Resumen de Symbolic martyrdom: the ultimate apology
Earlier characterization of “scaffold confessions” and “martyrdom speeches” as a discrete genre of discourse were flawed because the speeches were delivered in dissimilar situations, sought different purposes, and employed diverse rhetorical strategies. Those speeches are better viewed as a distinctive subgenre of apologia. Analysis of John Brown's final speech at his trial following the Harper's Ferry raid illuminates that subgenre.
