Which rhetorical device uses exaggeration?
Read the excerpt from Alexander the Great’s speech at Opis.These services rendered you by my father are substantial enough when considered in isolation, but they pale into insignificance in comparison with my own. . . . An immediate first act was to open up for you the channel of the Hellespont, despite Persia’s naval supremacy at the time. My cavalry then defeated the satraps of Darius and I added to your empire the whole of Ionia, the whole of Aeolis, both Phrygias, and Lydia, and captured Miletus by siege. Other regions placed themselves voluntarily in my hands, and in every case I let you profit from them.
Read the excerpt from Pericles’s funeral oration by Thucydides.We do not say that a man who takes no interest in politics is a man who minds his own business; we say that he has no business here at all.
Read the excerpt from Pericles’s funeral oration by Thucydides.When our work is over, we are in a position to enjoy all kinds of recreation for our spirits. There are various kinds of contests and sacrifices regularly throughout the year; in our own homes we find a beauty and a good taste which delight us every day and which drive away our cares. Then the greatness of our city [Athens] brings it about that all the good things from all over the world flow in to us, so that to us it seems just as natural to enjoy foreign goods as our own local products.
Read the excerpt from Pericles’s funeral oration by Thucydides.Here is a proof of this: When the Spartans invade our land, they do not come by themselves, but bring all their allies with them; whereas we, when we launch an attack abroad, do the job by ourselves, and, though fighting on foreign soil, do not often fail to defeat opponents who are fighting for their own hearths and homes. As a matter of fact none of our enemies has ever yet been confronted with our total strength, because we have to divide our attention between our navy and the many missions on which our troops are sent on land.
Read the excerpt from Pericles’s funeral oration by Thucydides.Make up your minds that happiness depends on being free, and freedom depends on being courageous. Let there be no relaxation in face of the perils of the war. The people who have most excuse for despising death are not the wretched and unfortunate, who have no hope of doing well for themselves, but those who run the risk of a complete reversal in their lives, and who would feel the difference most intensely, if things went wrong for them. Any intelligent man would find a humiliation caused by his own slackness more painful to bear than death, when death comes to him unperceived, in battle, and in the confidence of his patriotism.
Read the excerpt from Alexander the Great’s speech at Opis.In my case I have been wounded in every part of my body except my back; every sort of weapon wielded or shot has left its mark on me; I have been cut by swords hand-to-hand, shot by arrows, struck by catapult bolts, taken innumerable blows from stones and clubs—all this in your interests, to win you fame and riches as I lead you victorious over every land and sea, every river, mountain, and plain.
Read the excerpt from Alexander the Great’s speech at Opis.Philip gave you cloaks to wear instead of skins, he brought you down from the mountains into the plains, he turned you into a fighting force ready to match your barbarian neighbours, with a security now based on trust in your own native courage rather than the strength of defensive positions: he made you city-dwellers and gave you the benefits of law and a civilized way of life.
Read the excerpt from Alexander the Great’s speech at Opis.He [Philip] brought under your control those same barbarians who used to raid you and take your people and property, so you were now their masters, not their slaves and subjects. He enlarged Macedonia by annexing most of Thrace, and took possession of the key positions on the seaboard, so opening the country to trade and removing any threat to the exploitation of your mines.
What is the speaker’s purpose in a speech?
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