Comparing apples to oranges is not always futile. This statement is clearly proven to be true when comparing David Sedaris 's essay, "Me Talk Pretty One Day," and Dave Barry 's, "Lost In the Kitchen." Both of these essays are humorous examinations of human experiences. While Barry 's, an essay about men 's innate disadvantages in the kitchen (compared to women), relies on unjustified stereotypes, obviously false assertions, lame hyperbole, and overwrought imagery to convey his purpose, Sedaris utilizes a plethora of varying rhetorical devices and strategies to convey his purpose throughout his essay about taking a french class in France under the tutelage of a tyrannical and cruel teacher. He uses devices such as; vivid diction, credibility …show more content…
One of the best uses of vivid word choice in Sedaris 's essay is when he describes the teacher responding to a student. He describes her as follows; "She crouched low for her attack placed her hands on the young woman 's desk, and leaned close, saying, 'Oh yeah? And do you love your little war? '" This instantly establishes the kind of abrasive, calculatingly cruel woman the teacher was. This image is described again, instead Sedaris uses other ways to convey it, that, in turn, describe other facets of his teacher 's personality. One of these other ways he conveys another aspect of his teacher 's personality is in his labeling of her as a "wild animal." This further establishes the idea that she is cruel, but adds a predatory and unpredictable aspect to her demeanor. This gradual reveal of character creates a more diverse humor, therefore, more effectively helping to achieve Sedaris’s humorous purpose. This achievement is especially clear when contrasted with Barry’s use of imagery. “Surrounding Arlene are thousands of steaming cooking containers,” “She quickly becomes enshrouded in steam,” and “[..] finally bumble over and ask what we can do to help, and from behind the steam comes Arlene’s patient voice [...]” all convey the same idea. The kitchen is a daunting, foreign, place to men, while it is obviously more comfortable for females. We get it Barry! You don’t need to spend two whole …show more content…
The most memorable use of this device lies in the passages, “The teacher killed some time accusing the Yugoslavian girl of masterminding a program of genocide [...].” or “‘I hate you,’ she said to me one afternoon. Her English was flawless. ‘I really, really hate you.’ Call me sensitive, but I couldn’t help but take it personally.” Both these excerpts downplay really serious things, hatred and genocide, and reduces them to nothing more than an everyday part of French class. This use of litote achieves an extremely humorous effect, and helps to convey Sedaris’s purpose magnificently. Unlike Barry, who includes so many hyperbolic statements in his essay-that all essentially convey the same idea (men suck in the kitchen)- that they grow boring by the third time you read one of them. Barry opens his essay with hyperbole, “Men are still basically scum when it comes to helping out in the kitchen.” He repeats this line halfway through the piece, worded differently of course, but no matter, it is not funny anymore. “I realize this is awful,” and “Most men make themselves as useful around the kitchen as ill-trained Labrador retrievers,” both convey the same idea the first two hyperbolic statements were trying to convey. Why would an author write something six different ways and expect us to not get tired of it? This overuse of the same type of hyperbolic statement makes me
Ray Bradbury’s use of diction creates tones that are critical, impulsive, and benevolent in Fahrenheit 451 when the firemen “fix” the old woman’s library. First, Bradbury’s tone is critical when he writes, “Beatty, Stoneman, and Black ran up the sidewalk, suddenly odious and fat in their plump fireproof slickers” (Bradbury 33). Montag is observing his coworkers as they are walking up to the suspected woman’s house. Bradbury is using diction to develop a critical tone when he uses adjectives like, “odious” and “fat” to show Montag finding fault in his fellow firemen. Next, the author’s tone is impulsive when Bradbury writes, “ His hand had done it all, his hand, with a mind of its own, with a conscience and a curiosity in each
where the author wants to become proficient in speaking French. He studies language instructions only to end up being embarrassed by the teacher. This results to him being more culturally confused. David Sedaris finds humor in situations that are humiliating.
There are many examples of strong argumentative writing in the second half of the book Everyday Arguments. Topics of writing examples include today’s college student, the internet, sports, earning your living, diet, and reading popular culture. Of the writings, two stood out as notable works to be critiqued; Who is a Teacher, and Thoughts on Facebook.
Anaphora is a style of writing where the author deliberately repeats the first phrase in a sentence to create an artistic effect (Anaphora). The major phrase repeated in the essay is, “I could ” (Barry 1). Barry says, “Now, I COULD respond to this stereotype in a snide manner by making generalizations about women” (1). After stating this, he then goes ahead and makes snide generalizations anyway. When Barry expresses each snide stereotype, he starts his sentence off with “I could” (1), in order to make his points seem less hostile. The way he utilizes anaphora only magnifies Barry’s sarcastic tone. Another example of Barry utilizing anaphora, is when he says, “ I could point out that, to judge from the covers of countless women’s magazines, the two topics most interesting to women are (1) Why men are all disgusting pigs, and (2) How to attract men” (1). Again he starts his sentence off by saying he could do something, followed by the execution of him actually doing it. It is quite the sarcastic
Finally, within the syntax of the novel, Sedaris has interlocked various arguments together with the choice of his words. He skillfully crafts a very sarcastic and humorous piece through applying an argument that is intermingled with generalizations. Thus, it means that the syntax is direct and declarative. For instance, the author states that the teacher is exhausting him with her foolishness and is rewarding her efforts with barely anything but pain. However, the syntax that the author used in some parts of the essay can be said to be confusing because he is fond of changing the topics or employing a different approach of transition in order to make his point of view clear to the readers. This is evident because at some point of the story, he would insert the earlier events or apply metaphors to describe a given occurrence.
