Artistic Style in Ho Chi Minh's Rhetorical Discourse through the Declaration of Independence

Assignment: Artistic Style in Ho Chi Minh's Rhetorical Discourse through the Declaration of Independence

Artistic Style in Ho Chi Minh's Rhetorical Discourse through the Declaration of Independence

I. Outline: Artistic Style in Ho Chi Minh's Rhetorical Discourse through the Declaration of Independence

1. Introduction

- Introduction to the work and the author, Ho Chi Minh

2. Body

a. Historical Context of the Declaration of Independence:
+ Penned when Uncle Ho returned from Viet Bac to his residence at 48 Hang Ngang, Hanoi on August 26, 1945, after our forces took control of Hanoi on August 19, 1945.
+ On September 2, 1945, Uncle Ho stood before millions of Vietnamese people at Ba Dinh Square, reading the Declaration of Independence, heralding the birth of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

b. Significance:
+ The Declaration of Independence proclaimed to the world the birth of the Vietnamese state, independence, and sovereignty.
+ It accused the French colonialists and Japanese fascists of their crimes and eradicated French privileges in Vietnam.
+ Affirmed the unwavering determination of our nation to defend our homeland to the end.
=> The Declaration of Independence was written with the exceptional rhetorical penmanship of Ho Chi Minh, affirming his artistic style in rhetorical discourse.

c. Artistic Style in Ho Chi Minh's Rhetorical Discourse:
- Ho Chi Minh demonstrates concise and highly understandable writing:
+ The Declaration is just under two pages long, with 1010 words and 49 sentences, yet it encompasses the entirety of Vietnamese national independence from a legal standpoint.
+ The content is condensed in each sentence, summarizing over eighty years of Vietnamese history under French colonial and Japanese fascist rule into 622 words.
+ Uncle Ho used 186 words to affirm Vietnam's independence and freedom, based on international legal grounds, referencing the Declarations of Independence from France and the United States.
+ In 58 words, Uncle Ho succinctly annulled the constraints France imposed on us for nearly a century.
+ 144 words were employed by Uncle Ho to affirm the strength of Vietnamese will, spirit, and the future of the Vietnamese homeland.
=> Each issue he addressed is expressed succinctly, understandably, and simply, backed by undeniable evidence.

- Ho Chi Minh's language is exceedingly simple, rustic, easy to understand, and listen to:
- The arguments in the Declaration of Independence are extremely tight and persuasive to the listener:
+ Regarding the nation's independence, Uncle Ho cites excerpts from the declarations of two civilized nations, France and the United States, to prove his point.
+ Concerning the atrocities of the enemy, Uncle Ho specifies their heinous crimes in each aspect and emphasizes the consequences they leave behind.
=> With his razor-sharp rhetorical pen, Ho Chi Minh forcefully accuses the enemy and the success of the August Revolution with just nine words 'French ran ...abdicating,' heralding the birth of a new nation: the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

d. General Conclusion:

- Ho Chi Minh's rhetorical penmanship is remarkably distinctive, with a very unique style.

3. Conclusion

- Reaffirming the Issue

II. Sample Essay: Artistic Style in Ho Chi Minh's Rhetorical Discourse through the Declaration of Independence

Ho Chi Minh - the great leader of our nation, not only an outstanding military-political figure but also a poet, writer, leaving extremely profound imprints. His creative career is quite extensive, not only in stories, diaries but also in poetry and very distinctive essays. His works all reflect a very unique, very Ho Chi Minh style. With poetry, he carefully crafts each line, both beautiful and simple; with stories, he writes humorously yet full of sarcasm and mockery; and with his essays, he adopts a very different style - concise, succinct, yet persuasive. And this is clearly demonstrated in the Declaration of Independence that he read on September 2, 1945.

In our nation's history, there are three poetic works recognized as the Declarations of Independence of the country: Nam Quoc Son Ha by Ly Thuong Kiet, Binh Ngo Dai Cao by Nguyen Trai, and the Declaration of Independence by Ho Chi Minh. However, while the former two were written in poetry, Ho Chi Minh wrote his work in the form of essays.

Ho Chi Minh wrote the Declaration of Independence immediately after returning from the Viet Bac battlefield to Hanoi, at 48 Hang Ngang Street. On September 2, 1945, he read that Declaration of Independence to the entire Vietnamese people at historic Ba Dinh Square, heralding the birth of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

The Declaration of Independence is the proclamation of the Vietnamese people to the world of the birth of a young nation, independent and sovereign, after eighty years of French colonial rule. It also accuses the invaders of their heinous crimes against the country and the Vietnamese people and affirms the unity, patriotism, and fighting spirit of our nation against any invaders!

Ho Chi Minh wrote the Declaration of Independence with his exceptionally sharp rhetorical pen, affirming his very own artistic style in rhetorical discourse. It's concise, succinct yet simple and understandable, expressed in plain language, with a strong and resolute tone. Furthermore, he presented extremely sharp, tight, and persuasive arguments to the audience. Moreover, his writing style is interspersed with various rhetorical devices.

Ho Chi Minh always believed that his pen was for the people, for the masses, 'writing for the vast majority of the people to read,' 'writing to serve the people,' so each of his works is carefully crafted, choosing words and writing style to be as concise as possible. Like the Declaration of Independence, a document that gave birth to a nation, it's only 1010 words long with just 49 short sentences, yet it contains extremely profound content. It's not only the most concise summary of the August Revolution but also a statement that the Vietnamese people have been waiting for nearly a century.

