Everfair Rhetorical Analysis Essay

705 Words2 Pages

In this passage from Everfair, Shawl shows that while riding her bicycle is a thrilling experience full of danger, it is precisely because of this that it brings Lisette joy. Through symbolism, sentence fragments, compounding words, and imagery, Shawl conveys that riding her bicycle is a powerful and liberating experience for Lisette as a young woman living in the late 1800s because it allows her to escape from the societal pressures of her time. Shawl uses vivid imagery throughout this passage to illustrate the danger of riding her bicycle and show that amidst this danger, Lisette finds joy. Shawl describes that “insects buzzed about her exposed skin, her face and hands and wrists and ankles, waiting to bite.” When Lisette started riding her bike, it was on a road that was “stony” and “rutted.” Shawl describes how …show more content…

That the hurried up-do was not destined to last long shows that in its natural state, her hair, like herself, is wild and free, and riding her bicycle allows her to express that. Her shame of this, though, reveals that it is discouraged for her to simply be herself in front of others, especially people who are older like the “Mademoiselle” and “Monsieur” she becomes aware of giving her “curious stares.” As riding her bicycle breaks her hair from its ties, it extricates her from the restrictions of her society. Shawl breaks standard rules of grammar in this excerpt to further show that Lisette finds freedom from conformity through riding her bicycle. Shawl uses sentence fragments like “Up on the creaking leather seat” and “The river,” em dashes, and compounds of adjectives like “greenbrowngreengrey” and “coolwarmcoolwarm” to describe the exhilaration of Lisette’s experience while she is on her bike. These are all less formal stylistic choices that fall outside of standard grammatical

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