“Innocent at Rinkside” Précis
William Faulkner, in his Sports Illustrated article“Innocent at Rinkside” (1955), argues that he believes that there is too much violence without a purpose in sports by saying that “blood could flow, not from the crude impact of a heavier fist but from the rapid and delicate stroke of weapons” and adding on saying, “but only for a moment because he, the innocent, didn’t like that idea either” (para. 4). Faulkner supports his argument by incorporating imagery, diction, and syntax. Faulkner’s purpose is to present to the readers of Sports Illustrated, what a man like himself, who does not watch hockey or other violent sports, sees when watching a hockey game for the first time; he sees violence and what seems “discorded and inconsequent” (para. 2) with hints of patterns and beauty that then dissolves away. He adopts a hopeful tone [“The vacant ice looked tired, though it shouldn’t have. They told him it had been put down
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1).
Link to argument: Faulkner creates a beautifully written passage to assist the reader in picturing in their head what the ice rink looked like and felt like to himself. Using imagery gives the reader a better understanding in what Faulkner saw and it was like to be inside of the hockey arena. 2. Type of evidence: Diction Example: “They would not emerge like the sweating barehanded behemoths from the troglodyte mass of football” (Para. 3). Link to argument: Faulkner uses specific word choice to aid the reader in persuading that he is a credible source for using high level words properly. Using good diction provides the reader with a deeper understanding of what the author or writer is