The content of the Declaration of Independence is condensed in every word, with not a single superfluous word in this document. Firstly, in affirming the independence of our nation, Ho Chi Minh provided international legal grounds by referencing the declarations of independence of the United States and France. With just 186 words, he used these declarations to assert the right to independence, freedom, and happiness for the Vietnamese people.

Moreover, he also continued to present accusations against the crimes committed by French colonialists against our country over the past eighty years. These crimes are evident in all aspects—political, economic, and social. In each part, Ho Chi Minh used concise statements followed by four or five sentences to encapsulate all the main points of French colonial crimes. He also clearly delineated each section for better understanding. Every crime of the colonial invaders is depicted sharply, concisely, yet clearly.

Furthermore, with just 58 words, he completely abolished all constraints and agreements imposed by French colonialists on our country for nearly a century. 'Therefore, we, the provisional government of the new Vietnam, representing all Vietnamese people, declare the complete separation from France, abolishing all agreements that France has signed regarding Vietnam, abolishing all privileges of France in Vietnamese territory.' Concise yet persuasive, succinct, and extremely clear, Vietnam officially escaped from the yoke of colonialism that French colonialists had built on our country for so long.

Not only extremely concise, Ho Chi Minh also used language in the Declaration that was very easy to understand because he said he 'wrote to serve the masses.' In the context of that time, our country had just gone through a war, with over two million compatriots dying of starvation, still impoverished and backward. Therefore, not everyone had the opportunity to receive education. Hence, he explained in the simplest, most understandable language, easy to grasp, so that all Vietnamese people could understand the significance of this Declaration. As for the enemy, every word he wrote was like an arrow, a powerful and sharp weapon striking at the invaders and traitors.

Each word chosen by Ho Chi Minh is meticulously selected to carry profound meaning, such as the word 'bathe.' This is one of the most valuable words in the work, 'they bathe our uprisings in blood'! Just one word, but it highlights the brutality of the invading enemy towards our people, their ruthless oppression of the uprisings. Therefore, it can be said that every word, every sentence, every letter in Ho Chi Minh's Declaration of Independence evokes admiration and pride.

Not only concise and meaningful with words that are easy to understand, Ho Chi Minh's political essays in general, and the Declaration of Independence in particular, also evoke awe with sharp and persuasive arguments, especially in the section exposing the crimes of French colonialism.

He exposes the true face of French colonialism with the heinous crimes they inflicted upon the Vietnamese people from various aspects—political, economic, and social. He presents clear arguments and then elaborates on them with convincing evidence.

On the political front, Ho Chi Minh depicts how the French colonialists 'absolutely did not allow our people any democratic freedom.' To prove this point, he presents evidence such as the brutal enforcement of laws in the three regions, 'they build more prisons than schools,' 'they bathe our uprisings in blood,' ...

Regarding the economic aspect, Ho Chi Minh also presents a point that 'they have drained our people to the bone, making our people impoverished, destitute, our country barren, desolate'. Then, through enumeration, he provides a series of authentic evidence to support his point such as 'they seize our lands, mines, resources', 'they impose hundreds of unreasonable taxes', ...

It can be said that each argument of his is extremely sharp, with evidence and reasoning touching the heart of the matter. He has demonstrated the cruelty of French colonialism—a nation that claims to bring civilization to its colonies, calling itself the 'Mother country' yet treats its 'child' brutally. Therefore, Ho Chi Minh bluntly asserts the betrayal of the 'Mother country' to Vietnam when he presents evidence that France twice handed Vietnam to the Japanese 'on the contrary, within five years, they cruelly sold our country to the Japanese twice' causing our people to suffer two layers of oppression and resulting in a tremendous loss 'two million of our people died of starvation'.

With his excellent political penmanship, Ho Chi Minh has used sharp arguments, steel-like reasoning to indict the invading enemies, leaving them with no defense. Not only that, he also reaches a conclusion, an assertion with just nine concise words but containing the entire essence of our nation's struggle in the August Revolution: 'France flees, Japan surrenders, Emperor Bao Dai abdicates'—a depiction of all the enemies erected and the birth of a new nation.

His arguments are also evident in the closing lines of the Declaration, with just five sentences, he emphatically asserts that 'The Vietnamese people have the right to enjoy freedom and independence, and in fact have become a free, independent country. The entire Vietnamese nation is determined to devote all its spirit and strength, life and property to preserve that freedom and independence'. It is the strong will, the fervent belief in a bright future of the nation.

It can be said that with just 49 sentences, with astute arguments, and precise language, Ho Chi Minh declared to the world the birth of a young but fully independent and free state. He used international legal foundations to justify that freedom.

Furthermore, Ho Chi Minh's artistic style of political prose is also noteworthy for its extremely diverse writing techniques. He employs a blend of classical and modern writing styles to substantiate the points raised in the declaration. For example, the opening sentence 'Oh, fellow citizens nationwide,' echoes the call of the famous General Hung Dao Tran Quoc Tuan.

Ho Chi Minh's political prose - the Declaration of Independence, has left deep impressions on us with an extremely distinctive style. It leaves a mark of a concise yet fully comprehensive document, with simple yet sharp language when accusing the enemy's crimes, a mark of extremely sharp reasoning with irrefutable arguments, and of diverse writing techniques.

Uncle Ho - not only brought our nation a bright path but also left an imprint in the hearts of poetry lovers with a different artistic style, his unique essence. It can be said that he is a role model for each of our generations to follow when writing any document, writing for the people, writing to serve the people, easy to understand, easy to listen to, concise yet fully comprehensive.