As we continue to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding, this course will focus on famous voices of the Revolution in terms of their rhetorical power. We will look at the writings of Jefferson, Crevecoeur, Franklin, Paine, Freneau and Wheatley.
They were the “influencers” of their day, in large part because they knew how to present ideas persuasively. In their age of Neo-Classicism, they used the tools of the ancients to compose powerful pieces of writing that changed minds, stirred hearts and emboldened people to action. We will examine their skillful use of these rhetorical tools to elevate their expression. That includes everything from Franklin’s simple and pleasing aphorisms: “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise” to Paine’s artfully crafted antithetical sentence structures: “Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice.”
In our current era of shouting, vulgar language, acronyms and dreadful grammar, this course will provide an opportunity to review alternative ways of asserting one’s opinions. If you admire good writing and you love language, you will enjoy this refreshing look at the rhetorical brilliance of our founding generation. All the reading material will be posted a week in advance.