The genre of The Declaration of Independence is political. The author, Thomas Jefferson, wrote with diction that is very elevated, because it was written to the king of England and meant to be taken seriously. Also, the diction includes a lot of loaded language, to convey that the leaders of the Continental Congress have seriously considered breaking from England and that they are angry because of the way the English government has treated the colonies. The speakers are the people of the United States. Even though it was written by the men of the Continental Congress, they are writing on behalf of all of the American people. The occasion of this writing is the Revolutionary War; being written because Americans were ready to be independent from Great Britain who had mistreated their colonies with excessive taxation and oppression.
The speaker reviews all of the past mistreatments that the colonies have suffered by Britain, and puts them in list form. The declaration is directed at King George III, and addresses him particularly in the list of grievances. At this time, many colonists who had originally wanted to remain English subjects, but just wanted a voice in their government, were now fed up with their circumstances and had patriotic feelings of wanting freedom. I can assume that the audience, King George III is a very severe ruler who didn't tolerate any nonsense from his subjects. I can infer this because the declaration lists out many reasons why the colonists feel that they are justified in demanding freedom from him. The declaration also uses loaded language which probably angered the king; including calling him a tyrant.
Works Cited:
Jefferson, Thomas. "The Declaration of Independence." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association, 04 July 1776. Web. 04 Oct. 2015. <http://www.ushistory.org/Declaration/document/>.
The speaker reviews all of the past mistreatments that the colonies have suffered by Britain, and puts them in list form. The declaration is directed at King George III, and addresses him particularly in the list of grievances. At this time, many colonists who had originally wanted to remain English subjects, but just wanted a voice in their government, were now fed up with their circumstances and had patriotic feelings of wanting freedom. I can assume that the audience, King George III is a very severe ruler who didn't tolerate any nonsense from his subjects. I can infer this because the declaration lists out many reasons why the colonists feel that they are justified in demanding freedom from him. The declaration also uses loaded language which probably angered the king; including calling him a tyrant.
Works Cited:
Jefferson, Thomas. "The Declaration of Independence." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association, 04 July 1776. Web. 04 Oct. 2015. <http://www.ushistory.org/Declaration/document/>.