Rhetorical Analysis Of Tod Clifton's Speech In Invisible Man

Caleb Merriken Ms. Laye Writer’s Workshop 24 February 2023 In December 2022, Raphael Warnock made the political ad, "Still Walking," showing why Herschel Walker is incapable of being a senator. Raphael Warnock calls Herschel Walker a pathological liar and proceeds to open old wounds and talk about his previous actions. He is also walking a small puppy and is talking about how he remembers when a runoff happened recently.

This argument debunked the discriminatory myth of African Americans as a merciless and power-crazy race. It is amazing how the writers as black citizens, who are branded by their enemies(whites) as lowly unruly savages, successfully made their enemies appear as the lawless and savage

Tim O’Brien views heroism much differently than most. His comrades in Vietnam may base a hero upon his accomplishments in war; however, O’Brien’s version of a hero comes in the most casual aspect. O’Brien’s message on heroism communicates the simplicity of wisdom through the rhetorical elements of diction, tone, and ethos. In O’Brien’s acceptance speech, he uses effective diction to describe his hero, Elroy Birdall.

In the novel, “Invisible Man” by Ralph Ellison, IM, or the narrator, uses his oratory skills to persuade and influence whomever his audience is to convey his ideas. One of his most memorable speeches is his eulogy for Tod Clifton. In this speech, he breaks away from the Brotherhood’s blueprints by speaking with no set framework, going against their orders. By speaking on Clifton’s identity, he acknowledges the truth of his invisibility, and really, the truth of every black man's reality and existence. Black men are constantly overlooked and over-dominated in this white man's world.

When one examines Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, immediately one notices the duality of being black in society. Ellison uses the narrator to highlight his invisibility in society, although African-Americans have brought forth so many advances. This statement best represents the novel as the narrator examines his location (geography), his social identity, historical legacies of America, and the ontological starting point for African-Americans. The “odyssey” that the narrators partakes in reflects the same journey that many African-Americans have been drug through for generations.

He had seen firsthand how African Americans experienced brutality growing up. He had seen this when Jess Alexander Helms a police officer brutalized a black woman, and dragged her to the jail house. He had explained it as “the way a caveman would club and drag his sexual prey”. This shows how little rights African Americans had in these days because he was unable to do anything. All of this happened while other African American individuals walked away hurriedly.

Despite its morbid appearance, lynchings were often held as a spectacle event for all people to see. Richard Wright, a descendant from slavery, wrote a powerful poem detailing the grim emotions of being lynched. Wright described seeing a “vacant shoe, an empty tie, a ripped shirt, a lonely hat, and a pair of trousers stiff with black blood” (Wright). Richard Wright wanted everyone to see how the mass killings affected the lives of black citizens in America. He successfully shows how the situation with lynching in America wasn’t truly much better than being enslaved.

Deeper into this piece there are appeals to ones emotions. One example is when he mentions the bombings that have occurred. "Its ugly record of brutality is widely known. Negroes have experienced grossly unjust treatment in the courts. There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the nation.

He begins to stray from logos and uses pathos to earn a sense of sympathy and understanding from his White audience. In this, he longs for the people to create this personal connection and intimate experience with the speaker. Baldwin speaks of how African Americans cannot escape the pounding reality facing his people: “You are a worthless human being” (Baldwin). However, this was not what troubled him the most. He found it utterly disheartening that by the time one comes to terms with this corrupt system of reality, it has transferred to their beloved youth (Baldwin).

For many of them it’s the first time someone from their community had been sentenced to death (Gaines 247). His death deeply impacted members of his community by bringing awareness to the issue of institutionalized racism. White people in the community only viewed black people as inferior. It was more aggravating to them if a black person was as educated as them because of how they wanted to feel superior to black people. When Grant is speaking to the sheriff, he uses proper grammar instead of the slang he was expected to use making the sheriff feel uneasy and more aggressive (Gaines 48).

Throughout his essay, Staples is able to make the audience understand what he has to deal with as a black man. Staples does this by using words and phrases such as, “...her flight made me feel like an accomplice in tyranny” and “... I was indistinguishable from the muggers who occasionally seeped into the area…” (542). By writing and describing how he (Staples) feels, the audience is able to get an inside look into how black men are treated and better understand why society’s teachings, play a vital role in how we see each other. Staples’ powerful writing also allows the reader to take a step back and see how as a society, people make judgements on others based on appearance alone.

The narrator’s violent actions are understandable because as Dr. King mentions, “Vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim” (2). When a person is the victim of this kind of hatred it is understandable why is he has bitterness and rage and that he may turn to violence after he experiences of any type of continued

George Saunders, a renowned American writer is a graduate of Syracuse University. So it is no surprise when the University asked him to give the convocation speech to the graduating class of 2013. George delivered an eye-opening and touching speech. The speech is speaking to the graduates, but also to everyone in attendance. It is not your average speech on how to be successful in the real world, but instead, it is how to live a happier life.

By including rhetorical devices such as analepsis and epanaphoras in her speech, women's activist, Cady Stanton in her Keynote Address manages to successfully convey her message on how the mistreatment of women's rights must come to an end. Throughout the essay, Mrs. Stanton had done an excellent job of identifying her audience and appealing to the common goal that was shared amongst one another. Due to the fact that the majority of the audience were female, Mrs. Stanton had to take an approach where her choice of words would spark a sense of empowerment rather than disenfranchise the attendees of the convention. Mrs. Stanton does this as she states “ Consider our costume far more artistic than theirs.

The friend, Todd Clifton, is selling Sambo dolls on the side of the road, a highly racist and derogatory doll that perpetuates the stereotype of blacks as non-human performers for other’s entertainment. Clifton, in contrast, was a handsome, intelligent, and politically active member of the Brotherhood who is shown to want to help Harlem and push for black and white equality. The Invisible Man is both shaken by Clifton's blatant betrayal of his own race and saddened, yet again, by the theme of black repression by those who claim to try and help. However, later he chooses to forgive Clifton at his funeral, thinking to himself “Yes, the dolls were obscene and his act a betrayal. But he was only a salesman not an inventor, and it was necessary that we make it known that the meaning of his death was greater than the incident or the object that caused it” (448).