Cotton Mather Assertion Analysis

    In Cotton Mather's speech, he asserts that witches are popping up all over America and that he is a "witch expert". He calls the people "monsters of the bubbling deep", suggesting that they come from hell. Their "maker" obviously wouldn't be God, but Satan himself, so these "codlings" wouldn't be holy and good. Mather says these things to scare people into believing what he says; it established him as a credible person.
    In order to convey his assertion, Mather uses syntax and analogy. Rhyme was used at the end of the sentences in order to keep what Mather says in the listener's heads, furthering their paranoia of witches. The people are referred to as "codlings" of a greater, darker power. This analogy removes the humanity of the non-believers from the believer's minds; the believers then see them as less-than themselves.