Matthew Piazza

Mr. Wolfe

English 101 – English 101 Lab

24 Sept. 2023

Rhetorical Analysis: Instruments used in Elie Wiesel’s Piece

1. Introduction

A. Elie Wiesel’s piece contains three main components named rhetorical devices.

B. Elie Wiesel is a Jewish man, and he is a holocaust survivor.

C. In this speech, he talks about his camp experience and people's indifference.

D. Eli Wiesel uses effective rhetoric in his piece, exemplified by purpose, pathos, and

imagery.

2. Body Paragraph 1: Rhetorical Situation

A. Pathos

B. Elie Wiesel uses Pathos which means emotion, lots of emotion is captured in this

speech by talking about his experiences and visions he saw in the camp.

C. Evidence: (Pathos has been highlighted)

1. Elie Talks about the Rage the U.S. Soldiers had when they found the Camps

2. Elie shows Gratitude to the U.S. for helping him

3. “Their lives are meaningless.” This is a quote from Wiesel in his speech talking

about how the prisoners in the camp felt.

D. He creates a speech targeting emotion by talking about certain events in history

that are very sad.

 E. Elie Wiesel uses a lot of pathos in his speech to capture emotion.

F. The speech Elie Wiesel persuades the audience through emotion.

3. Body Paragraph 2 Purpose

A. Elie Wiesel’s purpose of the speech is to talk about the indifference of people.

B. Elie Wiesel talks about the indifference of people throughout his speech.

C. Evidence Support (Highlighted)

1. Talks about the meaning of indifference.

2. “Indifference then is not only a sin it’s a punishment.”

3. “What is the difference? Etymologically, the word means no difference.”

D. He is trying to persuade the audience that indifference is wrong, and it is

dangerous.

E. The purpose of Elie Wiesel’s speech is to inform the audience about the meaning

of indifference and how evil it is.

F. Elie Wiesel talks about the indifference of people and how nothing good comes

out of the word and it only brings pain and despair.

Body Paragraph 3 Imagery

A. Imagery is captured by Elie Wiesel through talking about different types of

scenes throughout the past.

B. Elie describes certain locations from the past such as Auschwitz and events

that occurred there and through the 20th Century.

C. Evidence (Highlighted)
 1. Imagery to describe the homeless refugees and hungry children.

2. He describes the scene of the death camp named Auschwitz.

3. Imagery of God’s abandonment or punishment

D. Elie Wiesel uses visual imagery of sadness to describe the 20th century.

E. Elie Wiesel uses visual imagery that describes different scenes or events

throughout the 20th century to capture the scene to the audience.

F. The speech allows the audience to look back in time from Wiesel’s point of

view by describing different events and images in the 20th century.

V. Conclusion

A. Eli Wesel creates a speech to persuade the audience by using pathos for

emotion, purpose to talk about indifference, and imagery to capture vision through

his eyes of the 20th century.

B. Elie Wiesel’s piece “The Perils of Indifference”, contains rhetorical devices

such as purpose, pathos, and imagery.

C. Elie Wiesel’s piece has much significance because he captures the audience's

attention in a unique manner. He spreads emotion through the crowd by talking

about his past experiences and what he saw in those camps. His purpose in his

speech is to talk about how the word indifference can be such an evil word that

causes pain and despair. Finally, he uses imagery to describe scenes of locations
and events that happened in the 20th century to allow the audience to see through

his eyes.
 Work Cited

Wiesel, Elie “Perils of Difference.” 12 April 1999,

https://www.btboces.org/Downloads/2_The%20Perils%20of

%20Indifference%20by%20Elie%20Wiesel.pdf. PDF file.