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The Horizontal World Rhetorical Analysis By Debra Marquart

625 Words3 Pages

The Horizontal World Rhetorical Analysis In a 2006 memoir about her home state of North Dakota, author Debra Marquart describes both the clichéd landscape and the often-unnoticed greatness of the region. Not only is Debra Marquart’s memoir a personal account, it is also supported with historical knowledge of the area. This factual information and personal experience establishes a sense of credibility between the author and reader. Marquart characterizes the North Dakota atmosphere in which she grew up by using allusions, imagery, common conventionalized ideas, and historically factual events. Marquart alludes to the poem “Earthlings” by Sylvia Griffith Wheeler using the quotation “We are the folks presidents talk to when times require.” This allusion feeds the idea of a common hospitality and sweet charm ascribed to the informal wording of ‘you all’. Another allusion Marquart uses is in reference to Greek mythology. The Greek word ‘heureka’ is the basis for out modern day exclamation of ‘eureka’ to indicate a great finding. The allusion continues with an example of when the word was used, Archimedes’s …show more content…

The notion that all people from North Dakota are “blonde, fresh-faced” innocent, damsels in distress is due to the sheltered feeling of the northwest. The square states are known as the region that spawns both tornadoes and republicans, both representing natural disasters. By using this standard in her memoir, Marquart challenges the boundaries of political stereotypes. The author also passes along regional labels to New York and Los Angeles. She refers to the behavior of the citizens as being “ruthless” and New York being “more tragic” than Los Angeles. Through this simplistic statement, Marquart is able to compare the misguided attempts at understanding North Dakota’s common behavior with that of New York’s and Los

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