Winning isn’t always a piece of cake, sometimes it takes more than what one’s expected to do. People have to work very hard to achieve that goal. Abraham Okimasis is a man who thinks it would be a great idea to join a dog race. He has a wife, they will be celebrating their 21st anniversary. He is willing to do anything to win. Abraham shows a few signs of quitting throughout the excerpt but he doesn’t give up. In this excerpt, the author uses hyperbole and imagery to show how important it is for Okimasis to conquer the ride. First off, the author uses hyperbole to show his desperation to win the race. “He had sworn to his dear wife, Mariesis Okimasis, on pain of separation and divorce… that he would win the world championship just for her.”(17)
In this quote, he uses the word “sworn” as a deeper and more meaningful word than promise. “On a pain of separation and divorce,” shows how much he needs to win this race, not only for his wife, but because that would be his anniversary gift. This is further emphasized with “in the world championship just for her.” The key word here is “just,” which further more brings out the need and specialty in winning this. He isn’t really going to divorce his wife and separate from her, it is just used for further emphasis. Furthermore, the author uses desperate diction to show the distress this race is causing him. “The desperation in his voice, like a man about to sob, surprised him.”(5) This is used after Abraham shouts the word “mush.” Mush is a term that is used for a sport or transport method involving dogs. When combined with the words “the desperation in his voice,” makes it seem like his sled dogs aren’t doing what Abraham expects them to do, as if they were running too slow. This is further more emphasized by with the words “like a man about to sob, ”here you can tell that Okimasis feels like he doing everything possible to encourage his dogs, when someone “sobs” they usually are very stressed out with a situation. This proves that he doesn’t know what to do and is pleading for his dogs to run faster. The words “surprised him,” mean that he is usually not like this and that he is shocked by the way he is acting..
A prominent theme in the book Seabiscuit is the existence of generational rivals. During The Great Depression many people focused their attention on the horse racing business. With this booming trend making many rich during a time of immense poverty, I find it no surprise that there is a father son rivalry. Often in competition there will always be a struggle between the older, more experienced competitor and the young up and coming superstars, this is brought on by a constant need for dominance which is created by human nature.
In 102 Minutes, Chapter 7, authors Dwyer and Flynn use ethos, logos, and pathos to appeal to the readers’ consciences, minds and hearts regarding what happened to the people inside the Twin Towers on 9/11. Of particular interest are the following uses of the three appeals.
In the book Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer wrote about Christopher McCandless, a nature lover in search for independence, in a mysterious and hopeful experience. Even though Krakauer tells us McCandless was going to die from the beginning, he still gave him a chance for survival. As a reader I wanted McCandless to survive. In Into the Wild, Krakauer gave McCandless a unique perspective. He was a smart and unique person that wanted to be completely free from society. Krakauer included comments from people that said McCandless was crazy, and his death was his own mistake. However, Krakauer is able to make him seem like a brave person. The connections between other hikers and himself helped in the explanation of McCandless’s rational actions. Krakauer is able to make McCandless look like a normal person, but unique from this generation. In order for Krakauer to make Christopher McCandless not look like a crazy person, but a special person, I will analyze the persuading style that Krakauer used in Into the Wild that made us believe McCandless was a regular young adult.
The fight for racial equality is one of the most prominent issues Americans have faced throughout history and even today; as the idea that enslaving individuals is unethical emerged, many great and innovative authors began writing about the issues that enslaved people had to face. Olaudah Equiano was no exception. In his work The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, he attempts to persuade his readers that the American way of slavery is brutal, inhumane, and unscrupulous. Equiano manages to do this by minimizing the apparent differences between himself and his primarily white audience, mentioning the cruelties that he and many other slaves had to face, and the advantages of treating your slaves correctly.
The Letter from Birmingham Jail was written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in April of 1963. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of several civil rights activists who were arrested in Birmingham Alabama, after protesting against racial injustices in Alabama. Dr. King wrote this letter in response to a statement titled A Call for Unity, which was published on Good Friday by eight of his fellow clergymen from Alabama. Dr. King uses his letter to eloquently refute the article. In the letter dr. king uses many vivid logos, ethos, and pathos to get his point across. Dr. King writes things in his letter that if any other person even dared to write the people would consider them crazy.
The Art of Racing in the Rain is, by far, the best book I have ever read. The story takes place in Seattle, Washington. It is told completely through a dog’s eyes. This special dog, Enzo, is adopted from a small farm in Washington when he is just a puppy. His view of life is interesting; Enzo only has gestures. He cannot communicate like humans can. Life is very humble and simple through the eyes of a dog.
