How does Darrow use rhetoric in this excerpt to influence the sentence the judge will mete out to Leob and Leopold?
Both of these boys are in the adolescent age, both these boys whom every alienist in this case on both sides tells you is the most trying period in the life of a child, both these boys when the call of sex is new and strange, both these boys at a time seeking to adjust their young lives to the world, moved by the strongest feelings and passions that have ever moved men, both these boys at the time boys grow insane, at the time crimes are committed, all this added to all the rest of the vagaries.…
A.) He uses hyperbole, exaggerating the difficulties of being a teenager by describing it as “the time boys grow insane.” This is intended to make Leopold and Loeb seem like normal adolescents rather than criminals.
B.) He uses alliteration in the phrase “crimes are committed” to emphasize the significance of their crimes.
C.) He repeatedly uses words that emphasize the youth of Leopold and Loeb, such as “boys,” “child,” or “young.” This is part of Darrow’s overall plan to convince the judge to set the young men free with no jail time or punishment.
D.) He uses repetition, repeating the phrase “both these boys” to emphasize that they are equally responsible for the crime.