Tom Sawyer Rhetorical Analysis

1814 Words4 Pages

The story of Tom Sawyer helps readers understand further about the theme for it gives evidences of man's inherent imperfection. The story started with a catchy exposition as the writer uses diction within Tom and Aunt Polly's conversation. After tiring herself of looking for Tom for a long time, Aunt Polly finally found Tom hiding in her closet. "' Tom? Tom?'... A slight noise behind her and she turned just in time to seize the boy... 'What you been doing' in there?'...'Nothing'...' Look at your hands and your mouth. What is that truck?'... ‘I don't know Aunt'... 'Well, I know its jam. Forty times I've said leave that jam alone...'" This is successful for it clearly introduces the main characters right away, as well as what's going on, and …show more content…

Tom tells Aunt Polly he dreamt of all of it, but when she finds out, she thinks Tom wasn't actually going to leave a bark behindWhitewashing the Fence (All the boys are curious to feel what it is like to be whitewashing a fence, and pay Tom to do so. Society towards Muff Potter (When Muff Potter's knife is discovered near the dead body, Muff Potter is accused and is despised by everyone, but when found to be innocent, everyone adores him)Society towards Injun Joe (When it is found that Injun Joe was the actual murderer, wanted signs are posted everywhere and he is needed to be arrested at all costs. However, some people still want him to be granted a pardon, and start a …show more content…

The admiration of the people in Tom’s society is meaningless, and this is made abundantly clear several times over the course of the story. The most striking example of this, is the town’s reaction to the death of Injun Joe, a character who passes as this novel’s principle antagonist and one who is described by scholars as having “virtually no redeeming backstory or moments of humanizing indecision” (Clark, 300). Despite this, the town mourns his death and actually creates a pardon-petition that many sign for his sake. The crimes that the people are actively seeking a pardon for in his honor include murder, and one the town came very close to convicting the wrong person for as well. Readers at this point know that Joe is this world’s equivalent to the devil, a fact that does not escape the narrator as he states in response to their passion for him that “If he had been Satan himself there would have been plenty of weaklings ready to scribble their names to a pardon-petition, and drip a tear on it from their permanently impaired and leaky water-works” (Twain, 99). This incident, along with the town’s ever shifting opinion of Tom himself (which was emphasized at his unwarranted funeral by people who couldn’t stand him when they didn’t think he was dead) reveals

Show More
Related

  • Rhetorical Analysis

    854 Words  | 2 Pages

    Jonathan Kozol revealed the early period’s situation of education in American schools in his article Savage Inequalities. It seems like during that period, the inequality existed everywhere and no one had the ability to change it; however, Kozol tried his best to turn around this situation and keep track of all he saw. In the article, he used rhetorical strategies effectively to describe what he saw in that situation, such as pathos, logos and ethos.

    Read More

  • Story Of An Hour Rhetorical Analysis

    482 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the short story, “The Story of An Hour”, written by Kate Choppin, a woman with a heart trouble is told her husband had passed away in a railroad disaster. Mrs. Mallard was depressed, then she came to a realization that she was free. Back in the day this story was written, women did not have many rights. They were overruled by their husband. As she became more aware of how many doors her husband death would open, she had passed away. The doctors had said she had died of heart disease--of the joy that kills. The irony in the situation was that as she was dying, her husband walked through the door, alive.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis 1984

    586 Words  | 2 Pages

    “People who had incurred the displeasure of the party simply disappeared and were never heard of again.

    Read More

  • Into The Wild Rhetorical Analysis

    1626 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the book Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer wrote about Christopher McCandless, a nature lover in search for independence, in a mysterious and hopeful experience. Even though Krakauer tells us McCandless was going to die from the beginning, he still gave him a chance for survival. As a reader I wanted McCandless to survive. In Into the Wild, Krakauer gave McCandless a unique perspective. He was a smart and unique person that wanted to be completely free from society. Krakauer included comments from people that said McCandless was crazy, and his death was his own mistake. However, Krakauer is able to make him seem like a brave person. The connections between other hikers and himself helped in the explanation of McCandless’s rational actions. Krakauer is able to make McCandless look like a normal person, but unique from this generation. In order for Krakauer to make Christopher McCandless not look like a crazy person, but a special person, I will analyze the persuading style that Krakauer used in Into the Wild that made us believe McCandless was a regular young adult.

    Read More

  • The Fountainhead Rhetorical Analysis

    730 Words  | 2 Pages

    Howard Roark’s speech in Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead displays the author's personal philosophy of objectivism. Objectivism is an idea that Ayn Rand had developed and promoted in her works of literature. Objectivism advocated for the rights of individual freedoms such as someone being able to do whatever that person desires with their own creations. In this case, Ayn Rand’s character Howard Roark; who had dynamited his own building . Through Rand’s persuading diction, immense detail, and powerful organization, Ayn Rand takes a stand through a fictional character to promote the idea that an individual should be able to live freely without society or the government scrutinizing him.

