Have not I commanded thee?
Be strong and of a good courage;
be not afraid, neither be though dismayed:
for the Lord thy God is with thee withersoever thou goest.
Joshua 1:9
Erotema: The rhetorical question. To affirm or deny a point strongly by asking it as a question.*
This scripture opens with a rhetorical question. Today, we use rhetorical questions to state something that is common knowledge. By opening this scripture in this way, he is inviting the command to be strong and courageous to become something we just know.
Similarity/ Difference: That topic of invention which invites us to consider how something compares and contrasts with others. *
This scripture eloquently defines strength and courage by stating what wouldn't be considered strong and courageous. By doing this, the reader is held responsible for figuring out how to fulfill this command by inferring the opposites of "fear" and "dismay".
Affirmatio: A general figure of emphasis that describes when one states something as though it had been in dispute or in answer to a question, though it has not been.*
This could be a misinterpretation on my part, but when I read this verse, I read the last line as a clarification of who the Lord is, and felt affirmation of something I already knew to be true. He is your God. This has a very authoritative feel to it and generates quite a different feeling from the rhetorical question that opened. To me, this use of affirmatio was a much gentler way of calling someone to remembrance of things they should already know.
*All definitions gotten from silva rhetorica*
I really like how you made your post very reader-friendly with the spacing between paragraphs and the different color coding. Adding to that was the actual analysis of the scripture, which broke down the structure so that I could clearly see all of its parts. After that, it was easy to study the various components comprising the verse. Of note, you calling to attention the erotema was perhaps the most interesting to me. Reading through the passage, I wasn't really looking for a rhetorical question, but there it was! From that, I also realized that I have been taking the term "rhetorical question: for granted. Throughout life, people always hear the phrase, but the actual meaning might sometimes be overlooked. I felt like I saw something in front of me in a new light, though it had been staring me in the face for years. I don't know if you were expecting me to go into such length, but good job!
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting analysis with the affirmatio! I think you're definitely right, that this phrase is the kind of "increase of love" after chastisement that the Lord talks about D&C 121:43. It's an authoritative but soft way to say that the Lord is ours. We should thus trust Him and be comforted, but also know that we are accountable to Him. Really nice job in general. Like Thomas said, everything in your post is set up and written very clearly.
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