Michael Crichton uses three common devices with ease in his novel, Sphere. The devices being: rhetoric, semantics, and style. Crichton uses these devices to incorporate a sense of unity in the writing. It is not difficult to incorporate this unity into a novel when the devices are properly used. When doing so, they flow together to create a more visual experience for the reader. These devices of writing are what create the environment for an understandable, yet interesting storyline.
Rhetoric is the art of using language effectively and persuasively. In doing so, the use of rhetoric fits in with how the writer of the story thinks and speaks. Crichton is an intellectual, yet he does not write in a sense where the reader cannot understand. He chooses to discuss many intellectual concepts, but in the process, Crichton makes them easy to understand by explaining them simply. “The wasn’t geometric. And it wasn’t amorphous or organic, either. It was hard to say what it was.” (Crichton, 117) In this excerpt, Crichton makes reference to a pattern. He describes it enough to leave the feeling of not knowing what it is besides just a simple pattern. Therefore, creating the feeling in which the characters feel.
Semantics refer to the study of language forms. In Sphere, the language is not too different. Every character in the novel is in fact an intellectual in one form or another. They speak correct grammar, and communicate well with each other. The social environment, which is formed, makes for smooth transitions of communication. The linguistics Crichton chose to use made the novel more appealing to the average reader.
Style can be defined as the way the author chooses to portray the characters and setting in his story. Crichton picks a parallel in his novel. The plot of Sphere deals with space exploration and alien existence. Yet Crichton does not put the setting in outer space, but in the deep sea. This parallelism is the basis for his entire novel. Throughout the story, the unexpected occurs. Even the main characters are unexpected.
According to the Webster Dictionary, rhetoric is defined as the art of speaking or writing effectively. Rhetoric is made up of three separate appeals that can be used individually or collectively in an attempt to persuade a reader. Ethos is the credibility and qualifications of the speaker or author. Pathos is the author's use of emotions and sympathy to urge the audience to agree with his or her standpoint. And lastly, logos is applying sound reasoning (logic) to attract the typical ideas of the audience and to prove the author's point of view. "Lockdown" by Evans D. Hopkins is a fine example of an author using these appeals to persuade his audience. Hopkins uses of the three appeals are easy to locate and relate with throughout the entire passage. He undoubtedly uses rhetoric to try and keep his audiences focus and to persuade them to feel the way he does about the treatment of prisoners. We can identify and trust that he is making reasonable assertions because he was a prisoner and went through actual lockdowns. The fact that Hopkins was an actual prisoner proves his credibility to provide evidence for his thoughts.
Heinrichs begins by explaining the art of rhetoric and laying out the basic tools of argument. He emphasizes the importance of using the proper tense to avoid arguing the wrong issue. Furthermore, he introduces logos, ethos and pathos and shows how to “wield” each rhetorical tool. In Part 2, Heinrichs discusses common logical fallacies as well as rhetorical fouls. He remarks rhetoric’s single rule of never arguing the inarguable and demonstrates how ethos helps to know whom to trust. In Part 3, Kairos becomes an important tool for knowing the right time to persuade one’s audience. In Part 4 of the novel, the author provides examples of how to use rhetorical tools previously introduced in the
The most important question is: if the elements of genre, discourse, and code can express another kind of content, how do they combine to complete the meaning of this book? Before answering the question, I will describe each element, what I found for each one, and then answer how these elements combine to complete the meaning of this book.
Authors use rhetorical strategies to express themes in their writing. Different rhetorical strategies help convey different themes with varying degrees of effectiveness. One way to measure the effectiveness is to rhetorical analyze two pieces of writing to each other and see which is best.
and a great deal of it refers to the problems of racism in the South
John M. Barry is successful with his use of rhetoric because of his varied forms of the art. He makes the Mississippi River seem not only like a body of brown water in the middle of the continental U.S. but like a whip, a live snake, a living being, and a whirlpool all at the same time. Not only does he build his ethos, he also uses elevated diction, varied forms of sentence structure, or syntax, and different types of figurative language. Because of this, Barry is able to successfully achieve his purpose: communicate his fascination with the complex mechanics of the Mississippi River. The reader ends up being just as fascinated with a river that they may have never seen before but are now just as amazed with.
