John Green is a well known writer for books. His books are very famous. One of those famous books being "Let It Snow". Green makes a statement about America from an excerpt in that book. Initially, the quote comes off as sarcastic and not serious however there is message. The author makes the general assumption that the American Dream is just a myth or as it is, a dream. A dream however that Americans try to live up to. The American Dream being going to school, graduating from school, white picket and all that jazz.
In the eyes of John Green, this dream is absurd, ridiculous, foolish. Green delivers this message through rhetorical devices satire and verbal irony. Both devices are expressed strongly in this text, "When my parents left Korea with nothing but the clothes on their back...they had a dream...a dream that one day...their son would lose his virginity to a cheerleader in the woman's bathroom..." Surely no one wants their son to lose his version this way hence the verbal irony. Humor is present in the text which proves the text's satire. Furthermore, Green asserts that the American Dream, though many people try to live it, is just a dream.
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Assertion #4
Tupac Shakur was famous rapper that died unfortunately. His songs and poems were very famous. One of his famous poems being "The Rose That Grew From the Concrete". In this poem, Tupac talks about the admiration a rose gets from growing from the concrete. He compares himself to the rose and argues that he does not get the same admiration that that rose gets despite their same situation. Tupac's message is that America in general is already fixed on the views of people coming from the same background as him.
Shakur delivers this message by the use rhetorical devices juxtaposition, metaphors and hypophora. An object that stands out metaphorically speaking and physically is called juxtaposition. In this case the rose growing out of the concrete is the juxtaposition. A metaphor was present when Shakur then says that he himself is that rose, the rose that still grew despite coming from a hard background. To prove his point further, Shakur asks the reader why he does not get the same praise the rose does and gives the reader an indirect answer, "...so why is it that when you see a ghetto kid grow out of the dirtiest circumstance...all you can talk about is my dirty rose, my dirty stems and how I am leaning crooked to the side. You can't even see that I've come up from out of that."
Shakur delivers this message by the use rhetorical devices juxtaposition, metaphors and hypophora. An object that stands out metaphorically speaking and physically is called juxtaposition. In this case the rose growing out of the concrete is the juxtaposition. A metaphor was present when Shakur then says that he himself is that rose, the rose that still grew despite coming from a hard background. To prove his point further, Shakur asks the reader why he does not get the same praise the rose does and gives the reader an indirect answer, "...so why is it that when you see a ghetto kid grow out of the dirtiest circumstance...all you can talk about is my dirty rose, my dirty stems and how I am leaning crooked to the side. You can't even see that I've come up from out of that."
Assertion #3
Everybody has different views on things ;and through the eyes of Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor, his views are very different. The author asserts that indifference is the real opposite of every action. An example of this is Love and Hate. Loving and hating are both passionate emotions; they both require feeling, the opposite would be to not feel: indifference. In his quote of indifference, he mentions well-known "opposites" but claims that they are really not opposites. An example of this would be "The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference." Behind these simple words is a strong message.
Wiesel gets his message across through the uses of syntax, shift and epistrophe. At the end of each line in his quote, it ends with, "it's indifference" causing it to be more rememberable to the reader. That is called epistrophe. The syntax of phrases with epistrophe will allow the reader to create a chain of some sort in their minds. On the last part of the quote however the author switches it up and writes, "but indifference between life and death". This is called a shift, a shift in the syntax. A break in the chain will make the phrase stand out more to the reader.
Saturday, September 10, 2016
Assertion #2
Bill Bryson is an American essayist that wrote his assertion for America. In the beginning of the text, it is believed that Bryson is a proud American with great national pride for the country, however it is shortly revealed that he is actually ashamed to be an American. Bryson initially started listing all the things that make America great; the delicious food, our government, our wealth, power, our great sporting events, big cars, all that jazz; then in less than 15 words, he exposes his humiliation for America.
Through the art of rhetorical devices and writing styles, Bryson misleads the reader, adding a twist to the text. The use of diction aided the uncovering of the author's shame. With one word, seditious, he has made the reader realize his true feelings. Another rhetorical device the author uses is syntax. Syntax means sentence structure and that could mean shifts in the text. In this case, the author's twist was the shift from "Yeah 'Murica!" to "Boo America".
Through the art of rhetorical devices and writing styles, Bryson misleads the reader, adding a twist to the text. The use of diction aided the uncovering of the author's shame. With one word, seditious, he has made the reader realize his true feelings. Another rhetorical device the author uses is syntax. Syntax means sentence structure and that could mean shifts in the text. In this case, the author's twist was the shift from "Yeah 'Murica!" to "Boo America".
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