Music is not something which is tangible, but yet is has been loved and cherished by many for a very long time because of the unique pleasure that it grants. Music has the ability to bring together many people of all ages. There are so many different ways to create and listen to music that everyone has access to music in some way, shape, or form. Many songs are written and created using repetition with the intent to get them stuck in your head. That feeling when you have a song stuck in your head and it is repeating over and over again, is known as an ear worm. In his writing, Musicophilia, Oliver Sacks uses many rhetorical devices, including imagery, anecdote, and pathos, to achieve his purpose of describing to his audience what exactly an ear worm is and how it can affect people. …show more content…
There are many different answers to this question, but many people particularly enjoy the ability that music has to paint vivid imagery in their mind. Sacks uses a lot of very strong imagery in Musicophilia in order to achieve his purpose of describing what ear worms really are. One song that Sacks specifically focuses on in great detail is “Had Gadya” and the imagery that he uses really brings the song to life and makes the reader feel as if they have heard the song before. Sacks also uses imagery to focus on the emotions that ear worms often cause, both through his own experiences and the experiences of others. When first searching for a word to describe these catchy musical phrases, Sacks described them as being like an earwig, which is where ear worm came from. Through his use of vivid imagery throughout Musicophilia, Oliver Sacks is able to effectively create strong images in the reader’s mind and convey his overall point to the