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Essay about the book Fences by August Wilson
Essay about the book Fences by August Wilson
The significance of Fences by August Wilson
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It is known that Politeness theory in pragmatics is used to describe and explain how people use words that be understood as polite or rude speeches. That is, a same sentence may be understood as praise one time or as dispraise another time that is due to the occasion and situation. For example, August Wilson uses the politeness theory clearly in his perfect play of Fences. This appears in a great scene between the protagonist of the play, Troy, and his best friend, Bono. August Wilson uses the theory in a perfect way on the tongue of the character of Bono when he says the following effective words: (Wilson, 1985) “Troy…I done known you seem like damn near my whole life. You and Rose both. I done know both of you all for along time. I remember
In life, when a close friend adopts a quirk in their speech, such as saying “like” a lot, sometimes people can catch themselves accidentally saying “like” more than before. This change in speech makes what the person is saying seem like certain due to “like” traditionally be used to approximate. Over time, this has the potential to make the speaker thoughts to become less confident. Orwell is explaining that this is what is happening with bad habits in the English language on a much grander scale. 11)
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.
August Wilson’s Fences is a powerful play that centers on Troy Maxson and the Maxson family. While Wilson’s plays are entertaining, his goal is to provide the black community a source of entertainment in which they can be proud of their history. Wilson’s Fences does that through showing the complexities of Troy Maxson. Troy is the protagonist of the play. He is at constant battle with himself over racial issues that have plagued him throughout his life. In spite of being promoted as the first black truck driver at his job, he is unable to forget how race kept him from achieving baseball fame. However, Troy is able to build a suitable life for his family. Troy is a strong character, but his personal faults end up destroying what he should value most, his family. Throughout the play, there is focus on building a fence around the Maxson home; this fence becomes a metaphor for Troy and other members of his family. While the play is set around building a literal fence, the true focus is on the metaphorical fence for each character (O’Reilly).
Both Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est” as well as “next to of course god america i” written by E.E. Cummings preform critic on war propaganda used during the first world war. Besides this the influence war propaganda has on the soldiers as individuals as well as on war in more general terms, is being portrayed in a sophisticated and progressive manner. By depicting war with the use of strong literary features such as imagery or sarcasm both texts demonstrate the harshness of war as well as attempt to convey that war propaganda is, as Owen states “an old lie”, and that it certainly is not honourable to die for one’s country. Therefore, the aim of both writers can be said to be to frontally attack any form of war promotion or support offensively
In the article "Why Good English is Good For You," by John Simon, the intended audience is English speaking Americans. Simon stresses the importance of keeping good English alive, and spreading it. He explains how the influence of adults can greatly impact the future of the upcoming generations. Simon makes it clear to the audience, which consists of young adults, adults, and professionals, that language is a daily necessity that should not be used in a way that makes Americans appear illiterate. Simon uses many rhetorical devices such as analogies, personification, asyndeton, and anaphoras to demonstrate the importance of utilizing English in a proper manner. Those who use English must train themselves to exert the language in the correct
meaning, use of unusual metaphors or speak in the formal, and talk in a monotone
Peter Lovenheim’s article, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” is about the importance of Americans getting to know their neighbors because it creates community, encourage people to help to each other, and is personally fulfilling. Lovenheim is successful in persuading the target audience to get to know their neighbors because he persuasively describes the joy of forming a bond with neighbors, the advantages of developing trusting relationships with neighbors, and the increased community safety that results in great familiarity with neighbors.
Oscar Wilde’s, “The Importance of Being Earnest”, play carefully uses satire as a didactic tool to mask the underlying social commentary with the help of comedy through characters theme and dialogue. Wilde uses satire to ridicule class and wealth, marriage and the ignorance of the Victorian Age. Audiences are continually amused by Wilde’s use of linguistic and comic devices such as double entendre, puns, paradox and epigrams, especially in the case of social commentary and didactic lessons. Characters portrayed in the play such as Jack, Cecily, Algernon and Lady Bracknell, allow Wilde to express his opinions on the social problems during the Victorian Age.
Reinert, Otto. (1956). Satiric Strategy in the Importance of Being Earnest. College English, Vol. 18, No. 1.
For example, using sarcasm †̃well thatâ€TMs just greatâ€TM most often used in a sarcastic tone but taken literally it would be interpreted as amazing. The language we use can be confusing we must adapt our verbal communication accordingly.
This essay opens the minds of people to see that perfect writing is not always the perfect thing. Murray’s essay would interest almost every person who has been a student and taken an English class. Most
Oscar Wilde’s treatment of high society and manners are explored in the play “The Importance of Being Earnest”. Here, members of the upper class display a great deal of pride and pretense, feeling that they are inherently entitled to their wealth and higher social position. An example is Lady Bracknell, who is preoccupied with maintaining the status quo that she quickly squashes any signs of rebellion. Characters from higher societies/classes are mainly concerned about their reputation and respectability. Thus, expectations of the upper class for both men and women include being upstanding, rich and come from a wealthy family. Wilde’s criticism on high society and manners are explored through the characteristics of Lady Bracknell; the dialogue between Gwendolen and Cecily; and the characteristics of Jack in the country.
The quote shows that when the war is done, the men "will be making homes" (line 6). This shows irony as the war is just beginning however, the authorities are already discussing the events when the war finishes. This is to distract society from the dying soldiers and show them what they will win: new homes.
Wilfred Owen wrote about the distilled pity of war from his first-hand experience. Owen concisely features the carnage and destruction of war in both the poems, ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ and ‘Strange Meeting’ Owen uses these poems document the psychological and physical debilitation of war. In ‘Dulce et Decorum est’, Owen uses a various amount of literary techniques to visually depict the cruel and grotesque death from the mustard gas whereas ‘Strange Meeting’, portrays the speaker in conversation with a dead soldier that he is presumably responsible for killing, symbolically which emphasises the effect of the wartime trauma. Wilfred Owen’s poetry effectively highlights the carnage and destruction of war to educate the audience on the disillusionment of war.
...ant ways to point of the faults and flaws in a various array of things. When being too aggressive or hostile when trying to show one’s opinion on a matter, others are normally not receptive to such methods of persuasion. But when a lighthearted attempt to point out matters is used with the help of humor, people become receptive and willing to see what someone has to say. This is exactly how Richard Sheridan was able to point out ridiculous human traits through his play The Rivals. He used Mrs. Malaprop and her many malapropisms to illustrate ignorance in women and how it presents a problem in English society. He also uses the character Faulkland to show how captiousness can spoil a relationship that was in no danger in the first place. Lastly, Sheridan uses understatements made by Sir Lucious to show the futility and foolishness that come as a result of pride.