chief seattle rhetorical devices prompt

Chief Seattle SpeechRhetorical Devices Analysis

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Chief Seattle’s purposes

• To persuade Gov. Stevens not to buy land and make more reservations even though that is what Washington DC (the US govt.) wanted

• To persuade Gov. Stevens that he and his people are educated, wise, and aware of the exploitative situation


• To elicit sympathy

• To connect with Stevens through shared experiences, for example, they have the same government and they are both leaders


• To educate the governor about Seattle’s culture, traditions and belief system

• To contrast the two peoples by way of their numbers, god vs. God, the afterlife, and concept of land ownership


• To establish himself as the leader and a force with whom to be reckoned.

• To mock the White man via subtle and sly sarcasm

• To warn the governor (Whites) about hubris

Some Rhetorical Devices found in Chief Seattle’s Speech

• Persuasive Appeals- ethos, logos, pathos

• Diction choices• Syntax choices• Figurative language-

imagery, especially color imagery and death imagery

• Metaphors and similes

• Sarcasm, anger• Comparisons and

contrasts• Personification• Alliteration• Allusion• Rhetorical questions• Tone shifts

What we need to work on …

• _____ is just _____. Avoid qualifiers. Make your argument with confidence.

• Incorrect- Chief Seattle is just trying to … Correct- Chief Seattle argues that …


• It is better to have a weak supported argument than to hedge around an opinion with insecurities and no support.

• Incorrect- Same issue- Chief Seattle begins to, starts to, goes to, Its kind of, Its like,


• Spelling- Chief- “I” before “e” except after “c”, exceptions- neighbor and weigh

• You shouldn’t misspell words in the prompt- governor, Isaac, Seattle, rhetorical, oration,


• Their, there, and they’re (spell out the contraction)

• Quotes- Denzel Washington says, “Context, open quote, text, punctuation, close the quote.”

• Use the present tense to make the argument- says, argues that, details, explains, compares, etc.


• Attributions– First reference- Chief Seattle– Second reference- Seattle– Third reference- he

– First reference- Governor Isaac Stevens or Isaac Stevens, governor

– Second reference- Gov. Stevens– Third reference- Stevens– Fourth reference- he


• LOL Speak- spell out the word and, two, to, and too

• Casual register- kinda, sposta, a lot,


• References to diction, ethos, logos and pathos.– Incorrect- He used diction or He used logos. – Correct- His diction reflected his sadness. His

sarcastic diction reflected his dual purpose. – Incorrect- He used ethos. – Correct- Seattle’s appeal to ethos included a

contrast between the two peoples’ gods.

What we need to work on-

• Contextual quotes- Seattle’s “sympathetic” language included “ …” – the quote marks are confusing.

• Chief Seattle wants Stevens to understand his point of view. (This is your task --to describe, explain, and analyze Seattle’s POV.)


• Seattle wrote a great speech. (Don’t complement the prompt, analyze it.)

• Seattle spoke with Stevens on numerous occasions. (We don’t know this from the text.)

• He ranted and raved. Did he do both? Seattle compared and contrasted.


• Over-writing- “… speaks to his people in a way, leaving them yearning for more as a cub to its mother.

• Identify Seattle’s metaphors- there were many. You don’t need to write a rhetorical analysis with metaphors. Your reader (me) understands the context of the communication; so will the AP reader.


• A metaphor is a figurative language device used to compare or contrast two unalike things so that a reader/listener can make a connection to the writer/speaker.

• You don’t need to define rhetorical or literary devices for the reader. They are experts. Label it, provide an example and then get to the commentary.


• He uses a sanguine-like tone. Great word. Wrong usage. Sanguine means “ruddy or cheery” It comes from a blood reference. It is great to take a vocabulary risk but make sure you receive the pay off.

• One big gigantic paragraph. Use a paragraph mark to denote paragraph breaks.


• If you say something is “abstract” follow it with an example that demonstrates abstract diction (whatever that is …)

• Whenever you argue a claim, you must always provide evidence and then analysis/ commentary to support your claim.


• Pronouns when you have more than one male. Who is the he? Who is the him? In this case, stay with Seattle and Stevens.

• Avoid clichés- (a cliché, She uses clichés. Her statement was clichéd. A person cannot be cliché.) Seattle’s argument was heard loud and clear. Could you really hear it?


• In my perspective, in my opinion, I think, I feel that- avoid all personal references

• You- this is for “how to” manuals and cookbooks

• Use the why, why, why technique.

If you need a frame …

• Topic Sentence- Chief Seattle’s use of figurative language enabled readers to paint a picture in their mind and feel his sadness.

• Label it- Seattle uses a color imagery … • Provide the text reference- In line 14, Seattle

says, “…”• Analysis and commentary- He did this

because …

The Why, Why, Why technique

• Chief Seattle uses a simile to set up a pattern of comparisons (Why?). Seattle states that “My words are like the stars that never change.” (Why?). By comparing his words to stars, he is teaching his audience the value that his word is his bond. Yet, the history of Native Americans is a string of broken promises. (Why?). Since Governor Stevens had just returned from Washington with the intention of buying land, Seattle knew that he had to show his intelligence, his awareness and his culture with carefully crafted diction that could evoke Native American imagery and White American pragmatism. (Example now connects to the purpose and my claim)

The Why, Why, Why technique

• Chief Seattle uses a simile to set up a pattern of comparisons (Why?). Seattle states that “My words are like the stars that never change.” (Why?). By comparing his words to stars, he is teaching his audience the value that his word is his bond. Yet, the history of Native Americans is a string of broken promises. (Why?). Since Governor Stevens had just returned from Washington with the intention of buying land, Seattle knew that he had to show his intelligence, his awareness, and his culture with carefully crafted diction that could evoke Native American imagery and White American pragmatism. (Example now connects to the purpose and my claim)

chief seattle rhetorical devices prompt

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