Blog Post 3

E. B. White’s Once More to the Lake is a narrative that follows a father and son who go to the father’s childhood retreat. White is most known for his sentimental writing style, as observed in his famous story Charlotte’s Web (Editors), and that style is continued in this coming-of-age essay that outlines the hardships of letting go of the past. The essay does not lessen the value of nostalgia, but the central argument is that people should cherish the past, not relive it. This purpose is demonstrated through White’s use of polysyndeton, where he says, “Inside [the same store], all was just as it had always been, except there was more Coco-Cola and not so much Moxie and root beer and birch beer and sarsaparilla” (White 184). This string of conjunctions helps to show White’s thought process that many things have changed in the place he so vividly remembered, furthering the argument that one cannot truly relive memories. White’s nostalgic recollection of the past is also revealed when he romanticizes using diacope: “Summertime, oh, summertime, pattern of life indelible, the fade-proof lake, the woods unshatterable…” (White 182). In this quotation, White explains that he cannot forget the importance of the memories he formed at the lake, also claiming that his childhood will remain with him as he continues living. Lastly, White’s use of a metaphor contributes to the overall purpose of the essay. When his son went to swim in the lake as he always had, White stated, “Languidly, and with no thought of going in, I watched him, his hard little body, skinny and bare, saw him wince slightly as he pulled up around his vitals the [cold swimsuit]. …suddenly my groin felt the chill of death” (White 185). This metaphor describes the moment that White stopped attempting to recreate his childhood, but instead connected to his son who gave him his truest remembrance. While this story is largely situational to White, the rhetorical devices used revealed to his audience the futility of existing in the past, instilling in them the idea that the present should be cherished.

The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali

This piece of famous art may have one intended meaning, but it shows a distorted sense of time that reflects one's tendency to hold onto the past. The digitized painting was retrieved from wikiart.org (Dali)

Works Cited

Dali, Salvador. The Persistence of Memory. Digital image. www.wikiart.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Aug. 2016.

Editors, Biography.com. "E.B. White Biography." The Biography.com Website. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 17 Aug. 2016.

White, E. B. "Once More to the Lake." The Best American Essays of the Century. Ed. Joyce Carol Oates and Robert Atwan. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2000. 179-85. Print.

Blog Post 2

Zora Neale Hurston’s How It Feels to Be Colored Me documents her understanding of racism throughout varied childhood experiences. Hurston, born African-American in 1891 (Editors), faced much of the prejudice that existed against people of color. As she noted, neighborhoods were largely segregated when she grew up, so it was only when she moved to a town with many white people that she felt out-of-place. As a civil rights activist, Hurston concludes the essay with an extended metaphor, explaining how she “feel[s] like a brown bag of miscellany … in company with other bags, white, red, and yellow,” later continuing that “all might be dumped in a single heap and the bags refilled without altering the content any greatly” (Hurston 117). This extended metaphor is the most straight-forward explanation of her purpose: to help her audience recognize that, regardless of the body one is given at birth, everyone shares fundamental similarities. While this was written directly for those who held prejudices against people of color, the essay serves as a documentation of repression to help closed-minded individuals see past any prejudgment. Hurston also uses synecdoche, another type of metaphor, to distinguish between race and identity. Effectively denouncing the misconception that her race stands for her whole self, Herston says, “At certain times I have no race, I am me” (Hurston 117). Hurston also uses similes in the essay, most notably when she says, “I set my hat at a certain angle … feeling as snooty as the lions in front of the Forty-Second Street Library” (Hurston 117). Hurston hopes to relate to her audience with the use of the simile, hoping to break down racial and ethnic barriers that hold people apart. The unique description of the prejudice Hurston faced throughout her life and the rhetorical devices that bring her closer to her audience certainly helped Hurston to achieve her purpose. The essay marked a significant step forward in desegregation, and as Hurston wanted to achieve, society now has very few racial barriers.

This picture shows one beautiful red flower in a large field of yellow flowers. It shows the theme that difference is beautiful. This image was retrieved from flowermeaning.com, and the photographer is unspecified (One).

Works Cited

Editors, Biography.com. "Zora Neale Hurston Biography." The Biography.com Website. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 17 Aug. 2016.

Hurston, Nora Neale. "How It Feels to Be Colored Me." The Best American Essays of the Century. Ed. Joyce Carol Oates and Robert Atwan. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2000. 114-17. Print.

One red tulip in a field of yellow flowers. Digital image. Flower Meaning. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Aug. 2016.

Blog Post 1

Corn-pone Opinions, a 1901 essay written by Mark Twain, delves into the nature of man’s tendency to conform to society. Twain, an alias for Samuel Clemens, is best known for writing The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and the sequel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain was shaped by an early experience with death: at age 10, he witnessed a slave owner brutally murder a slave (Editors). This undoubtedly affected Twain’s interest in assessing societal trends, as it showed him how society allowed inhumane acts such as slavery. Twain described his experience befriending a slave at the age of 15, learning that “a man in not independent [from society], and cannot afford views which might interfere with his bread and butter” (Twain 2). He writes this to draw attention toward every person’s desire to follow societal trends. Twain uses multiple rhetorical devices to help his readers understand that political opinion eclipses personal decision-making. The author uses polysyndeton to emphatically display how public opinion influences everything: “I am persuaded that a coldly-though-out and independent verdict upon a fashion in clothes, or manners, or literature, or politics, or religion, or any matter … is a most rare thing…” (Twain 2). Furthermore, Twain uses hypophora to effectively anticipate his readers’ questions. In explaining the fashion fad surrounding the flaring hoopskirt, which was previously out of style, Twain asks, “Was the resentment reasoned out? Was the acceptance reasoned out?” (Twain 2). Twain later answers, “No. The instinct that moves to conformity did the work. It is our nature to conform …” (Twain 2). This hypophora offers essential information to the reader by anticipating a question and later answering it. Twain’s use of advanced rhetoric supports his purpose in displaying his thoughts in a logical manner for his readers to understand. The rhetorical strategies provide a very coherent analysis of one’s tendency to follow others, and Twain used them effectively to emphasize his largest contentions.

Salmon Doubts by Adam Sacks

This image illustrates salmon swimming in a line, going with everyone else. It is from Sacks's comic Salmon Doubts, and the image was found via a review on Madinkbeard.com (Sacks)

Works Cited

Editors, Biography.com. "Mark Twain Biography." The Biography.com Website. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 17 Aug. 2016.

Sacks, Adam. Salmon Doubts. Digital image. Madinkbeard Post. N.p., 11 Jan. 2007. Web. 26 Aug. 2016.

Twain, Mark. "Corn-pone Opinions." The Best American Essays of the Century. Ed. Joyce Carol Oates and Robert Atwan. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000. 1-5. Print.