Purpose:
Authors use amplification to add more color to their writing. Typically, using amplification involves adding more words than necessary to amplify a statement. Amplification is important to avoid simplistic writing and is extremely useful in strengthening an argument or statement. It would be considered useful during a situation where an argument needs support, for example a speech or a journal, because it provides additional thought-provoking words or statements. Amplification often helps to bring attention to what is considered to be the most important in a piece of writing.
It is important to note that amplification is not always necessary. In scientific writing, such as lab reports or documents, scientists have to keep their writing more succinct. Similar to news articles, people reading scientific articles are often not looking for flowing words to extend the writing, but rather short and to the point writing.
Steps for Analysis:
Identify what type of writing is being analyzed. Consider if it is some form of political or persuasive piece of writing, if it is, it is likely that the speaker would utilize amplification.
Determine if the author is trying to put stress on the topic and strengthen their argument by extending their writing.
Identify the amplification by looking for extended sentences with descriptive words.
Determine whether or not the sentence can be condensed more to make it more to the point. If it contains more words than necessary, it likely is due to amplification.
Here are some questions to begin the analysis:
Why would the author want to strengthen their argument?
What are the words that extend the statement and make it more descriptive?
What words strengthen the argument or statement?
Example from Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” Speech:
“But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.”
"Martin Luther King, Jr." American Rhetoric, 4 Feb. 2022, www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm. Accessed 1 Sept. 2022.
Analysis of Passage:
The chosen excerpt is from Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Political speeches are filled with amplification because it provides more strength to an argument and more descriptive words to grab the attention of the audience. King uses repetition and the use of multiple, extended sentences to share his statement that would otherwise not necessarily need to be extended to such length. He highlights the different ways that Black people have been discriminated against at length, with the purpose of fully displaying their poor treatment and how the treatment has not changed as time has passed. The use of amplification in King’s speech elevates his statement to have a more meaningful impact on the audience. The continuous repetition of the words, “One hundred years later”, followed by different examples, is helpful in aiding King’s claim and provides the audience with more evidence of the poor treatment of Black people in America.
Although the additional examples and strong language were not technically necessary to make King’s point clear, it was beneficial to the overall message of the speech, which is the main purpose of amplification. It would not have been possible to completely display the pain that King felt without the use of amplification in his speech.
Taylor P.