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Rebecca Solnit's Essay 'Men Explain Things To Me'

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Rebecca Solnit uses sincerity and passion when describing her personal accomplishments. She integrates knowledge of world conflicts and conveys the message that everyone is human throughout her essay “Men Explain Things to Me”. Solnit structures her essay to begin with her own personal experiences of dealing with overbearing men. She organizes her examples into sequences first using logos, then pathos, followed by ethos. Throughout the essay, she repeats this pattern, effectively keeping her readers connected. Solnit uses this specific order to keep the reader focused and always connected with the essay in some way. By using knowledgeable details while attaching emotion, she is able to connect the audience to her essay. Solnit then solidifies …show more content…

Solnit uses the sensitive idea of war, which effects everybody somehow, when stating “Arrogance might have been something to do with this war...” (4). She uses the example of the Iraq war as a broader idea showing that everyone is impacted in a negative way by these social problems. When Solnit describes how the war may have been started in part by men ignoring women, it is frustrating for the reader because it could have possibly been prevented, saving thousands of lives. This brings up Solnit’s argument that the problem is not only women being affected and hurt by men not listening to them, but that it causes a negative rippling wave to everyone. Solnit uses the heart-wrenching example of how “Corporal Maria Lauterbach was apparently killed by her higher-ranking colleague after she was going to testify that he had raped her” (6). This woman was sexually intimidated by her higher ranking officer and was eventually murdered to cover up what he had done. Solnit uses the horrific example of rape to emotionally grab the reader's attention, bringing them deeper into her essay. This is one of the most effective examples that Solnit uses in her essay to prove women deserve the right to be treated as human beings and that these serious problems need to be

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