Analysis Of Take All Books Off The Shelves By Alexandra Petri

Books have been around us our whole lives, but do they hurt or help us? Take all books off the shelves. They're too dangerous to be a snob." by Alexandra Petri, is an opinion piece exploring banning books and how books affect society. In this article, Petri uses language to convey a sarcastic tone and contrasting opinions about the harm books can cause people.

The headline of this article could be taken in many ways; Petri created a powerful statement for the readers, drawing them in and questioning her intentions. The heading reads, "Take all books off the shelves." They're just too dangerous." Reading this quote, it seems to most that the author is on the side of banning books, but if you look at it closely, does it also mean books are so

The first quote, "Let me tell you about something that a book did," is a straightforward use of personification. The author says, "a book did" something to a person. This allows the reader not to view a book as just words on paper, but gives them a human element, almost as if the pages are alive. Later, Petri says, "Books follow you home and pry open your head and rearrange the things inside." Focusing on the parts in this example, "follow you home. pry open your head. rearrange the things inside." It is not literal; books don't have feet or arms to perform these acts, but with the use of words the author created, the allusion books have this ability. Petri uses personification to give books human attributes, creating an exaggerated and intense feel to the writing. The style of writing can be taken many different ways. Still, reading through the article, the use of a sarcastic tone is very present, and adding the exaggerated personification could be taken in two different ways depending on how you take her words. Petri's clever use of personification transforms by attributing the book's human traits. This also highlights the fact that she is using irony in her piece. Irony helps bring out the sarcastic tone and feel of the article, allowing the readers to determine what side or topic Petri is actually

There are many examples throughout the article Petri uses to convey her thoughts, but here is one with many aspects: "It convinced me that the things inside it were true; it told me so many lies that I started to believe it. I loved it; it infuriated me; I broke its spine in half." As you can see, these two sentences have many different opinions, forcing the reader to connect the meaning behind the writing on their own. One prominent tool Petri uses is juxtaposition; there are many contrasting ideals right next to one another; her use makes the readers question the writing and stirs emotions such as "I loved it; it infuriated me." But she also uses this tool to contrast her longer and shorter sentences, bringing us to the sentence structure tool; while reading, "It convinced me that the things inside it were true; it told me so many lies that I started to believe it." The longer sentences convey a more positive view of the topic of books. Even if there is a little sarcastic side to the sentence, they thoroughly explore what books can do for the mind in a good way. Then, looking at the shorter structured sentences, "I loved it; it infuriated me; I broke its spine in half." They constantly contradict the longer sentences, switch into the mindset of people who want to ban books, and are more aggressive. Petri's strategic manipulation of sentence structure