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Political Rhetoric

We are talking about persuasive rhetoric in both English II - in the context of the American Revolution - and in English IV - in the context of political issues, specifically.  In both, we discussed the various forms of persuasive rhetoric employed by politicians and leaders who are trying to convince fellow citizens of a particular point of view.

In politics, rhetoric is perhaps most exaggerated, and looking at political ads and speeches can help us understand how these techniques work:
  • The Living Room Candidate - a site that collects political ads throughout the history of television, beginning in 1952 and updated to include campaigns as recent as 2008
  • American Rhetoric - a collection of speeches throughout history, not just limited to politics

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