Rhetorical Analysis Of The Communist Manifesto By Karl Marx

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In the beginning of the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution caused a massive economic spike from small-scale production to large factories and mass production. Capitalism became the prevalent mode of the economy, which put all means of production in the hands of the bourgeoisie, or the upper class. Karl Marx and Frederick Engels argue that capitalism centralizes all the wealth and power in the bourgeoisie, despite the proletariat, or the working class, being the overwhelming majority of the population. The manufacturers would exploit the common proletariat and force them to would work in abysmal conditions and receive low wages, furthering the working class poverty. “The Communist Manifesto” predicts that as a result of the mistreatment …show more content…

Marx and Engels utilize three rhetorical strategies, pathos, ethos, and logos, to better explain and inform the goals of communism to the world to dispel false ideas of the political theory, and to persuade the modern proletariat to revolutionize against …show more content…

Marx and Engels then follow with a series of rhetorical questions: “Where is the party in opposition that has not been decried as communistic by its opponents in power? Where is the opposition that has not been hurled back from the branding reproach of communism, against the more advanced opposition parties, as well as against its reactionary adversaries (1)?” Combined with the notion that holding power leads to corruption and immorality, the questions asked presents the reader with the impression that the communist party is being purposefully targeted by influential authorities. Marx and Engels further appeal to the emotions of their readers by adding that “The bourgeoisie, wherever it has got the upper hand, has put an end to all feudal, patriarchal, idyllic relations. It has… left remaining no other nexus between man and man than naked self-interest, than callous “cash payment”(4).” Evidently, the writers intend to shock and enrage their audience into action. The second rhetoric strategy Marx and Engels employ is ethos, the credibility and trustworthiness of the

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