Draft: Rhetorical Analysis & A Little Insight

Rhetorical Analysis

A charter was issued by King James I. on April 10, 1606 to direct, give and take authority to the eldest of the English colonies in America on establishing and thus constructing a civilization on the east coast of America. The tone of the message was authoritative in all respects. Commands (or demands) from a country to its fellow dominions to basically build new colonies sounds authoritative without any tone of leeway for self governing; the text is in plain, written orders. The text is persuasive because it is a written set of orders from a large and powerful country. I respond to the quality of the persuasiveness as if I am one of the King’s subjects. The Ethos of the passage, the appeal to authority (me), was more than sufficient because a King of a country, with a massive army, was issuing the message. The Pathos of the passage, appeal to emotions (mine), was successful because the order was made by my successor who I am thus subject to. The Logos of the passage, appeal to logic (mine), was adequate in that it is evident that the King of England organized and sent it.

Personal Insight

Located on the second page of “The First Charter of Virginia”, is the section of the text that speaks of England’s divine purpose in establishing a colony on the east coast. It is by thought that they have something to teach of such virtue that lends them the false perception of being superior to the Natives. This perception then manifests a sense of comfort to be dominant among the Natives, ultimately resulting in immoral slaughter of them. A simple reflection on the European’s action toward the natives suggests that it is the exact opposite of divine. If the Europeans engaged in an internal, simple, reflection of their unholy actions, which are directly contradictory to the written bible, may have resulted in a step toward peace with the Natives. I am confident to state that any teaching that leads one to believe that ones stature is ultimately above others results in inevitable aggression from the supposed superior. Thus, it is likely of a King to distort the bibles teaching to suit his desires.