Rhetorical Analysis Group Essay
John James Audubon and Annie Dillard, both established writers, expertly describe their experiences observing a flock of birds. Their evaluations go in depth in the form of both a physical description of events and well as the emotions exposed from those events. Although both of the authors use rhetorical strategies to enhance their writing, they convey their message making different stylistic choices.
Audubon and Dillard both use imagery to describe their experiences as the bird were flying overhead. Audubon uses counts and gives the reader an order and picture in which the birds came through. Dillard approached this by using more emotion and awe when describing the scene. Dillard states “I stood with difficulty, bashed by the unexpectedness of this beauty…”. Both authors share how intrigued they are by the birds even if their responses were
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They both are amazed at the numbers of the flock that they observed, stating “in greater numbers than I thought I had ever seen them before” (Passage 1) and then rephrased in “The flight extended like a fluttering banner, an unfurled oriflamme, in either direction as far as I could see.” (Passage 2). The difference between the two writing styles is one uses a direct and straightforward use of tone through phrases like “In the autumn of 1813...from north-east to south-west...I dismounted, seated myself on an eminence” (Passage 1). These phrases show no emotion but simply describe the action or the setting. The other style is the reciprocal of this direct approach, having a childlike curiosity and questioning its surroundings in phrases like “unexpectedness of this beauty...Could tiny birds be sifting through me right now, birds winging through the gaps between my cells, touching nothing, but quickening in my tissues, fleet?” (Passage
In the stories “An American Childhood’’ by Dillard’s and “Always Running” by Rodriquez are both experiences of their childhood when they both were being chased. It’s more like a short personal story about a part of their life. The stories were made interesting by adding the culture and place they grew up in. The stories also allows the readers to experience what they went through and what life was like for them with their dramatic words.
Bird by Bird, authored by Anne Lamott, gives advice on writing from the experience of a longtime writer, advice that is supported by ideas in the book The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien. Bird by Bird is primarily a self-help book on starting, continuing and succeeding in the field of writing. With the ideas provided in Anne Lamott’s book you can find similar thoughts mentioned in The Things They Carried. Getting started on writing, morals in life and the power of letters are some of these fundamental tips. Whether expanding on the ideas of Lamott or proving her point Tim O’Brien’s writing aids the reader in understanding Bird by Bird.
(Consider a better transition into the new topic. You can add transition word or add connecting sentence to the previous paragraph) Realism is the key style in A White Heron . This element avoids a ‘fairy tale’ feeling to the story and, rather, allows it to focus on more important issues. The author shows this in Sylvia’s development of her feelings towards the sportsman and how she regards those feelings in order to embrace individualism and knows that “whatever treasures were lost to her, woodlands and summer time, remember!” the wilderness is a part of who she is (Jewett 71). This is the point where she neglects her feelings for the hunter and, instead, realizes her own true feelings towards the countryside and what it has offered to her and will continually provide for her own spiritual and personal needs. Not only is realism used in Sylvia’s focus on real-life-in-the-moment events, but in other minor uses such as the setting. The story takes place within the parameters of Sylvia’s “clean and comfortable…little dwelling” in a middle to lower level class community that “does not rebel at the companionship of hens” (Jewett 65).
This time, the page was turned to a dying bird. And I mean, really dying. Most of the picture was this one wing, held straight up. All its feather were spread out, and you could see how Audubon got their pattern down - three rows of long, overlapping dark feathers, tipped white at the ends. You could feel how the wind would cruise over them. It was beautiful, and it’s just what you looked at first. And then you looked down at the second wing, which was crushed. And then you looked at the
“Passenger Pigeon”, written by John James Audubon, is the author’s account of the now extinct pigeon at a time the bird soared across North America in great numbers. The work itself is an entry of a larger scientific work describing various birds and their traits, but Audubon’s exposition varied from the scientific documents his peers were writing. The work begins with a rich description of the passenger pigeon, but soon Audubon begins to discuss a personal story involving the bird. The cycle continues throughout the work, as Audubon goes from factual information to his individual encounters with the bird. Audubon’s story is summarized through his scientific descriptions of the pigeons and his stories of encounters with the passenger
The book Red Bird has a series of poems written by Mary Oliver. She gives her perspective of the world and the gifts the world gives up. Oliver captures moments from the transformation of a capitllaar to some really dark bittersweet moments. Oliver is the true Anthologist because every poem she wrote comes to life. Due to the references and each scenes Oliver tries to create she illustrates true Eco-Criticism. Oliver’s illustration of Eco-criticism relates to themes of love, sorrow, empowerment, and laughter, which makes one reflect a certain way. As a result of how Oliver captured her works, she makes one look at the world at a different perspective, and have a peerlessness for the world.
