Block Day: Rhetoric Notes and Continued Rhetorical Analysis of "Sinners"

We started Wednesday/Thursday by finishing our emotional appeals graphic organizer. Click here to read "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" by Jonathon Edwards.

Then, we took some notes about Rhetoric. Some of this information is new, some is not. Below is the presentation from class. We went through the powerpoint and took notes on this handout.



After completing the notes, we went back into the text of "Sinners" and found examples of every rhetorical device from the notes. If you didn't finish finding all the rhetorical devices, you need to do this before class on Friday.

"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"

Today, we read "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" by Jonathon Edwards. This document is an excerpt of the 6-hour sermon he delivered in July of 1741.

We read the sermon and started a rhetorical analysis. Edwards' whole purpose for writing and delivering this sermon was to scare his fellow Puritans into reforming their ways and being stricter with their religion. To scare them, he repeatedly calls them "sinners" and discusses the various ways in which he believes God is going to condemn them to an eternity in hell. It's pretty bleak, to be honest.

Appealing to your audience's emotions is one way to get your point across, and Edwards did this by appealing to their fear, pity, and guilt. We used this emotional appeals worksheet to find examples of Edwards' use of emotional appeals, which we also call pathos.