The Glorious Whitewasher Rhetorical Analysis

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In the story, The Glorious Whitewasher, Tom Sawyer uses two distinct strategies to deceive the other children into whitewashing the fence for him. First, Tom ignores the presence of Ben upon his arrival: ‘Tom went on whitewashing- paid no attention to the steamboat.’ While talking to Ben about the work he is doing Tom also does not acknowledge Ben directly but instead makes it appear that the whitewashing is more interesting. “‘O, come, now, you don’t mean to let on that you like it?’ The brush continued to move.” This persistent disregard of Ben while looking interested in his work causes Ben to marvel over the idea that whitewashing may just be fun. The second strategy Tom Sawyer uses is reverse psychology. Reverse psychology is when someone discusses the opposite of their needs to accomplish the outcome they really desire.

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