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John Barry The Great Influenza Rhetorical Analysis

Decent Essays

John M. Barry's ///The Great Influenza///, about the 1918 flu epidemic, explains how as well as why scientists commit to their calling. By the end of the excerpt, Barry, through his words, bases the nature of scientific research on uncertainty, which requires diligence, risk, and exploration out of exceptional scientists. Using rhetorical strategies, Barry characterizes scientific research as mysterious and dangerous, a research done by scientists who are pioneers, in a figurative sense.

Throughout the first few paragraphs, Barry introduces the idea of diligence, which is the scientists' abilities to be careful and persistent in work. In the first few lines of the passage, the author features repetition, as well as a slight parallel structure; in lines 1-3, when the author is repeating and comparing "certainty" and "uncertainty", emphasizing the point that certainty and uncertainty are both equally required within the mind of a scientist; considering the concept that "certainty creates strength" and "uncertainty creates weakness. " Along with this, in line …show more content…

Throughout lines 23-35, Barry uses an extended metaphor, to relate wilderness exploration to the uncertainty and mystery of science, which better shows the amount of risk that scientists make to carry out their experiments and ideas. Within these lines, Barry uses an added rhetorical strategy, juxtaposition, assisted by repetition, in lines 24-26, repeating the phrase "among them", grouped with the words "least ambitious" and "The best" to compare the actions of the most and least ambitious scientists, as well as the effects of their actions. In lines 40-46, Barry uses repetition with the words "would" and "if", mimicking the behavior of scientists, emphasizing the uncertainty within the concept of science. These rhetorical strategies support the effect of risk, an important factor in conquering science's

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