    Read More

  • The Stranger Rhetorical Analysis

    1063 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the novel The Stranger by Albert Camus, the narrator’s monotonous tone makes the reader experience a lack of emotion and feeling. The novel starts off describing Mersault’s current job and how he must go on leave in order to attend his mother’s funeral. He and his mother have been disconnected for some time as they had come to a mutual agreement with her staying in an elderly home. Mersault, the main protagonist, did not have the money or time to tend to his mother. The elderly home was the best option for the both of them. When he returns home from the funeral, Mersault gets caught up in external affairs he should not be in. He ends up writing a break up letter to Raymond’s girlfriend, which drives the rest of the story. Raymond beats his

    Read More

  • Mark Twain's The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer

    288 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Adventures of Tom Sawyer written by Mark Twain, is a story about a portion of a Tom Sawyer’s boyhood. Tom is a mischievous little boy, who lives with his Aunt Polly. He has a knack for getting into trouble, and has a very vivid imagination. He doesn’t seem to have respect for anyone, and tends to make bad choices. However, as he goes through tests and trials, both physically and emotionally, he begins to mature. Throughout the book, Tom’s behavior maturity level changes drastically.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis: Harper-Mercer

    822 Words  | 2 Pages

    On October 1st, 2015 Christopher Harper-Mercer went on a shooting spree at Umpqua Community College, killing nine people in the process. Since the shooting, Harper-Mercer’s father, Ian Mercer, has spoken out, stressing the need for more gun legislation. In the article written by The New York Times, Jack Healy and Laura M. Holson present Mercer’s claim that stricter gun control is necessary. In an attempt to make Mercer’s claim effective, Healy and Holson present emotionally charged anecdotes from the shooting, emphasize Mercer’s pleading tone, and use factual information from the shooting to legitimize Mercer’s point.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis

    1502 Words  | 4 Pages

    In a quote by John Mill, “Does fining a criminal show want of respect for property, or imprisoning him, for personal freedom? Just as unreasonable is it to think that to take the life of a man who has taken that of another is to show want of regard for human life. We show, on the contrary, most emphatically our regard for it, by the adoption of a rule that he who violates that right in another forfeits it for himself, and that while no other crime that he can commit deprives him of his right to live, this shall.” Everyone’s life is precious, but at what price? Is it okay to let a murderer to do as they please? Reader, please take a moment and reflect on this issue. The issue will always be a conflict of beliefs and moral standards. The topic

    Read More

  • Mark Twain Rhetorical Analysis

    710 Words  | 2 Pages

    The overall argument that Twain presents is that people don’t have entirely original opinions or ideas. He breaks down his argument by using several premises and backing them up with examples and reasoning that is easy to follow. If the audience was persuaded by his reasoning the most obvious consequence would simply be that we would be more aware of the things and changes that are going on around us. The general public, or those that read and agreed with the essay, would begin to question or analyze why this or that became popular. People would be more mindful of the decisions that are made subconsciously, and would question them.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Letter From Birmingham Jail

    630 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Letter from Birmingham Jail was written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in April of 1963. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of several civil rights activists who were arrested in Birmingham Alabama, after protesting against racial injustices in Alabama. Dr. King wrote this letter in response to a statement titled A Call for Unity, which was published on Good Friday by eight of his fellow clergymen from Alabama. Dr. King uses his letter to eloquently refute the article. In the letter dr. king uses many vivid logos, ethos, and pathos to get his point across. Dr. King writes things in his letter that if any other person even dared to write the people would consider them crazy.

    Read More

  • A Clockwork Orange Rhetorical Analysis

    1899 Words  | 4 Pages

    Creative Section Prompt: Write a scene where an “unlovable” character is involved in a surprising or unexpected hobby or appreciation for something.

    Read More

  • Huck Finn Laughter Analysis

    1124 Words  | 3 Pages

    Moreover, Tom’s rigid adherence to rules and society’s conventions aligns him with the “sivilizing” forces that Huck learns to see through. While Tom’s role in the plot of the novel is small, his contribution to the overall message is integral. His nonsensical antics and wild imagination provide for amusing scenes and moments, however they share a deeper meaning that Twain means to convey to his audience. Representing the juxtaposition of a privileged man in Southern Antebellum society in the character of a young boy contributes to the satiric nature of the novel by providing a certain hilarity to the seriousness of Tom’s cruel nature.

    Read More

  • Essays on the Realistic Hero in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

    1346 Words  | 3 Pages

    Tom Sawyer, the main character of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, written by Mark Twain, is an average boy who is bored with his civilized life and escapes these constraints by pulling pranks.  The character, Tom is presented as a realistic and convincing boy.  He is kind and loving, but also cruel, stupid, and hypocritical.  As the story progresses, Tom shows signs of maturity.  The story of Tom Sawyer, as well as TOM being about a realistic character, is a story that is instructive to adults and children.

    Read More

  • Tom Sawyer - No Average Young Boy

    938 Words  | 2 Pages

    Set in the old Southwest in an almost poverty stricken shabby village called St. Petersburg. The whole town knows one another, and of course they know each other’s business. Sunday was the holy day when everyone would gather at the church to compare notes on the past weeks events. The children had to rely on making good clean fun from meager surroundings. Swimming, fishing, picnicking, and playing "Hide n' seek" in the long hot summer days were all good ways to pass the time. But Tom was more venturesome than that, and with his best friend Huckleberry Finn, he lived everyday to its fullest. Tom had a little more schooling than Huck, but Huck was growing up on the streets and surviving just fine considering that his father was a drunk. Tom had a good home, being raised by his Aunt Polly, (his mother died so her sister took him in). He also lived with his half-brother, Sid, whose main objective in life was to make Tom’s miserable by ratting him out all the time, and his quiet cousin Mary.

    Read More

More about Tom Sawyer Rhetorical Analysis

Open Document