Repetition In Speech

Improved Essays
Repetition Is the Foundation of Any Effective Speech Throughout history, speeches have been known to change many lives both during the speech’s time and in the modern era. At the foundation of any one of these speeches is the literary element known as repetition. Though repetition is known most commonly for its literal meaning of repeating words, this literary device is much more than that. A speaker’s repetition can cause the listeners to react an abundance of ways ranging from cheering for themselves to becoming violent towards others. Each of the following speeches uses repetition in its own way in order to emotionally affect the audience’s mood.
One of the greatest speakers to employ this repetition ideal is Martin Luther King Jr., and
…show more content…
Douglas MacArthur’s “Duty, Honor, Country” repeats those very same words beginning in paragraph four and make appearances throughout. Although this repetition begins early, it is more effective than many speeches closing repetition. This is true because the three words “duty, honor, country” are the moral creed by which any and every West Point cadet must follow. Only these cadets are held to the standards of the creed, and only these soldiers know what it means to live by the creed. For someone to speak to the cadets and use the creed is the same as an African American leading a civil rights group. It’s something only cadets truly understand, and when MacArthur chooses to repeat these words it changes the mood of the cadets in that they now feel a connection to MacArthur. They feel that he has been through everything they have, and because of these similarities MacArthur becomes relatable. This new connection not only draws the attention of the cadets, but it also persuades them to listen and absorb what he is saying. Overall, this form of repetition is extremely effective in becoming relatable to the audience as well as becoming a character of …show more content…
When Wiesel made a speech, he spoke of “indifference” (par 5). He mentions this word frequently throughout the speech. He defines the word and then begins to relate the word to how the countries ignored the issues going on under Hitler’s rule. The word is a reality check for Americans about what is really going on in the world and Wiesel calls out the countries and people for not doing anything. He calls indifference a “punishment” because it’s a feeling of being forgotten or ignored. He wants his audience to understand the pain he went through and that everything wasn’t alright where he was. Without this repetition his speech becomes another basic recapitulation of the Holocaust, however Wiesel decided to allow his audience to feel what he felt. While this use of repetition may not be as well known as others, it is certainly

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    “Society was composed of three simple categories: the killers, the victims, and the bystanders,” Elie Wiesel stated in his “The Perils of Indifference” speech given on April 12, 1999, at the White House. In his speech, Wiesel discusses the indifference that the Jewish people experienced during the Holocaust. Weisel was taken by the Nazis in 1944 at the age of 15 and spent about a year in various concentration camps, including Birkenau, Auschwitz, Buna, Gleiwitz, and Buchenwald. Throughout his time in concentration camps, Elie witnessed the cruelty between strangers, and even sometimes between friends and family. Elie explains to the audience the dangers of being indifferent in “The Perils of Indifference”.…

    • 815 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Elie Wiesel, The Perils of Indifference he used pathos, ethos, and logos to express how he felt and to give the audience a sense of what he has been through. The way he used pathos, ethos, and logos in his speech was great and I’m going to give you my opinion on what I thought anout the way he used them. Wiesel opened up his speech by giving the audience glimpse of what he has lived. He said he was from Buchenwald, a place of eternal infamy. Wiesel gave a good mind image of where he was from by using the word “infamy” meaning bad quality or evil or wicked act.…

    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    On November 22, 1963 President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Kennedy had planned to fight a war on poverty. The Vice-president, Lyndon B. Johnson, assumed the role as president and carried on with Kennedy’s figurative war, addressing the nation in his speech Let us Continue. Within this speech, Johnson addresses Congress and the American people. On November 27, five days after the assassination, Johnson read Let Us Continue.…

    • 870 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    At one point in the text, Wiesel witnessed the deterioration of a fellow prisoner of the camp during the long run the prisoners partook in on their way from one concentration camp to another. When Wiesel recounts his encounter with this man, he says that “I soon forgot him. I began to think of myself again.” (Wiesel, 86). Based on the traumatic experience of living and working in a concentration camp, prisoners saw the horrific ways people were treated when they stood up for others and for themselves.…

