John Adams Speech Analysis

In the movie, Mr. Adams mainly used pathos and ethos in his speech to persuade all delegates in the congress to declare independence.

Many pathos tools were used by Mr. Adams such as volume control, belief and so on. In this speech, he well controlled his volume. He turned the volume down while talking about the cost for the revolution, but he emphasized the expectation of his audience through turning the volume up many key words like “free country” and “republic”. This volume control method really helped him move the emotion of audience, made them get ready for the independence and gave them more confidence to participate the revolution.

Besides volume control, he also used belief to persuade audience in the congress. He stirred the emotion of audience by using their unhappy experience in colonies and gave them the expectation of freedom. This pathos tool stimulated audience to join the revolution.

Moreover, meet the expectation of audience was also an ethos tool to persuade people in the congress. Mr. Adams built his credibility by talking about a free country and the benefits of the independence. Those things are the expectations of audience.

What’s more? Mr. Adams said he would use his whole life for a free country. This promise would help him gain more trust since his words seem like no trick and a kind of personal sacrifice.

With these four tools and some other rhetorical appeal tools, Mr. Adams had a wonderful speech in the congress and successfully persuaded the delegates from other states to join the revolution of independence.