Squealer’s Speech Assessment

Directions: Read Squealer’s Chapter 3 speech below. Annotate the speech for three rhetorical devices that
Squealer uses by highlighting the relevant text and adding a brief comment (5-15 words). Each annotation
should be one sentence long, briefly justifying the label you apply to each highlight.

Here is an example annotation taken from Old Major’s speech:

“But no animal escapes the cruel knife in the end. You young porkers who are sitting in front of me, every
one of you will scream your lives out at the block within a year.”

Step 1: Annotate the text

Squealer was sent to make the necessary explanations to the others.

“Comrades!” he cried. “You do not imagine, I hope, that we pigs are doing this in a spirit of

selfishness and privilege? Many of us actually dislike milk and apples. I dislike them myself. Our sole object

in taking these things is to preserve our health. Milk and apples (this has been proved by Science,

comrades) contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig. We pigs are brainworkers.

The whole management and organization of this farm depend on us. Day and night we are watching over

your welfare. It is for YOUR sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples. Do you know what would

happen if we pigs failed in our duty? Jones would come back! Yes, Jones would come back! Surely,

comrades,” cried Squealer almost pleadingly, skipping from side to side and whisking his tail, “surely there

is no one among you who wants to see Jones come back?”

Now if there was one thing that the animals were completely certain of, it was that they did not

want Jones back. When it was put to them in this light, they had no more to say. The importance of

keeping the pigs in good health was all too obvious. So it was agreed without further argument that the

milk and the windfall apples (and also the main crop of apples when they ripened) should be reserved for

the pigs alone.

Step 2: Answer the questions below before writing your paragraph. The answers do not need to be
complete sentences. The answers to these questions will help you write the paragraph.

Who is the speaker? Squealer the pig.

Who is the audience? The animals of the farm.

What is Squealer’s purpose in this The purpose of Squealer’s speech is to convince the animals that
speech? they should always give the apples and the milk to the pigs.

What is one rhetorical device Ethos.

Squealer uses in this speech?

How exactly does Squealer use this Squealer uses ethos when trying to convince the animals to let
rhetorical device? only the pigs enjoy the milk and apples by telling the animals that
it is scientifically proven that pigs need apples and milk to live a
healthy life.

Why does Squealer use this
rhetorical device? What is the effect?
Squealer uses this rhetorical device because he knows that the
animals will trust a scientist. This rhetorical device also works
because he mentions that without the pigs the farm would not be
able to survive. The effect is that the animals agree to give all of
the apples and milk to the pigs from now on.

Step 3.
Select one rhetorical device that Squealer uses in his speech. Analyze how and why Squealer uses this
technique and explain why this technique is effective in achieving its purpose. Your paragraph should
follow our writing moves format and be proofread for our prompt response tips. Be sure to properly cite
your evidence.

Squealer uses ethos to persuade the animals to allow only the pigs to eat all of the milk and apples. He
uses ethos by providing someone with credibility to back up his claim. Squealer hopes that the animals
will see that without the strong healthy pigs the farm would not survive. Squealer gives a speech on how
the pig's health plays a vital role in the well being of the farm: “Milk and apples (this has been proved by
Science, comrades) contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig. We pigs are
brainworkers. The whole management and organization of this farm depend on us” (Orwell, 35).
Basically, the evidence that Squealer gives is extremely persuasive because he uses ethos to explain that
scientists ,who know the ideal life of a pig, say that they should eat apples and drink milk. The animals
have to agree with this statement because without the pigs the farm would surely fail. Ultimately, this
reveals that Squealer seems to be very gifted at persuading a crowd into believing any situation.