    • 1093 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Considered one of the greatest speeches of all time, General Douglas MacArthur utilizes rhetorical devices to appeal to the people listening to his speech. Through the use of Ethos, the general establishes his credibility with the young cadets. His use of logos makes a very logical argument for the young men to relate to. Finally, his use of pathos makes the emotional connection that addresses each individual cadet to instill them with the duty of a patriot. In the last lines of this great speech he says, “Always there echoes and re-echoes: Duty, Honor, Country.…

    • 134 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the first two paragraphs, he addresses himself in third person, such as “... he remembers”, then shifted to first person in the third paragraphs to tell the audience that he was the young Jewish boy who was rescued by American soldiers (“... I stand before you”). By expressing his experience, the audience can now trust and believe in what he has to say. This is what makes his speech impactful. Next, Wiesel’s appeal to emotion contributed to the effectiveness of his speech.…

    • 427 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He starts by addressing President Clinton, Mrs. Clinton, members of Congress, Ambassador Holbrooke, Excellencies and friends; his main focus was on the President and the American citizens. He tells a story of a Jewish boy from a small town who lost his family due to the Holocaust in Buchenwald. Then, moves on to indifference and why it is tempting. Wiesel says that indifference is dangerous than anger and hatred because indifference does not have a creative side whereas, anger and hatred can have a positive side. He uses the story of St. Louis as an example of indifference, around 1,000 Jews from Nazi Germany due to war were forced to leave the place in a ship headed to United States.…

    • 696 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    His speech urges the audience to take action against injustices rather than remaining indifferent to human suffering. Wiesel takes advantage of the timing of his speech (kairos), uses his own experiences to…

    • 1340 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Martin Luther King’s “Letter to Birmingham Jail” is incredibly persuasive. It forces the reader to truly think upon Dr. King’s arguments regarding the clergymen 's pleas to discontinue fighting for equality in the area of that time period. He reinforces how these men have underestimated his reasons for being put in jail and explains how seldom he replies to those who can’t see eye to eye to his vision and goals. He explains how these men may be generally good citizens; their criticism is just a fundamental aspect of how scared they are for him.…

    • 1008 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Repetition is the repeating of words that gets your attention to view the subject with more interest. A repetition example would start with beginning of the speech by mentioned “The place to begin is with our own experience with the Church in the strike that has gone on for thirty-one months in Delano. For in Delano the Church”. Revising the quote above you can clearly see that the word “church” is repeated through the two sentences. A meaning for this stated repetition is that they’re explaining how the church ties in with Cesar Chavez and his movement.…

    • 986 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Furthermore, Wiesel explains how the camps made him and everyone in there feel “abandoned” and “forgotten.” Wiesel ‘s purpose is to inform society that ‘indifference’ makes us “inhuman.” Ultimately, Wiesel's…

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    American-Romanian writer and Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel in his serious and critical speech, “The Perils Of Indifferences,” suggests that indifference is dangerous and indifference can cause great suffering to another person, which is why indifference should be stop to further prevent more harm. He develops his message by narrating his experiences in the concentration camp, providing himself credibility to further explain the issue that has happened. Furthermore, Wiesel elaborates on the meaning of inference and shows that bring indifferent to another is worse than God’s anger shown in a line “ For us to be ignored by God was a harsher punishment than to be a victim of His anger (“The Peril of Indifference”).” Ultimately, Wiesel illustrates the different unfortunate events that cause due to…

    • 408 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Questioning Retribution Wiesel’s account of the Holocaust represents the truly barbaric actions that war-driven nations will enact. The gruesome stories that detail the concentration camps are a haunting demonstration of the evil that exists beyond the imagination of the public. Upon the conclusion of the novel, in conjunction with his preface, the question of future development and change lingers. But is there any retribution for the soldiers who carried out such unspeakable acts?…

    • 382 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    He also shows emotion by also saying “ coming from a profession that I have served so long and people I have loved so well, it fills me I with emotion I cannot express” This lets the audience know that he is very serious and passionate about his career. Overall this speech Duty, Honor, Country was one of the motivational speeches. I believe that General Douglass MacArthur did an excellent job at balancing ethos, logos and pathos into his speech. The purpose was to show and motivate the cadets that by living and standing by this motto they would not regret serving our nation.…

    • 608 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Task 1 Why is he a role model for so many people in the word? Mandela got prisoned in South Africa under the Apartheid regime because of his political opinions. But that was not the only reason. It was because of his skin color, because he was a black man with strong opinions.…

    • 839 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays