Discussion Post 1
For this first post, you’re going to do a rhetorical analysis (a brief one) of one of the following four essays. These are on the list; you can still choose one of these for the paper itself. That said, these selections are longer and bit more complicated rhetorically than the others, which is why we’re exploring them in the discussion (and why you’ll still find a lot to explore in the paper you should choose to continue on with the selection you analyze here.
What to do:
Choose one of the following essays. Do a thorough analysis of a portion of the essay (ideally, the beginning) having read it in its entirety. Thus, you’ll have at least three paragraphs of analysis. You should explore at least two strategies (ideally, three). You should preface this analysis with a thesis statement based on the piece. This is a practice thesis, and one I can comment on in a low-stakes environment . . . before you submit a paper.
Choose one of the following: “Shooting an Elephant”, “ excerpt from “Santaland Diaries”, “Dearly Disconnected”, or “Jesus is a Brand of Jeans”.
Thesis: Anna Quindlen’s title, “Still Needing the F Word”, really sums up her central point. In it, Quindlen argues that, as a culture, we are in fact not beyond or “post” feminism, and thus we need to embrace not only the term but the social, political, and economic realities that feminism acknowledges.
14 comments:
Dearly Disconnected, an essay written by Ian Frazier was published in Mother Jones magazine issue in January/February 2000. In it, Frazier describes the sentimental value of pay phones and he compares the near-extinct pay phone to its replacement the cellphone.
The first two paragraphs of the article the author intends to give the reader his personal experience with pay phones in order to understand his argument and main point later in the essay. He does this so he can appeal to the reader’s personal emotions to prove his point why pay phones are so important and why he distastes cell phones. Another rhetorical strategy the author uses is imagery. The author gives a strong visual impression of his environment. He describes his living conditions and circumstances with the intention of proofing his point why telephones and payphone played such an important role in his life.
He uses diction in this article in order to create the right mood for the reader and to provide information about the events occurred to get a better understanding about his opinion and argument. The choice of diction in this article is very subjective and the author uses a lot of informal expressions. The author tries to persuade the reader by choosing to use very emotional and descriptive words.
Dearly Disconnected by Ian Frazier expresses his story while still expressing his feelings and beliefs on how pay phones are dying out. He expresses many enjoyable stories in order to get the reader to really enjoy the thought of pay phones.
In the very beginning of the essay the author uses imagery. “Before I got married I was living by myself in an A-frame cabin in north western Montana. The cabin's interior was a single high-ceilinged room, and at the center of the room, mounted on the rough-hewn log that held up the ceiling beam was a telephone.” I believe the author uses this to get the reader to have a nice opening image to get in their head. So that the reader can really understand where this story begins and get a nice visual of what the author is explaining.
At the end of the second paragraph, the author puts an idea out there giving you an idea of where the story is heading but then the opposite happens using irony. “She had no reason to think that a public phone ringing on a busy street would be for her. She stopped, listened to it ring again, and picked up the receiver. Love is pure luck; somehow I had known she would answer, and she had known it would be me.” I think that the author uses this rhetorical strategy in order to make things unpredictable and surprising. Also, to express how he was feeling and thinking and that he knew what was going to happen even though against all odds it shouldn't have happened that way.
Finally, throughout the third paragraph that author uses diction picking specific words such as “ordinariness” and “boringnesss” to express how plain and unspecial the pay phone was but to him it was the complete opposite of how people, his children included thought it to be.
Geared toward our nation’s somewhat skeptical group of consumers, author Jean Kilbourne breaks the silence behind many industries’ seemingly devious advertising techniques. His article, “Jesus is a brand of jeans” was featured in September 2006’s edition of New Internationalist magazine uncovering a clever method of advertising strategy which appeals to the human psychological aspect of emotional necessities.
Jean repeatedly introduces visual depictions to illustrate his discovery. A couple making love in one example advertisement appears normal until it’s observed that one participant is focused primarily on a magazine ad consisting of a shiny red sedan. The author reiterates his argument stating, “The product is not so much the means to an end, as the end itself.” There are numerous marketing examples the article offers as evidence that the author indeed holds a rational standpoint.
Next, Kilbourne attempts to use allusion to further convince readers how his knowledge in the marketing campaign is notably sophisticated. He identifies himself as, “someone who has studied ads for a long time” citing absolutely no reference or clarification, and continues, “I see them as part of a pattern.” Kilborne’s audience may or may not identify him as an expert or senior advertisement interpreter, as this preferred tactic was poorly executed.
The author uses diction rather skillfully in one paragraph to support his emphasis on the emotional relationship constructed by the advertising agency between the consumer and the product itself. He puts it simply, “buy this and it will love you.” This example of diction enables his audience to easily distinguish the intended purpose of the ad and gives them clear insight into his evidence later offered through the rest of his article.
“I was hated by large numbers of people” George Orwell vividly describes the struggles of an Englishman in India, in the essay Shooting An Elephant. Writing in the first-person, Orwell uses personal experience to make the reader connect with him and the issues he is describing. Through his excellent descriptions he paints lucid pictures of the things that he witnessed. Also, Orwell appeals to the readers emotions by expressing both his internal struggles, and his external circumstance.
In this essay the writer focuses a lot on his thoughts, actions, and desires through the events that transpire. He starts of by stating his struggle between disliking the oppressive government that he works for, and being irritated but the foreign people who take joy in making his job harder than is has to be. This initial statement of discontent really sets the stage for the things he will have to deal with later. The story is told explicitly from his perspective and would not be effectively communicated in any other way. Through personal experience, Orwell explains why he does the things that he does, and why they are justified in his mind.
The descriptions in this essay are very eloquently written, they contain lots of imagery that helps the reader put themselves in the story. “my rage against the evil-spirited little beasts “ In this quote Orwell is describing the native people that do everything in their power to make his life harder. Through colorful description such as this he is able to more effectively communicate his tale, and make the reader feel immersed. Another example of a good description is “With one part of my mind I thought of the British Raj as an unbreakable tyranny, as something clamped down, in saecula saeculorum, upon the will of prostrate peoples” here he is describing his thoughts about the British Empire. His expressive adjectives metaphorically create a stirring image, about his view of his homeland and its impact on the world.
Ethos, or emotion play a major role in the plot of this narrative. Throughout the entire essay Orwell is constantly expressing how things impacted him emotionally, and how he feels about different aspects of his life. Focusing so greatly on his emotion was Orwell's method of appealing to the reader's emotion. “I thought that the greatest joy in the world would be to drive a bayonet into a Buddhist priest's guts. “ In this quote he is expressing the joy he would receive from acting upon his frustration with the troubles that the natives gave him. Hatred and joy are both very powerful emotions that give the reader a good understanding of the extent of his feelings. There are many powerful statements in this essay that server to impact the reader on an emotional level.
With the use of irony, characterization, and a sarcastic tone, David Sedaris author of SantaLand Diaries retells his agony as he worked for Macy’s as an elf named Crumpet.
From the beginning of this excerpt from SantaLand Diaries , Sedaris sets a tone of sarcasm. He describes his work uniform as if it were some kind of royal clothing. He describes his elf uniform being composed of “forest green velvet” and full of perkiness. The use of Sedaris sarcastic words make the reader clear that his article will be that of a terrible experience.
Throughout the excerpt irony is also conveyed within situations and verbally. Christmas is supposed to be filled his joy and happiness yet Crumpet is experiencing “Fistfights and vomiting and magnificent tantrums.” The way Crumpet also describes these situations is ironic because he is describing them as if they were wonderful to watch and experience when in reality he is being annoyed by these people in the mall.
The characterization of Crumpet is also a strategy used by Sedaris. Crumpet is clearly an overwhelmed elf that plays along with the irony that is throughout SantaLand Diaries. Crumpet clearly marks himself as a “low-key sort of elf.” The situations in where Crumpet is set on require holiday spirit but he is clearly sickened by the holidays and its people. The character of Crumpet helps bring forth Sedaris’ stand point toward the christmas holiday.
“Jesus Is a Brand of Jeans” was written by Jean Kilbourne and then published in New Internationalist Magazine in September of 2006. Kilbourne, in her writing, makes a dramatic attempt to undermine the propaganda effort used by advertisers around the globe.
Kilbourne, in the first few paragraphs of her article, intentionally tries to use the provocation strategy. She explains one of the articles that she analyzes as tasteless, and a product of false advertisement. The said article depicts a child ‘taking the backseat’ to snow sports gear, and essentially shows how the general public can misplace priorities.
In “Jesus Is a Brand of Jeans”, Kilbourne attempts to appeal to the reader’s logic. Kilbourne explains that in today’s explicit propaganda movement, people are degraded to be somewhat inhuman. She explains how people have been exploited to sell things as un-important as shampoo, or chewing gum. The author intends for the reader to feel some sort of agreement with the argument that the illogical propaganda is in fact, illogical.
Kilbourne, in her article, points out the extreme symbolism in the propaganda ads that she analyzes. One of the articles that she analyzes shows a man staring at a picture of a sports car, instead of the woman he is supposedly in love with. The underlying meaning of the ad is that items are easier to love than people. This type of negative symbolism is unfortunately not only shown in this one advertisement.
Dearly Disconnected, an article by Ian Frazier, shows an emotional side to a pay phone. An article in Mother Jones Ian connects personal experience and appeal to emotion to show how history and a personal connection to a pay phone.
Ian starts off in the beginning of the article by explaining his personal experience with pay phones. It helps the reader understand where he comes from when he talks about the pay phone later in the article . Its also appeals to the reader emotions by how an amazing event can come from just a simple pay phone. It also helps his main idea that now that technology is advancing the pay phone and all the memories that he has experienced will be gone with it.
The author doesn't just make the pay phone just another thing to write about but a symbol of the past. He shows examples of things that people would have to do when using a pay phone like using a whole fist full of change or talking to an operator that was a real person. Also how people would abuse pay phones by smashing it when you were mad
Shooting an elephant by George Orwell, definately captured the feeling of being a stranger in a strange land. In writing about what seems is, one of the worst experiences of his life. He takes the reader right along with him.
