Thoreau's Second Rhetorical Analysis

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1. The tone in Thoreau’s second is very critical and harsh. He makes it very obvious that he hates the U.S. Government. He uses diverse theories to show his tone. The first is he has well-adjusted sentences. He goes from forceful to relaxed. This strategy is being used so that he does not overwhelm the reader or bore them. He also uses metaphors. The main metaphor he used was “it is a … people themselves”. This metaphor advocates that the government gives people the impression of power, when they truly don’t have any. He is also very forceful in his sentences when he starts out with “It does not …”. This paragraph gives Thoreau’s true opinion on the subject at hand.
2. The friction metaphors are used to compare the U.S. to a machine. The friction is referring to the rough patches in the government. Thoreau is trying to say that although things are rough now, they all eventually smooth out. Also, that when there are rough spots, it is supposed to happen. So you should just let it go and it will eventually wear out and go away. This is intelligent on Thoreau’s part because at the same time he wrote this, the industrial part of America was booming. 3. The first analogy he uses is, “The mass of men … their bodies”. This analogy relates to his argument by showing that the people don’t actually care about what the government is doing, they just follow them. 4. One aphorism he uses is in paragraph 18. It is, “if the injustice … break the law”. This aphorism means that if you feel that something the government is doing is unjust you should go against it even if it means to break the law. Also, in the last paragraph “It can have no … concede to it”, is another aphorism. It says that the government has no right over someone or their property unless they agree to it. The last aphorism is also in the last paragraph. It is “There will never be … treats him accordingly”. This is saying that we will never be truly free until the government realizes that individual power is equally as important as a strong central government. 5. I feel that Thoreau’s tone in paragraph 12 is very
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Thoreau uses a lot of rhetorical questions in his essay to get points across. The first rhetorical question he uses is in the second paragraph. It is, “what is but a tradition… some of its integrity?”. This question is saying that although democracy is a tradition and it has certain qualities, Thoreau feels that it looses some of its value each year. That each year we loose some of our freedom and rights. It relates to the metaphor about the wooden gun. It gives people a strong sense of power when they don’t actually have much. In the last paragraph, he has two rhetorical questions. The first is “Is a democracy … possible in government?”. The second is “Is it not possible… rights of man?”. These two questions contribute to the paragraph they are in by wrapping up his argument. In his last paragraph he discusses how he will follow any rules of the government he supports and the evolution of our government. These two questions closely relate to the evolution of our government. Thoreau wonders if we can go beyond a democracy, granting us more freedom and rights. He believes those aspects of our country needs work and he makes it obvious by asking those

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