Rhetorical Modes

Machiavelli’s “The Morals of the Prince” listed in the Norton Reader under Politics and Government. It was first published in 1532. In "The Morals of the Prince," the rhetorical mode utilized is that of argumentation. Machiavelli seeks to effectively exert expert opinion arguments. With expert opinion argumentation, there is a rationale that lends itself to one knowing wholeheartedly that the same conclusion will be reached every time irrespective of what preceded said conclusion. From this rationale, Machiavelli states that princes must operate within a certain framework on multiple topics including doing good or "learn[ing] how not to be good; liberality and stinginess; cruelty and clemency; [and] keeping their word" (Machiavelli). Much of Machiavelli's arguments lie in the fact that it is better to be bad than good; in other words, it is ideal to be adored and feared, but difficult to be both concepts. While such a rhetorical mode of argumentation can be made for some individuals and in certain circumstances, that rhetorical mode of argumentation does not lend itself to being true for all individuals and in all circumstances. One may also state that Machiavelli uses exemplification in the essay as well. An example of this is with the statement "any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good" (Machiavelli). Essentially, Machiavelli is trying to persuade the reader to believe that by possessing the property of power to do either good or bad, the prince exemplifies that power.

H. Bruce Franklin's "From Realism to Virtual Reality: Images of America's Wars" is listed in the Norton Reader under History. It was first published in the spring of 1994. In Franklin's essay, there are rhetorical modes that are used are argumentation, description, exposition, and narration. Much of Franklin's expression is that of a narrator with heavy description such as "World War I generated millions of still photographs, many showing scenes at least as ghastly as the corpse-strewn battlefields of the Civil War" (Franklin) and "in the United States the most important photographic images were movies designed to inflame the nation, first to enter the war and then to support it" (Franklin). These statements are also argumentation in that Franklin tries to persuade the reader on the ways by which war has been captured within the realm of visual arts. Franklin also utilizes exposition in how he informs his audience of the aesthetics and presentation that is captured in war imagery.

Works Cited

Franklin, H B. "From Realism to Virtual Reality: Images of America's Wars." The Norton Reader: An Anthology of Nonfiction. Ed. Linda Peterson. 13th. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2011. Print.

Machiavelli, Niccolò. "The Morals of the Prince." The Norton Reader: An Anthology of Nonfiction. Ed. Linda Peterson. 13th. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2011. Print.