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Rhetorical Analysis Of The Atomic Era By William Faulkner

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The Atomic Era, spanning from 1945 through the 1960s, was a source of immense concern and fear that faced both Americans and the entire world. During this tumultuous time in history, past abominations such as the Depression and two deadly World Wars haunted Americans, while the Cold War loomed as an imminent threat. Due to such prolonged suffering, the human spirit holding people together the world over had fallen apart at the seams. Upon receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1950, William Faulkner delivered an acceptance speech in which he applies balanced sentences, meaningful repetition, and potent hyperbole in order to call aspiring writers to abandon their fears and encourage them to create work that will aid the world in midst of the current, volatile Atomic Age.
William Faulkner incorporates balanced sentence structure throughout his speech to draw connections between the writer and their role within humanity. Faulkner begins his speech by addressing all aspiring writers and linking himself to them. He states that these writers are “already dedicated to the same anguish and travail, among whom is already that one who will someday stand here where I am standing.” Faulkner immediately establishes a hopeful tone regarding the future of writers, writers who, like Faulkner, understand that good writing requires the hard-work of self-sacrifice. Later on, when discussing the work of authors who disregard the universal truths of writing, Faulkner once again employs a balanced sentence. He claims such works are “of defeats in which nobody loses anything of value, of victories without hope and, worst of all, without pity or compassion”. Defeat and victory juxtaposed blurs the lines between the two and emphasizes the lack of meaning found within the works of authors unwilling to share the problems of the human heart. The parallelism of victories without hope, pity, and compassion marks any author’s work lacking these essential elements as destitute. Faulkner closes his speech with a final balanced statement, “The poet’s voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail.” Faulkner expounds his central message that our writings must be the

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