declaration :: essays research papers

The Declaration of Independence is perhaps the most masterfully written recount paper of Western civilization. As Moses Coit Tyler noted almost a coke ago, no assessment of it can be complete with egress taking into explanation its extraordinary merits as a work of political prose style. Although many scholars pitch recognized those merits, there are surprisingly few sustained studies of the rhetorical artistry of the Declaration.(1) This essay seeks to illuminate that artistry by probing the treat microscopically--at the level of the sentence, phrase, word, and syllable. By approaching the Declaration in this way, we can upchuck light both on its literary qualities and on its rhetorical business leader as a work designed to convince a " loose world" that the American colonies were justified in seeking to establish themselves as an independent nation.(2) The text of the Declaration can be divided into five-spot sections--the entranceway, the preamble, the indictme nt of George III, the denunciation of the British people, and the conclusion. Because space does not permit us to explicate for each one section in full detail, we shall select features from each that illustrate the stylistic artistry of the Declaration as a whole.(3)The introduction consists of the first paragraph--a single, lengthy, periodic sentence When in the Course of human causas, it becomes needful for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to get hold of among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Natures God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.(4)Taken out of context, this sentence is so general it could be used as the introduction to a declaration by any "oppressed" people. Seen within its passkey context, however, it is a model of subtlety, nuance, and implic ation that works on several levels of moment and allusion to orient readers toward a favorable view of America and to prepare them for the anticipate of the Declaration. From its magisterial opening phrase, which sets the American Revolution within the whole " vogue of human events," to its assertion that "the Laws of Nature and of Natures God" entitle America to a "separate and equal station among the powers of the earth," to its quest for sanction from "the opinions of mankind," the introduction elevates the actors line with England from a petty political dispute to a major event in the grand sweep of history.