Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat

Diacope is a type of repetition wherein select words or phrases are repeated, with each instance separated by a small number of intervening words. This technique emphasizes the repeated words, making them more memorable and thought-provoking to the audience.

One example of diacope in Paragraph 6 is “without victory, there is no survival. Let that be realized; no survival for the British Empire, no survival for all that the British Empire has stood for, no survival for the urge and impulse of the ages.” In this case, the phrase “no survival” is repeated four times in quick succession. The repetition and emphasis creates a sense of rhythm and musicality to the speech, which makes the language more memorable and persuasive. The use of diacope also builds a sense of urgency, as the consequences listed seem to build on each other with each repetition. This intensification works to persuade the audience of The Necessity of War by eliciting an emotional response of fear in reaction to the looming threat of defeat.

Pathos is an appeal to emotion that aims to elicit sympathy in the audience. It is one of Aristotle’s three pillars of rhetoric that, along with logos and ethos, form the foundations of persuasive writing. Churchill, with his classical education and sophisticated rhetorical skills, makes full use of all three methods of persuasion in his speechwriting.

In “Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat,” Churchill uses pathos to stir the emotions of his listeners in order to persuade them to support his leadership and the war effort. His appeals to natural unity throughout the speech inspire pathos by creating a sense of community and collective identity for the people of Britain. Additionally, Churchill presents himself as a sympathetic figure with “nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.” This vivid imagery implies that Churchill’s leadership is motivated by an all-consuming dedication to duty rather than any personal interest and preemptively defangs any potential criticism directed toward him. He also repeats the phrase “I hope” while addressing the audience in the second person, which makes it seem as though his heartfelt pleas for support and clemency are being made directly to the listener, creating further sympathy.