Any literature writer across all genres of literature work that is short stories, novels, songs and poetry are driven to write by a particular purpose and must have the target audience in mind. Therefore, it is important to conduct rhetorical analysis of any essay in order to establish the author of a given piece of literature, the author’s intended target audience to whom the literary work is directed to, the writer’s main purpose for writing the work and what is the setting in which the author is located while giving the intended speech to the target audience. Therefore, in order to write a document that will bear fruits, the author must carefully select the message that intends to put across, the target audience and the setting of the document. Therefore, by conducting rhetorical analysis of Garret Hardin’s essay "Lifeboat Ethics" will enable the interested readers to gather information regarding the author, the message, the target audience as well as the setting.
This opening passage introduces several important ideas and approaches that will operate through the entire book. Dillard insistently presents the natural world as both beautiful and cruel, like the image of roses painted in blood. She demonstrates
It was not until after a few minutes I realized the bird was even there. These elements of color contributed to how I viewed the work. The colors triggered an emotional response in that the work which appears to be set at the beginning of Spring, because of the blooming light violet blossoms, adding to what feels like the end of a melancholy
In the first stanza, the first speaker states events that happened, but the second speaker has more visuals and gives a sense that the gardens are the same. The first speaker in the second stanza is naming different swivels and is explaining the selection of swivel, while the second speaker is naming a single object, and is describing rather than explaining. In the third stanza, the first speaker is praising the right idea, while using negatives for the bad idea, and the second speaker is describing the qualities of the blossoms by using imagery. The fourth stanza has the first speaker explaining the movement of the bolt using technical terms, while the second speaker is explaining the movement of bees in more descriptive verbs. In the last stanza, the former speaker is using pauses in speech to show differences in the ideas from the different stanzas, but the latter speaker written in a better flowing line, showing the relations between the three ideas of silence, gardens, and bees moving back and forth. While the two speakers use different diction and imagery, they also use different rhythms and sound devices.
Kress and Van Leeuwen argue that the ladybird’s more realistic depictions of the world ensures a more precise perspective on how to read the image. The addition of text next to the image provides a direct, less ambiguous association which eventually helps to create appropriate meaning and understanding. (Kress &Van Leeuwen : 2006 : 28) In the
In passage one, it is clearly written in a more sophisticated manner, whereas passage two is a lot more basic compared to passage one. Also passage two, words are less sophisticated, sentence is shorter compared to passage one. Passage one includes figurative language whereas
This bird’s purpose to the ecosystem was once understood and was appreciated for a source of food for survival, though gradually it becomes despised for ruining crops. By the beginning of the 19th century, they are killed in large numbers for no purpose but an opportunity for trap hunters to engage in what becomes a new popular sport (Price, 1999). In his story, the author describes how so many were shot that they covered entire fields, and up to half were still alive and left to suffer for no reason. One character who strongly opposed the continual unnecessary firing demonstrated his hunting skills by killing one bird with a single shot, and without harming any others. Afterwards, he leaves the scene, saying, “…I came out for a bird… and now I have got one Twill go home, for I don’t relish to see these wasty ways that you all are practysing, as if the least thing wasn’t made for use, and not to destroy.” This highlights the dramatic shift that occurred regarding the treatment of the bird and the decrease of hunting ability and sportsmanship standards (Cooper, 1823). Not only did the activity show a lack of the American pride and appreciation for the natural surroundings and abundant resources, but disregarded basic morals. A correlation between focus on advancement and passive thinking similar to the passenger pigeon example, an
Sometimes in life you need to get up close and personal to see things as they actually are. The presence of the summer sun in the forest canopy flickered in and out of existence with the gentle breeze. This one was a relaxing day, filled with serene landscapes of nature, as I hiked with two childhood pals. A trek through the forest on my uncle’s two-hundred acres was a natural occurrence during the summer, Josh and Norm, two fellow adventure enthusiasts, usually came along. After a few hours of making our way through dense brush and muddy creek beds we reached the forest’s edge. We gazed upon the clearing ahead, an empty field that stretched as far as the eyes could see. Norm noticed it first, “look at the size of that deer!” he shouted,
The moment did become better. South of us, soaring high in the sky appeared an eagle. Not a bald eagle, but perhaps a golden and it appeared to be closing in on our location as it dropped in altitude. Mesmerized, eyes locked in on the free bird, it ensued on a flight pattern directly at our position. The closer it moved in, the swifter it soared. Suddenly, the realization set in that it was too late to lunge for a camera. The bird rapidly appeared in such proximity the details of the underside wings were sharply in focus. Holly claims the bird’s flight pattern locked in on her, and I believe her. For a brief moment, an uncomfortable feeling besieged me as I couldn’t understand the bird’s intentions of being that close in flight. An actual goose bump or two appeared while a mild chill jettisoned down my back. It was captivating and eerie at the same time. The golden eagle flew directly over Holly swooshing past and soaring out over the ravine. If either Holly or I had hastily searched for a camera, we would have missed the amazing display of soaring free.