Rhetorical Analysis Of I Have No Choice But To Keep Looking

In the article “I Have No Choice but to Keep Looking”, Jennifer Percy explains the situation a man faces in search of his wife, after the 2013 Tsunami in Japan. The articles main character is Yasuo Takamatsu, Jennifer follows him and documents his traveling and his story. She also talks about Maasaki Narita, a father who lost his daughter at the same place Yusuo’s wife worked at. The article is rich in imagery and emotional appeal. The purpose that Percy tries to convey is subtle and unique. She uses emotional appeal through every sentence of the article. Jennifer Percy has a fingerprint in writing, she doesn’t write informational articles like a common journalist, she has a wide range of rhetoric devices she uses. What Percy does is details

her subject, she gives the reader visuals, she gives them pathos, imagery, and rhetoric that appeals to the senses. In each article she writes in the perspective of the interviewee, it is as if she wants the reader to morph into the main character. She does not speak on her own experience with the sea but by the accounts of Yasuo and Masaaki. Jennifer Percy’s writing uses emotional context, prose, imagery, and other rhetorical devices to connect the reader and keep them intrigued, especially in “I Have No Choice but to Keep Looking”.
Moreover, Jennifer Percy uses pathos to connect to the audience in “I Have No Choice but to Keep Looking”. Throughout the article she does not write from her perspective but by Takamatsu and Narita. She mentions herself a handful of times. Majority she has Takamatsu talk about memories of his wife, or Narita talks about his daughter. Each memory that is explained in the article is heart-wrenching. It is done specifically so the reader can feel remorse and connect to them emotionally, in one point of the article she has Takamatsu talk about his search of his wife before he found out she was dead, at first he had no reason to think she was dead, he searched for her at the hospital, then gymnasium, then school, then evacuation points (“I Have No Choice but to Keep Looking”). Soon then he finds out she was swept away. This turns the events of the article dark. After Takamatsu’s flash back, it transitions to Nakita’s, where he explains of the last time he saw his daughter Yuko. Transition from one person to the other works as it gives flow keeping the audience empathetic also wanting to know more.
In contrast of Percy’s continuous use of pathos, she lacks ethos and logos.

In no part does she give herself credibility or logical reason on why she is the right person to be writing about Takamatsu, or Narita. It could be perceived that because she has written multiple articles for The New York Times credibility comes naturally, therefore she feels no need to prove herself. She doesn’t give out any credibility to herself but in a sense gives credibility to both victims, Takamatsu and Narita. Both victims of a Tsunami who took their loved ones, and victims of the government as they are left to look for the ones dearest to them the

most.
Percy’s signature in her articles is the large quantity of imagery, in the article “Meet the American Vigilantes Who Are Fighting ISIS” she continuously describes the scenery, the people she meets, and the tension, “The man was almost six feet tall, fair-skinned and balding with a goatee. . . [h]e was sweating. . . [h]e drank noisily from a water bottle. A purple-velvet Crown Royal bag that held empty magazines dangled from his belt.”. This is only one example of her imagery. It can be assumed that she does this to give the reader a sense of what exactly is going on in this scenario. Like stated before, she wants the audience to feel the person she is writing about. Through it she reiterates his experience, at points she will describe his facial expression.
Percy also uses a plethora of imagery in “I Have No Choice but to Keep Looking”, she describes the weather as she follows Takamatsu around as he searches for his wife and the way he interacts with other people.

Percy describes how dark the sea looks and how it moves. Percy describes Takamatsu the most, describing how he gets ready for his training, how he checks the pressure of the oxygen tanks. She illustrates his movements as he investigates the sea in search for his wife. Each description is intended to engulf the reader into the scene. The reason Percy uses imagery in most of her articles is because it helps illustrate the scene. Not only does it activate the senses but also when there is imagery there is also emotional connection. Imagery and Pathos fall hand in hand and are the main drive of her articles. Maybe to give the reader a visual of who she is writing about, or perhaps to create a stronger relationship between the reader and the

article.
Furthermore, Percy using common rhetoric devices like juxtaposition and similes in her articles isn’t rare. She uses similes in “I Had No Choice but to Keep Looking” at one point as she and Takamatsu drive in the aftermath of the tsunami she sees fishnets hung from trees and compares them to nooses. Perhaps she compares them to nooses because of the deaths both the tsunami causes and the deaths nooses do as well. A very powerful comparison between the two. An example of another rhetorical device Percy uses in her articles is a juxtaposition. It would be found in “Fear of the Federal Government in the Ranchlands of Oregon” which is about farmers who are trying to stop the government from taking their land. She describes everyone in this town generically at this point, claiming they were “all white, a mix of ranchers, farmers, loggers, miners, firefighters and hard-right Mormons from Idaho, Utah and Arizona” (Fear of the Federal Government). The reason why Percy uses skin color is to depict the type of people who feel the government is against them. At one point she juxtaposition this to claim that what the white men are complaining about, their ancestors did to the Native Americans. This is only two examples of the large quantity of common rhetoric she uses in her articles that have deep meaning.
Jennifer Percy writes her articles in no specific way, what she does is prose. Prose is when there is no systematics. She does not write from her perspective but collects details from the people she is writing about. Percy writes not to express her opinion in most of her articles, she expresses the thoughts and values of her person or subject. This itself gives her a unique writing style where she “refuses [to tell] the reader any biographical details about herself and often refrains from direct, explicit interpretation of her experiences” (Knight). In “At War in the Garden of Eden” she describes the men and repeats their story on how they became a militia in Iraq to fight ISIS. It also ties in Christian beliefs, the man named Park claimed that killing ISIS was his Christian duty regardless of doing it would send him to hell (At War in the Garden of Eden). Percy talks about how in “Meet the American Vigilantes Who are Fighting ISIS” talks about one mans experience on how he decided to join the war against ISIS, and who he has killed. She describes how he was shocked at his first kill of a man with a grenade launcher. The unique part about Percy’s writing is that she has no preference. She will write from a subject and will not put in her opinion at times she will but only a fraction of the time. An example would be in “Fear of the Federal Government in the Ranchlands of Oregon” where Percy does not seem that the farmers are complaining about what the government is doing to them while the white farmers’ ancestors did to the natives, taking away the land to give to the government. Reason why Percy has an opinion on this subject is because she was born in Oregon and raised there. Only to realize later in life its violent history against minorities. In “I Had No Choice but to Keep Looking” he attention to detail, and her way of expressing Takamatsu’s emotion and grief truly shows her strength in writing. Percy’s general writing does not speak much on her self-experience and perhaps loves spreading the experiences of others to spread awareness of the world.
In the final analysis of “I Had No Choice but to Keep Looking” Jennifer Percy engages her audience with her unique writing style. Where she does not write articles based on her experience and her knowledge but by the knowledge of the person she is following. Percy truly expresses the subject to the point that you can feel empathetic. Her strong and symbolic comparisons make her articles strong. The imagery and detail she puts into the adventures of Takamatsu and Narita draws the reader’s attention and maintains it as well. The audience will feel as if they were with Takamatsu and Nakita throughout their search for their loved ones in “I Had No Choice but to Keep Looking”