Tone and word choice are major key factors for getting readers a full and vivid experience of what you’re trying to tell them. In “The Devil’s Thumb”, Krakauer chooses to utilize downsizing, depressing words and phrases in his writing like, “Beyond shame”, “self-pity”, “felt so alone”, “abandoned”, “vulnerable”, etc. His word choice overall gives a bitter tone to the story. He uses these words to give a more vivid, detailed description of how he was truly feeling at that very moment. While stuck in a snow storm, sitting in a dug out hole, he thought, “Beyond shame, I cradled my head in my arms and embarked on an orgy of self-pity.”
In the novel In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, he uses pathos, diction and tone to characterize the killers. He characterizes Dick Hickock as the main character and Perry Smith as a tag-along. Capote mainly shows sympathy towards Perry because of Perry’s messed up past and his mental instability. Capote creates this sympathy through syntax and his elaborate sentence structure with the use of specific punctuation. He also has a very unique writing style with an interesting character development.
In “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry, the author uses diction like abstract diction and details by explaining what he exactly wants in life to demonstrate Walter and his dream. To begin, Hansberry uses diction to demonstrate Walter and his dream by using abstract diction. She does this by explaining how he will give Travis anything for his seventeenth birthday and that he will “hand you the world!” (2.2). This shows that he wants to make his sons life as good as possible.
Speeches are used to commemorate points of history, and inform the general public of the product of their history but what makes a speech so impacting on it’s audience? Rhetorical devices give speeches and works of literature a way that can convey feelings or ideas to a viewer. When addressing during times of war or chaos, people such as Ronald Reagan, Abraham Lincoln, and Winston Churchill used these terms to better connect with their audience. Without these tools of the english language, dialogue and literature would be all the more dull and unappealing. However, with these useful instruments, writers and speakers can better communicate through some of the many rhetorical devices.
The Devil in the White City Rhetorical Analysis Essay The Chicago World’s Fair, one of America’s most compelling historical events, spurred an era of innovative discoveries and life-changing inventions. The fair brought forward a bright and hopeful future for America; however, there is just as much darkness as there is light and wonder. In the non-fiction novel, The Devil in the White City, architect Daniel Burnham and serial killer H. H. Holmes are the perfect representation of the light and dark displayed in Chicago. Erik Larson uses positive and negative tone, juxtaposition, and imagery to express that despite the brightness and newfound wonder brought on by the fair, darkness lurks around the city in the form of murder, which at first, went unnoticed.
Elie Wiesel's memoir Night is a deeply moving and haunting account of his experiences as a Jewish teenager during the Holocaust. In his writing, Wiesel employs a range of rhetorical strategies to convey the emotional impact of the Holocaust on the reader. Two of the most powerful strategies he uses are tone and imagery. Through his tone of sadness, anger, and despair, Wiesel creates a connection between the reader and the horrors of the Holocaust. Meanwhile, his use of vivid and haunting imagery works to create a visceral and unforgettable image of life in the concentration camps.
The ability to divide our attention during cognitively demanding tasks and the allure of technology creates a delicate balancing act that can at times have grave consequences. On September 22, 2006 in Utah, Reggie Shaw placed the fates of James Furfaro and Keith O’Dell, as well as his own upon this deadly scale. Tragically, the lives of James and Keith were lost, and Reggie Shaw’s future would be forever altered by the events and decisions of that day (Richtel 16). In this modern age of technological marvels our attention is vied for in a constant conflict. Frequently in our lives or particularly in our jobs we are called upon to execute mentally demanding and at times dangerous tasks.
In the video featuring “Night Line’s” Ted Koppel who informs the audience in the episode “Battle Between faith and Science” what is going on in a small town because of a statement about Evolution. This controversy is over the theory of Evolution being the only theory taught in the Dover school. Some of the parents believe that Evolution is wrong and should not be a part of the curriculum taught in schools while others think it should be the only theory taught. Thirty-five percent of the population thinks there is no proof of Evolution while thirty-five percent thinks there is proof. The school board decided to place a sticker on the current science book that says Evolution is only a theory.
Past leaders such as Andrew Jackson, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Marc Antony are evidence that society does not reward morality and good character in leadership. Society is drawn to leaders that have good rhetoric, propaganda, and charismatic personalities, and society supports them despite their immorality. Society is concerned about stability more than the morality of their leaders and will support immoral leaders in times of crisis to provide stability. In history there have been multiple leaders that have used rhetoric, propaganda and charismatic personalities to gain power, despite their morals.
Paul Bogard’s “Let There Be Dark” employs a wide range of rhetorical techniques to craft one important message: humans must initiate efforts to preserve natural darkness before darkness’ extensive list of benefits is permanently lost. Bogard’s argument is built upon his appeal to the broad spectrum of benefits offered by natural darkness, including those pertaining to health, the environment, and the economy. Utilizing outside sources to back the validity of these benefits, Bogard completes his message with a tone of hope, imploring his audience to join him in his course. Bogard begins his argument with a personal anecdote to compare and contrast his personal experiences with the beauty of darkness against the modern trend of children never
The ability for people to look at a situation from a different perspective is vital in today’s globalized society. Diversity is the most important, core attribute we each share that gives us the ability to assess new situations through our diverse backgrounds and upbringings. Unlike Patrick J. Buchanan’s argument in his essay titled “Deconstructing America,” diversity is a necessity in America’s culture as opposed to the burden it is described as. Conversely, Fredrickson 's essay titled “Models of American Ethnic Relations: A Historical Perspective,” illustrated a more precise version of American history that disproves Buchanan’s ethnocentric ideologies. Buchanan speaks of diversity on a narrow, one-way street.
Often known as the Father of American Literature to many educated individuals, Ralph Waldo Emerson in his oration “The American Scholar” brilliantly provides a sublime example of how Emerson earned his title through the appliance of diction, syntax, allusions, and many other rhetorical devices and strategies. Indicated towards his highly educated audience, the Phi Beta Kappa Society, Emerson introduces the idea that the common class and common concepts of everyday life are becoming the future of art and literature through purpose, credibility, and tone. As many great writers, Emerson does not simply tell about his idea, but instead uses rhetorical strategies to help show his central point, one such strategy being purpose. Being focused on informing his audience of the coming days, the use of purpose can be
“Honey, you are changing that boy’s life.” A friend of Leigh Anne’s exclaimed. Leigh Anne grinned and said, “No, he’s changing mine.” This exchange of words comes from the film trailer of an award-winning film, The Blind Side, directed by John Lee Hancock, released on November 20th, 2009. This film puts emphasis on a homeless, black teen, Michael Oher, who has had no stability or support in his life thus far.
In this passage, Charlotte Perkins Gilman highlights the theme that women must use their intellect or go mad through the use of literary qualities and writing styles. Gilman also uses the use of capital letters to portray the decline in the narrators’ sanity. This shows the decline in the sanity of a person because the words in all-caps is shown as abrupt, loud remarks. Gilman uses this method multiple times in her short story and this method was used twice in this passage. When the narrator wrote, “LOOKING AT THE PAPER!”, the major decline in her mental health was shown.
Metaphors can characterize everyday abstract concepts (i.e. time, states, change, causation and purpose). In this regard, Lakoff (1993:203) claims that “the study of literary metaphor is an extension of the study of everyday metaphor. Everyday metaphor is characterized by a huge system of thousands of cross-domain mappings and this system is made use of in novel metaphor.” The term metaphor is defined as a “device that involves conceptualizing one domain of experience in terms of another, a mapping of the structure of the source domain onto a target model.
