Analysis of Phiny’s Letter to Trajan
* Type your paper in Times New Roman or Arial 12-point font, double-spaced. This includes the heading. The font should be consistent throughout
* Number pages using MLA format
* Give the paper a title
* Use 1” margins on all four sides
* Use MLA documentation to credit all sources, including lecture and Internet material.
Prompt: This assignment asks you to focus on one primary source text and write a short essay analyzing its purpose, rhetorical strategies, and how it is written to accomplish its aim. You will make an argument about what your analysis reveals about the text and its historical context.
Text assigned: Pliny, Letter to Trajan
Note: Do not use sources outside of the course for this assignment, the primary focus is your analysis of the assigned text.
The final draft of the essay will need to include the following elements:
* An introduction that summarizes the text, provides necessary context and states a thesis that makes an argument about what your analysis reveals about the text and its historical context. In order to make this argument, you’ll need to answer the following questions for the assigned text:
1. What conversation is the text entering, and how does the author try to position themselves in that conversation?
2. What audience is the author addressing?
3. What argument is the text making?
4. What rhetorical strategies (pathos, ethos, logos) does the author use to make the argument convincing?
5. How do rhetorical choices, such as genre, organization, tone, style, and word choice relate to its purpose?
* Body paragraphs that analyze the text, either by themes or patterns, or section by section, with evidence cited from the text. Include topic sentences that tie each paragraph to your thesis
* A conclusion that non-repetitively and briefly restates your thesis and discusses the significance of your analysis
500-600 words
Instructor’s Name
Course Code
Date:
Analysis of Phiny’s Letter to Trajan
Phiny’s Letter to Trajan is one of the many letters written by the author to make consultation regarding administrative matters in Roman society during the beginning of the 2nd century CE and the end of the 1st century CE (Firth 1). In this letter, Phiny, the governor of the Roman province of Bithynia, admits his unfamiliarity with precedents regarding the degree of punishment for Christians. As a figure of authority in this society, he writes to the emperor regarding several issues within the legal proceedings of Christian offenders. He questions whether anyone who claims to be a Christian should face the same degree of punishment. The letter further questions whether Christians who do not engage in crimes related to the name should be punished and if those who recanted should be pardoned. Finally, Phiny also craves advice on how to deal with Christians whose names were stated by anonymous accusers. The utilization of ethos, pathos, and logos, as well as a great choice of words, style, tone, genre, and organization, offers a convincing argument that solicits a clear response from the emperor.
The use of pathos to persuade the emperor is clear when Phiny brings out the issue of the anonymous listing of Christians as offenders. The author argues that some reported cases involved people who had recanted the Christian faith 20 years back (Firth 2). It is clear, therefore, that Phiny describes the practice of punishing anonymously listed Christians as heartbreaking. He states that many people of all ages are faced with the danger of being prosecuted unfairly if the trend continues. Similarly, mentioning how people who had recanted 20 years back faced th...