Dressing Up For The Carnival Rhetorical Analysis

Critical analysis

Pulitzer Prize winner Carol Shields writes a compelling twenty-two short stories collection relevant to human nature. This motif is the continual idea in “Dressing Up for the Carnival”. The fundamental design of the short stories is expeditious but detailed character sketches. By introducing numerous characters while giving them their own personal backstory and motives, in approximately four to eight pages, is quite an accomplishment. Carol Shields executes this perfectly, allowing the reader an in-depth look into their life; furthermore, into their psyche. The first short story in the collection is named after the title. In a matter of eight pages, the reader is introduced to eight characters, all of which are cohesive

It is brilliantly thought out, as a woman tries to write a story, she is faced with a challenge when the “i” is broken on her word processor. As the reader progresses through this story, they begin to realize that Shields herself never uses an “i”. Moreover, I was able to identify the struggle in word choice, with consideration to, inserting words that do not necessarily fit. She goes on to drag out sentences, creating tangents based on little to no relatedness to the progression of the story; nonetheless, I found the absence of “i” rather clever. Shields incorporated repetition as a literary device, this is shown through the continually used passage “A woman sat down-” The repetition was the last line of in the story, yet this time adding the words “and wrote”. Carol Shield is makes a relevant statement to modern society, as well as, human nature through the story “weather”. The story is based upon the idea that the little things we take for granted can gravely impact our day to day routine. This lesson is intelligently hidden behind meteorologist going on strike; ultimately, leading to the disarray of a couple's life. Without someone predicting the weather the couple feel like the weather is fictitious; furthermore, their love life beings to suffer as does their metal