Through the diction and description of the scene, a clear vision of Okimasis’ internal thoughts are drawn out. The most important task to him is winning because he made a promise to his wife. For the ending moments, “these thoughts rac[ed] through his fevered mind.” Okimasis’ wife threatened him with divorce in order to motivate him, so “on the pain and separation of divorce” Okimasis pushed passed a couple of other competitors. As his thoughts are explained throughout the excerpt, the desperate tone in his internal and external conflicts are heard. Okimasis wants nothing more than to keep his promise to his wife and he is constantly reminding himself of how far the finish line is. Push after push, “half a mile to the finish line”, it was “so close, so far.” The description of his thoughts gives the race a purpose. He is not doing this just for fun, but it is now because his marriage is on the
And after all of that, as if he ever had any luck picking just 1 horse, he always had to have two or more in any race. Of course, he never did win very much and never hit the big trifecta that none of us ever do. That didn't change how much he loved to go or the fun we had when we were there; rooting all the way to the finish, standing and shaking our programs at the horses and their jockeys on the last leg. After most races he'd say "2, 5. Do you see that? I looked at that stupid 5 horse and changed my mind" ... And while he may have won more often with just 1 horse, I know it was the challenge he loved... not the winning.
Literary critic, Norman German, creates an interesting spin on “Battle Royal.” Published in the CLA (College Language Association) journal in 1988, German emphasizes Ellison’s use of animal imagery which graphically stresses his theme (German). The narrator (the main character) struggles with his grandfather’s dying words, “Live with your head in the lion’s mouth.” (The animal symbolism in the quote through his dying grandfather lived his life in the hands of “whites.”) The narrator, although he strongly disagrees, has his grandfather’s words embedded in his mind. The constants in the “battle royal” are portrayed as foreign creatures as they are herded “like cattle” into the servant’s elevator. German believes, that because the rich white men treat the black men as animals and the naked white woman as a sexual object, it ironically reduces the white men to animals:
Pollan’s article provides a solid base to the conversation, defining what to do in order to eat healthy. Holding this concept of eating healthy, Joe Pinsker in “Why So Many Rich Kids Come to Enjoy the Taste of Healthier Foods” enters into the conversation and questions the connection of difference in families’ income and how healthy children eat (129-132). He argues that how much families earn largely affect how healthy children eat — income is one of the most important factors preventing people from eating healthy (129-132). In his article, Pinsker utilizes a study done by Caitlin Daniel to illustrate that level of income does affect children’s diet (130). In Daniel’s research, among 75 Boston-area parents, those rich families value children’s healthy diet more than food wasted when children refused to accept those healthier but
In a quote by John Mill, “Does fining a criminal show want of respect for property, or imprisoning him, for personal freedom? Just as unreasonable is it to think that to take the life of a man who has taken that of another is to show want of regard for human life. We show, on the contrary, most emphatically our regard for it, by the adoption of a rule that he who violates that right in another forfeits it for himself, and that while no other crime that he can commit deprives him of his right to live, this shall.” Everyone’s life is precious, but at what price? Is it okay to let a murderer to do as they please? Reader, please take a moment and reflect on this issue. The issue will always be a conflict of beliefs and moral standards. The topic
In 1899, when The Awakening was published, Kate Chopin shocked the public with her portrayal of a woman’s spiritual, sexual, and social awakening. During the late nineteenth century, a woman's place in society was strictly to exalt her children and comply to her husband’s every wish and desire.The Awakening exhibits the exasperations and the victories in a woman's life as she tries to deal with uncompromising cultural demands. Disregarding the cliche of a "mother-woman," Edna battles the pressures that force her to be a completely devoted housewife. Even though Edna's suicide is a waste of her struggles against that way of life, The Awakening motivates feminism as a method for women to acquire sexual freedom, to be financially stable without a man, and their own identity.
The movie trailer “Rio 2”, shows a great deal of pathos, ethos, and logos. These rhetorical appeals are hidden throughout the movie trailer; however, they can be recognized if paying attention to the details and montage of the video. I am attracted to this type of movies due to the positive life messages and the innocent, but funny personifications from the characters; therefore, the following rhetorical analysis will give a brief explanation of the scenes, point out the characteristics of persuasive appeals and how people can be easily persuaded by using this technique, and my own interpretation of the message presented in the trailer.
Jonathan Kozol revealed the early period’s situation of education in American schools in his article Savage Inequalities. It seems like during that period, the inequality existed everywhere and no one had the ability to change it; however, Kozol tried his best to turn around this situation and keep track of all he saw. In the article, he used rhetorical strategies effectively to describe what he saw in that situation, such as pathos, logos and ethos.
Once again, the film uses a rhythmic device, in this case the horse’s gasping breaths, to establish a tempo for the scene that sets it apart from those around it. Time seems to slow with this pacemaker, even as the horse flies around the track at breakneck speeds. The sound of the crowd in the background swells and recedes again as shots alternate between the boy and his horse on the racetrack, and a flashback to when the pair first rode together on the beach. Combined with the score, this ever-changing mirage of music and sound effects as they blend in and out around each other, builds anticipation until at the final moment the hero emerges victorious from the race. Of course winning the big race is always a hallmark of the climax of a movie, but in this case the true climatic action stems from the fact that in that moment, the boy and the horse are cooperating completely for their mutual success.