Analyzing Captain America's Letter (Original)
Captain America: The Rhetorical Soldier Near the end of Captain America: Civil War, Tony Stark (aka Ironman) reads a letter from Steve Rogers (aka Captain America, or Cap for short). The letter is delivered by FedEx to Tony at the Avengers’ compound. (Full text of the letter is included at the end of this essay.) In the letter, Cap shares his honest feelings about Tony, talks about his partnership with Tony’s parents, and shares his hope for the future of the Avengers. In analyzing the text of this letter, I see that its purpose is to show Cap’s true feelings about his relationship with the Avengers and with Tony personally. Cap’s audience in this letter is Tony, of course. But also, the people who watch this movie are part of the audience as they listen to Cap's voice saying the words of the letter. Having been a member of this larger audience, I would say the letter achieves its purpose by continuing Stark’s involvement in the story of the Avengers. The reason it succeeds rheto...