Rhetorical Analysis Of Walter Lippmann's The Indispensable Opposition

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Every person has unalienable rights that cannot be deprived from them. This is includes people of any race and any gender. Humans would fight to their last breath to keep these rights; for the reason that it is their right to do as such. They depict themselves as noble knights who protect everyone’s rights from the evil claws of their enemies. However, are we really fighting for others’ needs? Will we actually protect the rights of others to death even if we disagree? We take a self-righteous stance to convince that we are “magnanimous, noble, and unselfish,” when in fact we are only acting so that the views and thoughts of others can better ourselves. In Walter Lippmann’s article, The Indispensable Opposition, he states this clear and coherent argument and uses various rhetorical techniques to strengthen his claim, including: tone, diction, syntax, and literary devices. All these strategies come together to for this logos based essay that is …show more content…

His argument was block by block and he started with explaining the common belief of what the “right to speak freely,” by quoting the well known saying by Voltaire “‘I wholly disapprove of what you say, but will defend to the right your right to say it.’” This is the definition that most people tend to agree with; however, after displaying the original definition he uses logic and rationale to deconstructs the ethics of people and depict the accurate interpretation of the “right to speak, “ by using tone, syntax, literary devices, and essay organization to give the most impactful article possible. By starting the the definition of the norm and ending with the true interpretation, “we must begin by realizing that, because freedom of discussion improves our opinions, the liberties of other men are our own vital necessity.” By ending on this absolute note it creates a space for the readers to contemplate on his

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