Rhetorical Analysis Of John M. Barry's The Great Influenza

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At the beginning of the 1918 flu epidemic, many people were uncertain about the causes, effects, and circumstances that influenza revolved around. People were scared, and research on the sickness was nearly impossible due to the fear of the unknown. When people saw the frightening amounts of deaths, which finalized at around 21 million in four months, which took place around the entire world, no one would want to face the deadly virus themselves. John M. Berry, an author and historian, published the book The Great Influenza in 2004 to highlight the scientists of this time and the research they withheld. Barry uses rhetorical devices, including anaphora, allusion, and analogy in his book to emphasize the greatness behind scientists and their …show more content…

Like faced by the people who were quarantined in fear due to the fear of the effects of influenza, scientists were also faced with the fear head-first, with no knowledge of the subject. Barry exclaims that having uncertainty will not achieve any of their goals, and to be seen as something greater than just a scientist. they had to be certain about their work. His word choice in this paragraph holds power, meaning, and assertiveness that teaches the reader about what many of the scientists who studied influenza in this period faced. The uncertainty of the virus was the main restraint for scientists, and for one to take the chance is what set them aside from the ordinary. Likewise, Barry alludes to the findings of Albert Einstein, one of the most well-known physicists in world history in the late 1800s. While he may have been best recognized for his theories behind energy and mass, Barry studies that "Einstein refused to accept his theory until his predictions were tested, one must seek out such findings" which set him apart from others, allowing him not to doubt himself when things go

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