I feel George uses a first person narrative to try and really show his audience what a tough time he was going through inside his mind. The first person is an excellent strategy when writing from a personal experience.
George also implements sarcasm on himself, his own government, and the people he is tasked to control. He is looking back as he writes and admits to his own foolishness for despising the british empire considering what replaced them was much worse. He makes light that most of his job is spent doing what the burmese expect him to do.
Through the entirety of the piece very colorful and racist language is used. When the elephant kills a man George refers to him as a "coolie" a very racial epithet by today's standards. He even once mentions driving a bayonet through a bhuddist monk a thought that would appall most people. this strategy definately catches the readers attention.
Dearly Disconnected by Ian Frazier is a story of memories and feelings about pay phones and what they mean to him. Frazier uses many rhetorical devices to get this point across, including significant ones like imagery and repetition.
Frazier begins his story by explaining the exact details of where he was living. "A-frame cabin in northwestern Montana. The cabin's interior was a single high-ceilinged room, and at the center of the room, mounted on the rough-hewn log that held up the ceiling beam, was a telephone." This paints a picture in the readers mind and also keeps them curious as to why Frazier is simply talking about a phone. Later in his story Frazier explains an old pay phone that was blown up, "By the time I saw it, however, the pay phone had been blown up and/or firebombed. I had never before seen a pay phone so damaged; explosives had blasted pieces of the phone itself wide open in metal shreds like frozen banana peels, and flames had blackened everything and melted the plastic parts and burned the insulation off the wires." This paints a livid picture in the readers mind. It not only describes what happened, but the reader also finds themselves feeling almost sad for the pay phone. Frazier uses imagery in his story to create a multiple settings for the reader to relate to.
"The cold phone outside a shopping center", "the phone on the wall of the concession stand", "the sweaty phones used almost only by men", "the phone by the driveway", "the phone in the old wood-paneled phone booth". Frazier uses repetition in his story to make the reader keep picturing a pay phone. Each person to read this story has a picture of some pay phone they have seen in their head and by the end of the story that is all the reader can picture after reading the work "phone" and/or "pay phone" so many times. This kind of repetition is an effective way to keep the reader from not paying attention to the story. When the same words are thrown at you so many times in so many different ways, you have no choice but to let them soak in and hear them.
dearly disconnected, by Ion Frazier, is an essay about his past, present, good and bad experiences with pay phones. Throughout this essay Frazier reveals his emotional and personal connection with pay phones and how they are land marks of the past.
Frazier begins the essay with, "I was living by myself in A-frame cabin in northwestern montana. The cabins interior was a single high-ceilinged room, and at the center of the room, mounted on the rough-hewn log that held up the ceiling beam, was a telephone." This is Ian Frazier Giving the reader imagery and a idea of where his passion for pay phones begins.
"Shooting an Elephant" is an essay by George Orwell. The essay describes the experience of an English man working in Burma as a police officer. George Orwell describes the hostility between the locals and the British by comparing their relationship to that of the English officer shooting an elephant.
The narrator said ‘‘I was hated by large numbers of people,’’, and ‘‘anti-European feeling was very bitter.’’. The narrator understands the hatred the locals hold towards him was due to the imperialistic regime none the less he said his “greatest joy” would have been to put a bayonet through one of his tormentors. This first person perceptive draws in readers and brings home the idea the narrator is trying to project about imperialism.
The diction he uses is very descriptive especially during the scene of the elephant shooting. Using words such as “devilish roar, desperate slowness, frightful impact, enormous senility” and a few more all in one scene to really help readers understand the gravity of this situation. The elephant comes to symbolizes British imperialism and reflect Orwell’s view on imperialism; it is dying, but it can’t move-just as British imperialism dies shortly thereafter.
Rebecca,
I believe this is the draft of your thesis: "Dearly Disconnected by Ian Frazier expresses his story while still expressing his feelings and beliefs on how pay phones are dying out." A few things here -- "expresses his story" is vague -- the piece is an ode to a bygone era, a mourning of a particular loss, etc. Try to get at something more specific in this phrasing that acknowledges tone. Avoid using "expresses" twice in the sentence. The last part "beliefs on how pay phones are dying out" also needs a bit of work as it suggests he "believes" they're dying out (this suggests this is an opinion held by the writer rather than the reality it is), and the essay doesn't really suggest much about his beliefs, per se. I know this is a lot of feedback, but I want you to have a strong thesis to head the analysis, which itself is coming together well.
He does use imagery, and I like your point about opening with a "nice" image (though this adjective, too, could be stronger -- cozy, quaint, peaceful, solitary? Work on creating a tone and feeling with the adjectives you choose.
I like that you highlight the use of irony -- this is a strong strategy.
Be sure to cut phrasing like "I believe" and "giving you an idea" -- stick to third person.
Hope the feedback helps!
Lisa,
You write, "Dearly Disconnected, an essay written by Ian Frazier was published in Mother Jones magazine issue in January/February 2000. In it, Frazier describes the sentimental value of pay phones and he compares the near-extinct pay phone to its replacement the cellphone." This is very clear. You may want to extend the last thought -- WHY does he compare these? To illustrate what point?
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