{"id":806,"date":"2006-01-17T10:29:55","date_gmt":"2006-01-17T15:29:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/rhetorical-engine\/"},"modified":"2006-01-17T10:31:26","modified_gmt":"2006-01-17T15:31:26","slug":"rhetorical-engine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/rhetorical-engine","title":{"rendered":"Rhetorical Engine"},"content":{"rendered":"

I would’ve run this yesterday, but the guy who wrote it didn’t get back to me about it until today. So, here’s a post-MLK Day rhetorical analysis by John Castro<\/a> (John went completely nuts a few years ago when some internet company tried using the speech in a commercial about how well they distributed broadband):<\/em><\/p>\n

Friends,<\/p>\n

I was listening to MLKs “I have a dream” speech today. Something struck me about it.<\/p>\n

There are a few phrases he uses in concentrated bursts — I’m sure there’s a rhetorical term associated with it, but I’m too lazy to look it up (a cup of coffee, on me, for anyone who knows the name of this rhetorical device). Here’s one example:<\/p>\n

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” we can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of course, “I have a dream” itself is the most famous example.<\/p>\n

If you take these phrases out, and line them up, they make a kind of poem that is the spine of the whole speech:<\/p>\n

One hundred years later
\nNow is the time
\nWe cannot be satisfied
\nI have a dream
\nWith this faith
\nLet freedom ring
\nFree at last<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Now, rhetorically, when he’s speaking, he does something interesting with these phrases. These phrases are the first half of a sentence, for instance:<\/p>\n

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But the interesting thing about this is that gradually, over the course of a paragraph, he starts taking the natural pauses that you would take at the end of a sentence in the middle of the sentence, between the introductory phrase and the end.<\/p>\n

So he actually reads the passage like this:<\/p>\n

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” [pause]\n

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream [pause]\n

that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream [pause]\n

that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The effect is a wonderful reversal, where an innocuous phrase that kicks off a paragraph (“I have a dream”) becomes the final rhetorical focus of the whole passage. This transformation elevates what are really very simple, very plain phrases — and by that I mean no disrespect – into flourishes of great rhetorical power. These transformations — punctuating the speech with increasing frequency — elevate the text that follows each of them to a new level of intensity. They provide not just the spine and structure of the speech, but the rhetorical engine of the speech as well — constantly shifting it into higher gears. Until the famous climax of the last repeated phrase — “Free at last” — is followed, as we all know, by nothing less than the fanfare of the last forty years.<\/p>\n

It’s a remarkable piece of work. Just some thoughts I wanted to share with you all – happy MLK day!<\/p>\n

John<\/a><\/p>\n

PS – Are you like me? Do you geek out about, and bore your people with stuff like this? If so, I’m sorry. But check out “Lincoln at Gettysburg<\/a>“. Really cool book that will meet your fix.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I would’ve run this yesterday, but the guy who wrote it didn’t get back to me about it until today. So, here’s a post-MLK Day rhetorical analysis by John Castro (John went completely nuts a few years ago when some internet company tried using the speech in a commercial about how well they distributed broadband): … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Rhetorical Engine”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-literature"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4C7K-d0","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3282,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/pardon-the-interruption","url_meta":{"origin":806,"position":0},"title":"Pardon the Interruption","author":"Gil","date":"January 21, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I was happy to see that our new president made the same flub in his oath of office that I did during my marriage vows, speaking before the officiant finished his first line. I'm also happy that our officiant did a better job of keeping his composure than Chief Justice\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics (explicit)"","block_context":{"text":"Politics (explicit)","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/politics-explicit"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":182,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/persian-perspective","url_meta":{"origin":806,"position":1},"title":"Persian Perspective","author":"Gil","date":"March 8, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"The Brooding Persian writes: O.K. I read your piece on The Passion a few times and was left needing more. You always pull back the moment I expect otherwise -- sort of like the stiffness you described experiencing in the gathering of the practicing religious friends who wanted to make\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16795,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-588-randy-fertel","url_meta":{"origin":806,"position":2},"title":"Episode 588 – Randy Fertel","author":"Gil","date":"May 6, 2024","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 588: Randy Fertel \"The paradox of spontaneity is that it's rhetorical while claiming to be free of rhetoric.\" With WINGING IT: Improv's Power & Peril in the Age of Trump (Spring Publications), author, professor & philanthropist Randy Fertel explores the role of improvisation & spontaneity in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/fertel2024comp.jpg?fit=1035%2C800&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/fertel2024comp.jpg?fit=1035%2C800&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/fertel2024comp.jpg?fit=1035%2C800&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/fertel2024comp.jpg?fit=1035%2C800&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":156,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/now-get-back-to-work","url_meta":{"origin":806,"position":3},"title":"Now Get Back To Work!","author":"Gil","date":"March 31, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's a 2003 graduation speech by the president of Principia College. It's about how busyness keeps us from truly living. Now, because the college is affiliated with Christian Scientists, the tenets of that faith really fill up the second half of the speech.Still, it's got a lot of good points\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3402,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/monday-morning-montaigne-of-the-art-of-discussion","url_meta":{"origin":806,"position":4},"title":"Monday Morning Montaigne: Of the art of discussion","author":"Gil","date":"February 9, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"With only six of the Essays remaining, I feel as though there should be some sort of growing imperative, a sense of completion in the final 200 pages. So I was a bit disappointed when I read (and re-read) Montaigne's Of the art of discussion (pp. 854-876), but I didn't\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Monday Morning Montaigne"","block_context":{"text":"Monday Morning Montaigne","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/monday-morning-montaigne"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16154,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/bonus-episode-remembering-michael-denneny","url_meta":{"origin":806,"position":5},"title":"Bonus Episode – Remembering Michael Denneny","author":"Gil","date":"July 4, 2023","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show Bonus Episode: Remembering Michael Denneny No show this week, but here's a bonus episode with my impromptu speech at the remembrance-memorial for the late Michael Denneny, recorded June 19, 2023. Michael & I were supposed to record a podcast on April 15 about his collection, On Christopher\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "literature"","block_context":{"text":"literature","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/literature"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/dennenymemorialcomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C523&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/dennenymemorialcomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C523&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/dennenymemorialcomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C523&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/dennenymemorialcomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C523&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/dennenymemorialcomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C523&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}