Rhetoric is the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, and its uses the figures of speech and other compositional techniques. It’s designed to have a persuasive or impressive effect on its audience.
In the story, What is Rhetoric by William Covino and David Jolliffe, there are a wide variety of topics discussed that are inextricably interwoven with the concept “rhetoric.” Rhetoric, as defined by the authors, is “the study and practice of shaping content.” Consequently, my first thought was: Ok, this is a rather broad and opaque description; my successive thought, however, was one of astonishment, inasmuch as the authors went on to further elucidated this jargon. In doing so, the authors distilled the most crucial elements of what is rhetoric— the prevalence of discourse community, and how appealing language is often a precursor to persuasion.
Our current trial by jury system was originally adopted from Anglo-Saxon English common law. Prior to juries, the United States had much more rudimentary methods that were in affect, such as bench trials. A bench trial consists of solely the judge determining the final verdict, versus a jury possessing that responsibility. Proceeding with a trial by jury assures that there will be a margin of error, simply due to the fact that the jurors are human, and are susceptible to human fallibility. Whether the jury is cognizant of it or not, emotions such as pre-determined bias and favoritism can impede or bring the case to a halt all together. According to Andy Leipold, a professor emeritus at the University of Illinois College of Law, the number of jury trial conviction rates have increased from 75 percent in 1946 to 84 percent from 1989 to 2002 (Krause). This sudden anomaly can be attributed to the influx of uneducated jurors, the increased cost of proceeding to trial, and improper juror selection.
In the book, Fahrenheit 451,written by Ray Bradbury, he had put in literary devices to help readers understand what is going on throughout the context of the story. The literary devices used in the book were imagery and personification. These literary devices will help shows how technology ruins personal relationships.
In this essay I have tried to show the good and bad sides of TNC and
Historians today are unsure on whether or not the jury system existed prior to the 10th century. It is well established that William the Conqueror brought the jury system to England from Normandy, after witnessing people who knew about a matter to tell a court of law what they knew or in modern terms, to "swear" under oath. The English word “juror” comes from the Old French “jurer” which means to swear. Wherever the jury system began, it has now spread across the globe and has shaped the world today. The right to trial by jury is the basis of the individual freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. jury system has evolved over time
Rhetoric is the art of effective speaking or writing, and persuasion. Most people use rhetoric numerous of times in their everyday life without their concern or knowing.
There are billions of books in the world, all with different plots and styles. However, the one thing they all have in common is that they all have literary devices. A literary device is any technique a writer uses to help the reader understand and appreciate the meaning of the work. Due to the use of these devices, books that would otherwise have nothing in common can be compared. For instance, the books Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift, and If I Stay by Gayle Forman have different plots and themes. But when both are examined closely, it is evident that they utilize many different and similar literary devices.
Narratology divides a ‘narrative into story and narration’. (Cohan et al., 1988, p. 53) The three main figures that contribute a considerable amount of research to this theory are Gerard Genette, Aristotle and Vladimir Propp. This essay will focus on how Emily Bronte’s novel Wuthering Heights can be fully appreciated and understood when the theory is applied to the text. Firstly, I will focus on the components of narration Genette identifies that enhance a reader’s experience of the text. Secondly, I will discuss the three key elements in a plot that Aristotle recognises and apply these to Heathcliff’s character. In the final section I will apply part of the seven ‘spheres of action’, Propp categorises, to Heathcliff’s character. However, not all of Narratology can be applied to a text. This raises the question; does this hinder a readers understanding and/or appreciation of the text? This paper will also address this issue.