AGE OF REASON – 1760s-1790s
Age of Reason Ojectives/Goals
• RI 11.1: Cites strong and thorough textual evidence to
support analysis of what the text says explicitly and through
inference
• RI 11.2: Determine two or more central ideas of a text and
analyze their development over the course of a text
• RI 11.3: Analyze a complex set of ideas of sequence of events
• RI 11.4: Determine meanings of words: connotative and
denotative; figurative language; analyze how word choice
affects tone
• RI 11.5: Analyze the effectiveness of structure in an argument
• RI 11.8: Evaluate the premise, purpose, and effectiveness of
argument in legal documents
Age of Reason
• Age of Reason
(Enlightenment)
• Rationalism
• Began in Europe with
scientists and Philosophers of
17th and 18th centuries
• Belief that human beings can
arrive at “truth” by using
reason rather than relying on
the authority of the past, on
religion, or on intuition
• Compared God to a
clockmaker – universe is a
clock, humans are cogs in the
machine
•
Beliefs
• Deism
• “Deism is the belief in a supreme
being, who remains unknowable
and untouchable. God is viewed
as merely the “first cause” and
underlying principle of rationality
in the universe. Deists believe in a
god of nature -- a
noninterventionist creator -- who
permits the universe to run itself
according to natural laws. Like a
“clockmaker god” initiating the
cosmic process, the universe
moves forward, without needing
God’s supervision. ”(“Deism
• - Nature“).
Themes
• Major Literary Theme:
• Reasoning
• Protest and Rebellion
• Literature that protests
or rebels against an
authority.
Writing
• Rhetoric: Persuasion in Writing
• Rhetoric: The study of writing or
speaking as a means of
communication or persuasion
• Revolutionary Writers used
persuasion as a primary style of
writing.
• Persuasive writing is writing that
persuades or convinces the
reader to think or do what the
author intends.
• Appeals are how a
writer/speaker tries to convince
his or her intended audience.
Three of the “biggies” are logos,
ethos and pathos.
Appeals
• Logos
• Logical appeals (logos)
persuading by the use of
reasoning
• Deductive argumentbegins with a
generalization and moves
toward a specific
conclusion.
• Inductive argumentbegins with pieces of
specific evidence and
draws a general
conclusion from this.
Appeals cont.
• Ethos
•
•
• Pathos
• Ethical appeals (ethos)
persuading by character
of author
•
• Emotional appeals
(pathos) persuades
audiences by arousing
the emotions
Rhetorical Triangle Information
Persuasive Structure
• Introduction of the
topic of the paper and
the thesis statement.
• State the facts of the
case.
• Prove the thesis with
your arguments.
• Disprove opposing
arguments. (Refutation)
• Restate thesis.
Rhetorical devices
• Propaganda
• “information, ideas,
opinions or images,
often only giving one
part of an argument,
which are broadcast,
• published or in some
other way spread with
the intention of
influencing people's
opinions” (Cambridge
Dictionary Online).
Rhetorical devices
• Rhetorical Question
• A rhetorical question is
one that requires no
answer because the
answer is obvious and
doesn't need to be
stated . The speaker (of
the rhetorical question)
is not looking for an
answer but is making
some kind of a point, as
in an argument.
Rhetorical devices
• Anaphora:
•
•
•
• Irony
• the repetition of a word
or phrase at the
beginning of successive
phrases or clauses
•
• expression of
something which is
contrary to the
intended meaning; the
words say one thing but
mean another.
Rhetorical Devices
• Parallel Structure (aka
Parallelism)
• Allusion
• The repetition of words,
phrases, and clauses in
a sentence or paragraph
used to emphasize an
idea.
• Allusions are often
indirect or brief
references to literature,
mythology, Bible, or
history
Rhetorical devices
• Figurative Language –
metaphor, simile,
imagery
• Syllogism
• Used to create pathos
• A form of deductive
reasoning consisting of
a major premise, a
minor premise, and a
conclusion.
Preamble
• We, the people of the
United States, in order to
form a more perfect Union,
establish justice, insure
domestic tranquility,
provide for the common
defense, promote the
general welfare, and secure
the blessings of liberty to
ourselves and our posterity,
do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United
States of America.
• Why are the words “We,
the people of the United
States,” important?
• Paraphrase.
• How have we accomplishes
these 5 goals?
• How can average citizens
make this true in our lives?
• Which literary device(s) are
used in the Preamble?