Assertion Analysis #6

" I am tired of fighting. Our Chiefs are killed; Looking Glass is dead, Ta Hool Hool Shute is dead. The old men are all dead. It is the young men who say yes or no. He who led on the young men is dead. It is cold, and we have no blankets; the little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills, and have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are - perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children, and see how many of them I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my Chiefs! I am tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever"- Chief Joseph

Chief Joseph is giving a speech about how he is tired of fighting, and wants to fight no more. Many of his people are dying, many are already gone. The old men have all died and only young are left. It is also winter in this time of war, and it has become so cold that they are not only dying of war but also of cold. He can no longer handle all the deaths that have happened and he wants to stop the fighting for all those who are still left can flee and attempt to avoid death. He no longer wants to be in war, he wishes for those who remain alive to stay alive, so there with be no more pain. The war has brought his heart to be sick and sad. He wants to end the fight and go on to find those who have run away before and see if they are still alive. Chief Joseph hopes for the tribe to back down of the fight and run away to be safe and out of harm's way. 

Chief Joseph seems to have a negative tone. He lacks hope, is depressed and continue to use the words death and dead. He uses colloquial speech, by being simple so that everyone understands what he is saying. He uses syntax by giving descriptions and then going to his main point. His syntax also includes exclamation, he yells for the people to here  what he has to say. Chief Joseph uses imagery when describing the things that are happening around him such as "freezing to death" and "among the dead." When using imagery Chief Joseph also uses pathos and draws out emotions from the crowds heart to convince them that a lot of damage has been done and that they should stop to fight to avoid more harm. He uses diction in repeating words like dead, tired, fighting, no, killed, and  freezing. He also uses diction by speaking in first person. His speech sets the readers/listeners mood to that of depression, sadness, and possibly sympathetic due to the diction he uses. He also uses logos by using reasoning to convince his audience, such as the freezing children. And lastly he uses ethos by taking ownership in the problem by using "my" and "I." Chief Joseph uses all 3 forms of persuasion for people to stop fighting. 

Assertion Analysis: #5

“Before our white brothers arrived to make us civilized men, we didn't have any kind of prison. Because of this, we had no delinquents. Without a prison, there can be no delinquents. We had no locks nor keys and therefore among us there were no thieves. When someone was so poor that he couldn't afford a horse, a tent or a blanket, he would, in that case, receive it all as a gift. We were too uncivilized to give great importance to private property. We didn't know any kind of money and consequently, the value of a human being was not determined by his wealth. We had no written laws laid down, no lawyers, no politicians, therefore we were not able to cheat and swindle one another. We were really in bad shape before the white men arrived and I don't know how to explain how we were able to manage without these fundamental things that (so they tell us) are so necessary for a civilized society.”- John Lame Deer (Lakota)

In Lakota's assertion he is talking about the value of people and how things were changing at the white mans arrival. The white man came to the land and brought their ideas of wealth. It was quite confusing to the natives, because they were used to sharing, and giving to others, the total opposite to the white civilization. Their idea of "civilized" was quite surprising to the natives because if such things were to be done in their society, it would be morally incorrect. The white man ideal causes for negative things, while the Native ways are quite positive. The white man civilization "cheats and swindles one another," and encourages ideas of "private property" and of everything's mine. On the other hand, natives had no prison, no lawyers, no politicians, no money, no wealth, no locks, nor keys, and would help the poor. He claims that according to white men they were "uncivilized" but to the natives the white form of civilization was quite horrific.  

Lakota also uses rhetorical and literary devices such as syntax, anaphora, tone, parallelism, connotation, imagery, logos, and pathos. He uses syntax by structuring his sentences by listing reasons and giving descriptions before he makes his point."No written laws laid down, no lawyers, no politicians," in this section of the quote Lakota uses anaphora when listing this, giving equal importance to everything he lists after the first term. He uses parallelism through the text by structuring his sentences and verbs in a way that gives great sound, and rhyme. He uses connotation when using the words "civilized and uncivilized," meaning he's being non-literal towards the matter. Lakota uses pathos at the beginning of his assertion when he talks about the poor man and how kind natives are, drawing emotion to the reader. At the same time Lakota uses Imagery, when he describes the whites natives ways of living. He uses logos in his assertion as well when he gives reasons why they wee said to be "uncivilized" and when he gives reason to why the white men where "civilized." One of the main rhetorical devices Lakota uses is tone. Throughout the whole assertion/quote Lakota uses a sarcastic tone when talking about the natives and how "uncivilized" they were. "We were really in bad shape before the white men arrived and I don't know how to explain how we were able to manage without these fundamental things that (so they tell us) are so necessary for a civilized society.” In the last sentence of the assertion, one can tell Lakota is being sarcastic due to the diction he uses and as he had said before in previous context, it is quite obvious that the native way was far better than the white's civilization ideas.