Question

Mark Antony, with the help of his oratory, succeeded in winning the mob over to his side. This led to the downfall of conspirators . Write in 80-100 words, how with the power of words he could affect a chage in his listeners.

Answer 1

In Mark Antony’s speech, it can be seen that Mark Antony attempts to win over the mob to his side by a number of things.  First, he begins the speech with “Friends, Romans, country men.”  By beginning the speech by calling those present “Friends,” he relates to those present by insinuating he is just like them and that they are all friends.  Next, Mark Antony carefully avoids the use of negativity and “finger pointing” by only stating the positive Julius Cesar has done.  He presents the positive actions he observed of Julius Cesar as a sort of rebuttal to the view some senators had of Julius Cesar as “ambitious.”  By stating placing himself with the view as an equal to those present in the mob and by remaining positive with positive choice of words and descriptions, he succeeds in winning over the mob.