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Shooting Dad Rhetorical Analysis

Decent Essays

In the essay “Shooting Dad”, narrator Sarah Vowell uses juxtaposition as a medium to highlight the stark contrast between her father's interests and her own, but also demonstrates her persona by suggesting her decision to join her father’s passions. Her father, a gunsmith, is both physically and ideologically different from her music-obsessed self. Attempting to eat breakfast one morning, Vowell is forced to “move revolvers out of. [the].way to make room for a bowl of Rice Krispies on the kitchen table”. An innocent action, such as eating breakfast, is quickly spoiled by the corrupt presence of a firearm. Rice Krispies and revolvers side-by-side produce a juxtaposed image, affirming the extraordinary situation of being a gunsmith’s daughter.

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