Simplicity And Clarity: Rhetorical Analysis Of “Th

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Cover Letter In discussing with you my mistakes in Paper 1, I decided to revise my last submission. After talking with you, I realized that some of my diction and uses of language were ambiguous, and at times unable to comprehend well. Therefore, I went through the paper and fixed what mistakes I could find. Also, I clarified my thesis by splitting the sentence into two separate ones. Along with these two adjustments, I went through and fixed some grammatical errors and anything else that would keep you from understanding my viewpoints on the Tao-Te Ching. Hopefully this will clear up some of the nebulous phrasing and thoughts in my paper. Simplicity and Clarity: Rhetorical Analysis of “Thoughts from the Tao-te Ching” Lao-Tzu, known as the “Old Master”, so easily lives up to his name. Valued as a confidant for the Chou dynasty for his wisdom and insight, he worked with political figures for most of his career before withdrawing himself into a sort of self-inflicted exile. Before that time, he wrote a stream of ideas and thoughts of what makes a leader great using a visually appealing structure, almost poetic in form. Although style is important in this text, it is most necessary to know the audience and rhetoric to understand fully why it is read widely today. In Tao-te Ching potentially by Lao-Tzu, he addresses to leaders of his current empire, and more generally all empires and regimes, how to rule effectively and with ample peace. Lao-Tzu uses rhetorical appeal to connect with the audience, these said rulers. One must find common ground to use when trying to appeal to the masses. Using rhetoric, Lao-Tzu is able to find said common ground. His use of Pathos in Thoughts from the Tao-te Ching is evident through his idea of supreme simplicity and clarity. He tells “the Master” to “[empty the] people’s minds/and [fill] their cores/by weakening

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