Monday, March 10, 2015
Write your own declaration of independence from
something. Use one rhetorical device (parallelism,
anaphor, repetition, etc.) and give at least 2 reasons why.
Write 5-7 sentences.
For example:
Ms. Earwood might write a declaration of independence
from grading papers because it takes time away from
planning lessons and enjoying life.
Parliament’s first serious
attempt to assert gov’t control
Stamp Act of 1763- The Colonies protested this act and cited
the following prohibition against taxation without consent:

“No scutage [tax]…shall be imposed…unless by
common counsel…”

They got these words from The Magna Carta, written
in 1215—550 years earlier!
American resistance forced the British Parliament to repeal
the Stamp Act in 1766, but more taxes followed…The
American Revolution brewed, and so they created The
Declaration of Independence, adopted by the Continental
Congress on July 4, 1776, in which the colonies declared
their freedom from British rule!
O! the fatal STAMP!
People were scared the
Stamp Act would kill the
journalism industry, as
they were required to pay
taxes on ALL print
documents (among a
lengthy list of other items)
Magna Carta = Inspiration

English charter issued in 1215 that directly
challenged the monarch’s authority

Required King John of England to proclaim
certain liberties, and accept that his will was not
arbitrary– he couldn’t make random decisions
and rules.

The first document forced onto an English King
by a group of subjects in an attempt to limit his
powers by law and protect their privileges

Led to Constitutional Law in the English
speaking world

Became more of a symbol as years passed
Five Sections: An Overview
(mark as we discuss)
1.) The Intro: This is the opening paragraph; a single sentence beginning with
"We the People..." It is sometime erroneously referred to as the Preamble,
probably because the opening paragraph of the US Constitution is referred to
as the Preamble to the Constitution.
2.) The preamble: a preamble is a preliminary statement, especially the
introduction to a formal document that serves to explain its purpose. In this
instance, Jefferson used the preamble to discuss the basic rights of man. The
second paragraph, which begins with "We hold theses truths to be self-evident.
The Preamble sets the logic al argument that people have rights, that people
form governments to secure those rights and when a government becomes
destructive of those rights, the people have a right and a duty to throw off that
government.
- Also divided into 5 propositions (we will mark together)
3.) List of grievances against King George III/The Indictment of King
George III: A grievance is (a) an actual/supposed circumstance regarded as a
just cause for complaint and (b) a complaint or protestation based on a
circumstance. The list of wrongs the King has done to show the ways in which
the King has abused the rights of the colonists.
Five Sections: An overview
(cont’d)
4.) Formal declaration of war/ The Denunciation of the British
people: A statement announcing not only the separation of colonial
government from British government, but colonial people from
British people. In this section, colonists pledged their “lives,
fortunes, and sacred honor.”
5.) Conclusion: The Declaration of Independence from the King
and his British peoples is the only logical conclusion to be taken
from the above.
Terms to know…

Diction- word choice

Antecedent- noun to which the pronoun refers (I did not
see John because he…)

John is the antecedent of the pronoun he

Parallel syntax- the repetition of. words, phrases, and
clauses, used in a concise manner, to emphasize that two
or more ideas have the same level of importance

Cumulative sentence- An independent clause followed by
a series of subordinate constructions that gather details
about a person, place, event, or idea. (aka “loose”)

Periodic sentence- A sentence in which the main clause
or its predicate is withheld until the end; for example,
Despite heavy winds and nearly impenetrable ground fog,
the plane
Terms to Know…




Anaphora-The deliberate repetition of a word or phrase
at the beginning of several successive verses, clauses,
or paragraphs; for example, "We shall fight on the
beaches ...
Connotations- the associated or secondary meaning of a
word or expression in addition to its explicit or primary
meaning
Loaded diction- language with profound connotations,
employed to evoke an emotional response from the
reader
Three Aristotelian appeals
 Ethos= ethical appeal (morality, trust)
 Pathos= emotional appeal (feelings, emotion)
 Logos= logical appeal (facts, stats)
Reading as a class
 Annotate
as a class as we listen
In groups:

Analysis questions
 Complete
in pre-assigned group but
everyone fills out their OWN sheet
 (NOT one
per group)