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.