Eugene Debs’s Statement to the Court

Historical context During WWI, Congress passed the Sedition Act, which gave the government power to arrest those accused of anti-war actions. In reality, this law targeted socialists and other pacifists who spoke out against the war effort.

Debs’s Statement: Read Debs’s statement and annotate for rhetorical devices/appeals. You are encouraged to read it at least twice in order to summarize his argument, and identify the devices he employs.

Rhetorical devices What rhetorical devices does Debs use? List at least three in your groups and provide examples.

Keywords Keywords can spotlight or trigger your awareness to certain rhetorical moves. Authors will use phrases like “I believe”, “we must”, “it is true”, etc. in order to firmly establish their position. In Debs, look over your annotations, and find Debs’ argument. Does he use any kind of signaling?

Loaded language “… the little children who in this system are robbed of their childhood and in their tender years are seized in the remorseless grasp of Mammon and forced into the industrial dungeons, there to feed the monster machines while they themselves are being starved and stunted, body and soul”.

Loaded language “… the little children who in this system are robbed of their childhood and in their tender years are seized in the remorseless grasp of Mammon and forced into the industrial dungeons, there to feed the monster machines while they themselves are being starved and stunted, body and soul”.

So what? Once you have identified a device, you need to determine what it’s effect is – in other words, what is it doing? Consider: Is it making you: Feel? Think? Act?

Loaded language - identify With your partner, find another example of loaded language. What is its purpose? Why is it significant?

Loaded language - analyze On your own, analyze the loaded language you have selected. What is the effect of Debs’ diction choice?

Revisit Debs With your partners, determine the central aspects of Debs’s statement. What is his purpose? What rhetorical devices does he use? RLW – what would you include in your own statement?

Write your own statement! You stand accused of …. something. Using Debs as a model, write your own statement in defense. It must include at least 3 rhetorical devices (underlined and identified in the margins) and be at least 10 sentences long. Consider purpose and audience!