Analysis Of Victor Villaseñor's Burro Genius

In the midst of all the turmoil and cynicism in the current media, one can find that there is some good beneath it all, like a flower that blossomed from a sea of concrete. Victor Villaseñor acknowledges the fact that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel when he reflected upon his keynote address, where he criticized on English teachers, bashed, smacked, and tortured, their students. Based on the novel, Burro Genius, by Victor Villaseñor, the story displays Villaseñor’s education and his struggles with abusive teachers. In an excerpt from his book, Villaseñor affects the reader emotionally through the use of stylistic devices and imagery to depict the intensity of afterthoughts of his keynote address. Villaseñor uses these rhetorical

During a keynote address in which he was greeted by millions of English teachers, Villaseñor spoke with rage about his distaste for teachers, as if a tempest just struck him. In his explanation for his thoughts on seeing English teachers, he states his extreme rage and desire to kill all the teachers who are abusive to their pupils. According to Villaseñor, “It was like my heart and soul had leaped forward with so much hate and rage that I’d instantly wanted to kill! To scalp! To massacre!” (Villaseñor 21). The use of hyperbole in this statement emphasizes that he hated teachers who destroyed his self-confidence. It also affects readers emotionally because it dramatizes the intensity of his thoughts. Surely, the thoughts of killing a massive group of generalized people does not cause alarm. Those who read about hearts being ripped out and responding with extreme vengeance can see the tremendous effect that these teachers had on him. As a result, readers can sympathize with Villaseñor for his misfortunes. Villaseñor effectively uses hyperbole to emotionally connect the readers with him by creating a sort of underdog characteristic where many would root for Villaseñor. Who would not want to root for an underdog? Hyperbole also conveys his hatred in an amplified manner. The use of exclamatory statements in conjunction with descriptive connotations of teachers only adds to anger that

Villaseñor uses hyperbole to highlight the radical ideas that pessimism can cause a person think, while the use of imagery presents the better option of acknowledging the positives. Reader do not want to feel the need to massacre those that have caused Villaseñor pain and suffering throughout his childhood. However, they rejoice at the end when Villaseñor poses the question of whether or not he had a person in his life that inspired him to write and given him the determination to continue. Readers can emotionally connect to this because many can understand the significance a person can have in inspiring them and the community around