David Foster Wallace, author of the essay “Authority and American Usage*,” praises and advocates for “good” writers who have a strong rhetorical ability, which he defines as “the persuasive use of language to influence the thoughts and actions of an audience” (Wallace 628). To have a strong rhetorical ability, an author needs to be aware of whom their audience is, in order to present their information in a way that will be influential on their audience. Wallace recognizes that an author who applies a strong rhetorical ability will be able to connect with the audience so that they respond “not just to [their] utterance but also to [them]” (Wallace 641). An author needs to take into consideration not just content, syntax and grammatical structure (their “utterance”) but also how their character will be perceived by their audience. A positive tone will make the author seem more pleasant and relatable, whereas a negative tone connotes arrogance and pretentiousness. That is why it is crucial for an author to recognize that an audience will respond to “them” and not just their “utterance,” as an author’s appearance to their readers can also shape how impactful their writing is.
Writers like Amy Tan, use rhetorical writing to display emotional appeal, tone, style, and even organization. In Tan’s article, Mothers Tongue, she writes about her experiences with her mother's inability to speak English. She provides examples from her childhood of being discriminated, and stereotyped because of her race. Tan addresses cultural racism without showing any anger or specifically pointing out racism. She makes the reader realize that immigrants have to deal with discrimination, and disrespect in their daily lives. She uses Ethos, Pathos, and Logos to let the reader see what she went through in her early childhood experiences. Her audience reaches out to families who speak “broken English”, and have to deal with being discriminated, and disrespected.
Through-out the first few passages the author details his unease and insecurities with his surroundings and abilities. He goes on about his age gap, and lack of confidence in his French speaking abilities. Despite being unsure of those abilities, Sedaris prepares himself for the attempt to introduce himself in a language he only understands half of. The author talks about the teacher verbally pummeling the other student’s French during their introductions. Instead of worrying about the uncontrollable, he acts by organizing a list of words that could pertain to himself.
The passage I have chosen to write about is “A Woman’s Place?” an article published by the New York Magazine that focuses on interviews from seven esteemed female chefs about their views on how they are treated in the culinary industry. These are not the main stream female chefs you see on television like Rachel Ray, but chefs that are actually in the kitchen day in and day out. In the interviews they are asked questions about working in the kitchen and how it is different being a female their among a male dominated industry. The reporter also asks them to recount several memories in order to generate emotions from both the readers as well as the others being interviewed. As the interviewer questions these highly accredited guests, multiple strategies are employed like the use of pathos, logos, and some ethos to create a strong argument that woman are
For example, right away, Aqueel questions the honor in honor killings by quoting it in her title and elsewhere in the text. Aqueel quotes it because she feels the two words are juxtaposed. Aqueel shows her negativity on honor killings by calling them “cold-blooded murders” (3). She refers to Qandeel Baloch with positivity and calls her an inspiration, defiant, working-class girl with “extraordinary courage” (2), and a hero. Additionally, Aqueel phrases that society failed Qandeel, and not the other way around, multiple times. This is the opposite of what Qandeel’s brother and others thought of her: a disgrace. Through these words and phrases, Aqueel creates an admiring tone and a positive connotation of
The third part of the book’s purpose is that by attaining the first two, “it would encourage more enjoyable and articulate communication between the two [Professor and pupil]” (pg. X). To do so, Corrigan endeavors to excite readers with the possibilities that lay in writing: sharing experiences, analyzing themes and imagery, and simply writing about the most popular and entertaining medium around.
The AP Language and Composition course is purely designed to help students excel in their own stories, but more importantly, become more attentive to their surroundings. A conscientious goal, that would properly be attained through the collection of nonfiction paperbacks. Because of the purpose of this course and the current state of today’s children, one must undeniably agree that in selecting the “perfect book”, the overall idea of self-reliance would hold a prominent factor. This curriculum not only focuses on the rhetorical analysis of nonfiction texts, but it attempts to make students distinguish how the world plays with the dialectic of persuasion, also known as the art of rhetoric. In doing so, this course aims at making students aware
"Ms. McMulkin, this is Alex. That essay--- how long can it be?" "Why, uh, not less than 600 words." He sounded a little surprised. I'd forgotten it was late at night. "Can it be longer?" "Certainly, Alex, as long as you want it." "Thanks," I said and hung up. I sat down and picked up my pen and thought for a minute. Remembering. Remembering a handsome, dark boy with a reckless grin and a hot temper. A tough, towheaded boy with a cigarette in his mouth and a bitter grin on his hard face. Remembering- -- and this time it didn't hurt--- a quiet, defeated-looking sixteen-year-old whose hair needed cutting badly and who had black eyes with a frightened expression to them. One week had taken all three of them. And I decided I could tell people, beginning with my English teacher. I wondered for a long time how to start that theme, how to start writing about something that was important to me. And I finally began like this: When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride
The author begins his argument by retelling the story of his youth to build his ethos but the results are poor as it presents more questions on how he is a credible source on this argument as his only evidence is his own story. However, through the same means his pathos is built as his anecdote conveys feelings in the audience, making them more willing to listen. Graff finally, gives a call to action to schools to use students’ interests to develop their skills in rhetoric and analysis, which reveals the logic behind his argument. The topic about how students are taught rhetoric and analysis brings interest but with an average argument only built on pathos, a low amount of logos, and questionable ethos it can fall on deaf
In the article “ The Beauty of the Platitude” by Laurie Fendrich, Fendrich explains to readers how she feels about the use of platitudes in writing and when speaking. Her choices of techniques were very effective as far as making her point. She also provides a sufficient amount of evidence to support her claim. Fendrich explains that platitudes are overused and should not be used in conversation. She describes them as “meaningless clumps of words”. Laurie Fendrich uses examples that appeal to readers and strong metaphors to illustrate her stance on the use of platitudes.