Introduction
In this paper, I will provide a rhetorical analysis of the Statement to the Court that was made by Eugene Victor Debs. During his prosecution in the second arrest, Debs made a speech regarded as his statement to the court. In his speech, he emphasized to the people of America that the social regime is the best social system for revolutionizing America. In my opinion, I take concur with Debs since he supports his argument that socialist institutions are the best for the revolution.
Body
In his formative ages, Debs lived as a poor child, which forced him to drop out of school in order to support his family. He believed that joint stock companies should join industries. He also believed in the potential of employees. Once he became a profound democrat, Debs established the Socialist Party of America. He was imprisoned in two occasions. His first imprisonment followed allegations that he failed to obey the United States government to stop a strike when he was a leader of the American Railway Union. The strike affected the national mail system. In his second imprisonment, which took place in 1917, Debs was charged of publicly taking an opposition side to the draft system rendering him a traitor in accordance with the Espionage Act of 1917, which prohibited movements against the actions of the military.
Debs is the author of the Statement to the court and the audience is the people of America. The purpose of this speech was to ensure that the people of America understood that the past social systems were unfavorable and that a change to socialism was needed to revolutionize America.
Appeals to Logos
Debs uses a logical tone in his argument to develop logos. In his appeal to logos, he asserts that the current social system in America has been outgrown and therefore the need to adopt new socialism that conforms to the time that he lived. He says “but it is due entirely to the outgrown social system in which we live that ought to be abolished not only in the interest of the tolling masses, but in the higher interest of all humanity (Debs, para. 7).
Appeals to Ethos
Debs appeals to ethos in two capacities. First, he speaks as a common low class citizen devoted in the industry for survival, and as a formal leader. Debs recalls his poor childhood in his speech as well as his poor and hard living conditions. He goes ahead to establish that several others in America are enduring the same life as he did, especially the men in factories, mills and mines; the women working out their barren lives, and children robbed of their childhood into forced labor.
Appeals to Pathos
His appeal to pathos is several people are emotionally and physically struggling and working in industries without tangible rewards, which he explains brings the need for socialism. He explains that this is not the work of the Almighty, nor nature, but the current social system.
The structure of the argument of this statement to the court is a problem/solution structure. The author explains the causes of the problems facing the people of America and provides a solution to these problems, which is adoption of a new social system.
Conclusion
Work Cited:
Eugene Debs. Statement to the Court. American Rhetoric. Delivered 14/18 September 1918, Cleveland, Ohio.
