It is easy for Americans to think of the United States of America as united. However, from the nation’s earliest days–literally from the time independence was declared–America has often experienced intense disunity, in which different factions sought to pull the nation in different directions or redefine it. These range from debates over what sort of organizational framework the new nation should have to what role slaves and Native Americans should have in it, to even if all states would remain part of the country. While some of these questions were settled by violence (the Civil War), most of them were settled through rhetoric.
Select one of the primary texts from this week’s readings (any of the letters, sermons, speeches, or public documents actually written during the American colonial period – from approximately 1776 to 1830).
Write a 1,050- to 1,400-word essay analyzing your chosen text, and include the following:
Identify the genre of your chosen text.
Analyze which of the classical rhetorical appeals (ethos, pathos, or logos) the author or authors of your text use. This analysis should include examples from the primary text, and evaluation of how successful is the use of these appeals. Note. These appeals are discussed in Ch. 4-6 of Analyzing Rhetoric.
Make an argument about how the genre chosen and appeals used target specific audiences. Doing so will require both close reading of your chosen work and outside research.
Note. There is no minimum number of sources involved. However, you do need to provide convincing evidence about the audience addressed, how appropriate the genre chosen was, and in what ways the appeals were well-chosen for this audience (and in which ways they failed).
Format your paper according to appropriate course level APA guidelines.
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