Write A Rhetoric Analysis Of The Poem A Time To Kill (Article Critique Sample)

Rhetoric analysis of “A Time to Kill”
Student’s Name
Institution
Rhetoric Analysis of “A Time to Kill”
First-degree murder is a difficult case to defend, especially when the defendant admits to having committed the crime (Greenfield, Osborn & Robson, 2010). The movie A Time to Kill, features an African- American girl, Tonya who is violently raped by two white supremacists, Cobb and Willard. They attempt to kill her after the ordeal but fail. Carl Lee, Tonya’s father finds out that the two rapists stand a chance to walk free after which he goes to the police station where the two had been detained and kills them using an automatic rifle (Greenfield, Osborn & Robson, 2010). Afterward, he contacts a white lawyer, Jake Brigance, who agrees to defend him. To achieve that, Jake Brigance utilizes Ethos, pathos, and logos to convince the jury that Carl Lee was justified to kill the rapists and should not be punished for their murder.
In the beginning, Brigance starts talking about the logical analysis of he has done on the case that makes him stand at Lee's defensive position. He expresses his responsibility as a lawyer not only to talk about the truth but also to seek and find it. Brigance says that in his already set out colloquial tone and language. He also apologizes for what Carl Lee did. By saying that, Brigance not only appears humble and modest before the Jury but also creates a notion that he is reliable and trustworthy (Pribram, 2012). Brigance says that if Tonya would be mature enough, he would not be defending Carl. By saying that, he creates an impression of a wise and knowledgeable man thus builds a sense of respect for his professionalism as a lawyer (Greenfield, Osborn & Robson, 2010).
In the middle, Brigance makes reference to God as he reads to put the responsibility of the judiciary to make all people equal before the law. This helps him to express the cultural and religious role in the South (Pribram, 2012). When he says that the black man would receive a fair trial in the South, he simply challenges the white jury to deliver justice to the black man irrespective of his race. He also reinstates the role of the judiciary to seek the truth with hearts rather than the eyes and the ears that would incorporate fear, hate, and commonality into bigotry. By saying that, he sweeps the Jury from the common law that expresses murder as a crime and creates an environment for critical analysis of the series of happenings that led to the crime (Pribram, 2012).
After doing creating a reasoning environment, he then uses an emotional story to persuade the jury. He even asks them to close their eyes as he tells them the story. In the story, he pictures every brutal detail that happens vividly without mercy. He creates a peaceful environment of a sunny day and a young innocent girl who is coming from a grocery. Then, he changes the environment suddenly and introduces the rape ordeal using brutal words such as "rip", "Vicious" and "shattering". By doing that, he portrays rapists as beasts instead ...