Anaphora and The Declaration of Independence

On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia. The document had been composed by Thomas Jefferson, with revisionary guidance from a Continental Congress committee that included Benjamin Franklin. Though what became known as the Revolutionary War had begun in the previous year, this was the moment in which the founding fathers defined for what exactly they were fighting – not just for representation, but for freedom.

We will be examining this all-important government document not merely from a historical perspective but from a rhetorical one – analyzing the purpose behind and effectiveness of Jefferson’s words – by examining and better understanding the rhetorical device anaphora. Type your answers to the below exercise in a Word document.

When in the Course of human events . . .

As a class, we will:

1. Re-familiarize ourselves with the definition for the rhetorical device anaphora, which we first encountered in our study of Jonathan Edwards’s Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.

2. Listen to NPR’s audio reading of the Declaration of Independence (Click on above image).

As individuals, you will:

1. Access the full-text of The Declaration of Independence and find three examples of anaphora where Jefferson utilized in a minimum three consecutive lines. Record them.

2. Select one of your examples to evaluate. Below it, respond to the following questions: Why do you think Thomas Jefferson chose to use this type of repetition? What was he hoping to accomplish/emphasize?

3. Read through The Baylor School Language Analysis page (the highlighted syntax portions) and the Writing it Real feature. Create a bulleted list detailing what an author can accomplish by using anaphora in a piece of writing.

4. Write a new, more thorough response to number two based on the information you acquired. For your specific example, exactly why do you think Jefferson chose to use this type of repetition? What exactly was he hoping to accomplish/emphasize? Do not speak in general terms.

Bonus – After reading the Writing it Real feature, determine which document or literary piece contained on the page best/most effectively utilizes anaphora. Support your response.