Texas Vs Johnson Rhetorical Analysis

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There are many differences in tone between Texas v. Johnson, and The American Flag Stands for Tolerance. The court opinion of the case Texas v. Johnson, has a very formal tone. The seminal document starts off immediately with and interesting first word, “We.” The word “we” implies that the court is working together on this case, not alone. A beginning example of the formal tone would be the word choices of “decline”, and “therefore,” which both sound formal, and it sounds as if they are being as careful as possible to not offend anybody reading the document. Instead of using informal language such as “cook up,” or “throw together,” they use the word “create,” which is an interesting choice, yet a calm word. Yet another choice of words that they use, would be “exception,” which yet again, is formal and not an everyday word. Finally, what is probably the most interesting word choice, is the use of the word “joust.” Reading the document which is formal, this word seems out of place, because it is a more colorful word than one such as competition. While the document Texas v. Johnson has a formal tone, the article The American Flag Stands for Tolerance, is more colloquial. The word choice expresses this very well. The word choices such as “disagreement”, and “crucial …show more content…

Texas v. Johnson’s tone is formal and serious. This tone fits the context because the Court is the people writing the document. The court does their best to not offend anyone in the document so as to get the information out without causing a riot. The American Flag Stands for Tolerance’s tone is more colloquial so as to reach the same level as the readers. The writers of The American Flag Stands for Tolerance wrote this document, using the opinions of the people so as to reach out to the readers. These are examples of tone being affected by context in the documents Texas v. Johnson, and The American Flag Stands for

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