him with honors that no other man in Roman history was given and more were in the works. Caesar was offered a crown and although he refused it, some thought he was not sincere. In his arrogance he insulted the senate. When he was made Dictator for Life, certain members of the senate saw the danger to the Republic and began planning his assassination. Brutus uses rhetorical questions to gain the crowds maintain and lift the crowd’s attention; however, Mark Antony uses emotionally charged rhetoric devices.…show more content…
Brutus, for example, repeatedly refers to his own character, wanting to persuade the crowd that because he is an honorable man, what he did was right. He also praises the man he killed, which justifies it in the eyes of the crowd. We see this now when a politician will praise his opponent, even though he has previously devastated him (or her) just previously. “Who is here so vile that will not love his country” he asks (3.2.34). Who could say no? When our politicians began passing legislation after 9/11, a frequent strategy was to suggest that anyone who questioned this legislation was less than patriotic, which is very similar to Brutus’s ploy

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