Name:      Janelle Canahuate Date: 10/15/2021

RHETORIC
Speech in the Convention
Benjamin Franklin

Speakers make speeches appealing to an audience, blending language that

conveys facts with that which creates an emotional effect. Such speeches
frequently contain rhetorical devices, which are techniques meant to
convince the audience to think a certain way or take some action in response
to the speech. Some of the rhetorical devices that are designed to persuade an
audience include paradox, concession, and rhetorical questions. A paradox is
a statement that is truthful as well as contradictory. A concession
acknowledges the arguments of the opposition. Rhetorical questions
highlight an issue by asking questions with obvious answers. Tone, while not
strictly an example of a rhetorical device, can sway an audience. A speaker’s
or writer’s tone may be ironic, serious, humorous, and so on.

DIRECTIONS: Answer these questions about “Speech in the Convention.” Use

textual evidence from the story to support your responses.

1. Provide two examples of concessions that Benjamin Franklin makes in this speech.

“I think a general government necessary for us, and there is no form of government but
what may be a blessing to the people, if well administered;”

“I doubt, too, whether any other convention we can obtain, may be able to make a better
constitution”

“Thus, I consent, Sir, to the constitution, because I expect no better, and because I am not
sure that it is not the best.”

“The opinions I have had of its errors I sacrifice to the public good.”

2. Which line in paragraph 2 of the speech includes a rhetorical question? The

evidence of a rhetorical question in paragraph 2 is “From such an assembly can be
perfect production be expected?”

3. How would you describe the tone of Franklin’s speech? It has a highly
persuasive tone, a distinct vocabulary that is not used in current English, and it is
quite formal.

4. What is the rhetorical device that Franklin uses in his reference to the
words of “a certain French lady” in paragraph 2? Tone is the rhetorical strategy he
employs since it has the ability to persuade the audience with its tone, which can be
ironic, serious, humorous, and so on. But it can also be a concession as well as an
metonymy.

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