First Assignment Question #1

 I think that Burke looks at this piece from a rhetorical perspective because he wants to create internal questions in the reader. Instead of simply bashing Hitler, Burke wants people to think about how they might have reacted if they had been German citizens at the time. It’s easy to say now that you wouldn’t have gone along with the Third Reich and their policies, but when you think about how terribly convincing Hitler was, you may have to rethink whether or not you would have been a follower. Burke does a great job of conveying his disapproval for Hitler, but at the same time still leaving an opening for people to interpret the writings in their own way.

Hitler responds to the exigence that is the Jewish race by creating propaganda about them and spreading it to the German people. He is able to do this so effectively because he talks about how evil and disgusting the Jews are and then he says that the solution to this problem is the German people. He says that the Aryan race is able to “hate the Jewish hate” because they are “vessels of love”. By almost putting a positive spin on it, Hitler is more effective in persuading people to follow his message. He puts down the opposition while increasing the positive feelings toward the Germans.

Some appeals that Hitler makes to his audience, which is the German people, are the descriptions of the Aryan race. He describes them as superior to all other races and compliments them numerous times throughout the excerpt. Also, he talks negatively about the Jews throughout the paper, calling them dirty, sinners, and inferior.