In the novel Eats, Shoots, and Leaves, Lynne Truss imparts on readers the importance of grammar. In a humorous way, she emphasizes that incorrect grammar has the potential to dramatically alter the meaning of a passage. By shooting down common misconceptions about grammar, she advocates for grammar sticklers across the nation. Truss uses rhetorical strategies such as similes, anecdotes and exaggeration to get her point across while entertaining the reader.
For starters, Truss uses similes as a key rhetorical strategy. Truss’ use of similes in her writing give the reader a vivid picture of the pointy she is trying to prove. “While we look in the horror at a badly punctuated sign...We are like the little boy in The Sixth Sense who can see dead people, except we can see dead punctuation.”(pg. 3) People
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Truss is very upset that the grammar on the sign was wrong and shows it clearly in her writing. “Where was the apostrophe? Surely there should be an apostrophe on that us? If it were “one week’s notice” there would be an apostrophe. Therefore “two week’s notice” requires an apostrophe!” This use of repeating the word “apostrophe” and the continuous questions being asked shows how frantic the author is. “The heroic status of Aldus Manutius the Elder among historians of the printed word cannot be overstated. Who invented the italic typeface? Aldus Manutius! Who printed the first semicolon? Aldus Manutius! The rise of…and Aldus Manutius was the man to do it.” The name “Aldus Manutius” was strongly amplified and it made him stick in the reader’s mind and realize just how important he was and how much he accomplished. “It hurts, though. It hurts like hell. Even in the knowledge that our punctuation has arrived at its present state by a series of accidents” In this day and age, people are caring less and less about grammar and punctuation and it bothers the people that do indeed still care about