Rhetorical Analysis Of ' The Death Of The Moth ' And ' On Keeping A Notebook '

Nathaniel Hawthorne, in his bold novel, The Scarlet Letter tackles a variety of themes that include: sin, guilt, redemption, postfeminism, and organized religion's abuse of power. Hawthorne spoke in a somber and grim tone, designed to arouse a sense of suspense for his readers. The audience in which he was addressing would have been conservative Christians and women suffragettes, all of whom reflected the ideologies during this time period. By instilling clever diction, Hawthorne exposes hypocrisy in Puritanism and objects against the religion's superfluous punishments; which force individuals to endure unnecessary and extreme suffering.

How much of it actually happened? Did any of it? Why do I keep a notebook?” (Didion, 4). Didion is clearly grasping for the meaning of the note, trying to make sense of it but seemingly failing to obtain the essence of truth, and thus, starts questioning her whole entire reasoning for even keeping a notebook in the first place. She starts out questioning something small, like a note, and progresses to the bigger picture. The tone of it even suggests that she’s angry, frustrated that she cannot fathom as to why she keeps a notebook. After all, if one can’t make sense of it, then why keep the damn thing? Yet, Didion is trying to achieve the opposite of frustrated. While at times notes and various things one writes down may deceive even their owner, so much so that it causes fits of anger and moments of frustration, it is a healthy practice that allows one to look into their past selves, to reminisce in what they used to be, where they came from, so that they do not forget their roots and what made them who they are today. Furthermore, Didion is not referring to writing down journal entries, entries that document what one

“A Lesson Before Dying” is a novel that depicts racism, in-justice and sacrifice all through the perspective of a black male.

Rhetorical Strategies are helpful to develop ideas and to organize them. One rhetorical strategy that is used in Nickel and Dimed is narration. Now narration is “storytelling and is frequently paired with specific and concrete description in essays with an expressive purpose”(Porter). The author uses narration throughout her paper to help us get a picture in our minds about what was happening. An example where we can see narration is,

Dillard also accomplishes to draw a strong parallel between herself and the symbol of this essay. As Dillard reads by candlelight, a “golden female Moth, a biggish one” flies into her candle, bringing itself to its own demise. Dillard closely analyzes this majestic Moth that has suddenly flapped itself to the center of her world. In paragraph five, after she has witnessed the Moth burn into bits and pieces, Dillard says “that candle had two wicks, two winding flames of identical light, side by side”. Dillard then begins to draw similarities between herself and the ill-fated moth. The moth was “golden” and “biggish” before she had flew into the fire, much like the writer that Dillard was like before she became a victim of writer's block. Dillard also draws a connection to religious figures in paragraph six, when she says “She burned... like a hollow saint, like a flame-faced virgin gone to God.” A parallel that can be

Many people attempt to avoid death, and many times those people are successful; however, more often than not, when people face the predicament of dying, they are not fortunate enough to escape the misfortune. Whether a person surpasses the curse of death at one point in time, eventually they will come to meet death; death is inevitable. Virginia Woolf, author of the essay, “The Death of the Moth,” captures the message death is inevitable. Throughout the essay, Woolf follows the short life of a day moth. In following the moth, Woolf comes to the realization that regardless of what she attempts to do to proliferate the decay of the moth, the moth will still succumb to death. To encapsulate the theme in the essay, Woolf uses numerous

Marquis, Don. "The Lesson of the Moth." Reading Literature and Writing Argument. Ed. Missy James and Alan P. Merickel. New Jersey: Pearson, 2008. 184-185.

In Holly Wren Spaulding’s essay, “In Defense of Darkness,” her main claim is that we have fallen away from darkness and immersed ourselves in a society of lightness. Furthermore, she claims this has lead humans to lose touch with basic human emotion as well as the sensual and spiritual experience true darkness has to offer. Spaulding makes this claim evident through exceptional use of personal testimony and copious appeals to value.

In his essay “On the Scarlet Letter,” D.H. Lawrence criticizes Hester’s immoral behavior for her adulterous actions. Lawrence views her as a shameful member of Puritan society and centers his argument on her sin and its effects on the story’s plot. D.H. Lawrence’s use of different literary techniques strengthens his claim that Hester is not the heroine through his sarcastic tone, abrupt syntax, and biblical allusions.

Sometimes whats ideal in a situation is not what the truth of the situation and can cause your ideals to be lost. In William Golding’s novel, “Lord of the Flies”, he demonstrates a shift in some of the characters from the thought of idealism to the reality and truth of the world. Ralph is a good example of this shift, he starts out thinking the island will be a fun place and they’ll have fun waiting to be rescued, but soon he realizes that there is going to be more hardship and struggles to keep up the moral and hope of rescue. In the book Ralph wanted to keep everyone safe and get them off the island, but Jack wants to be a leader and messes up his plans, making it so that Ralph is alone in his plan to get rescued.

Throughout the essay, Didion describes multiple random things that mean nothing to her, but were emotionally significant at the time she wrote them. Personally, I thought the tone used for both telling and talking about those memories seemed very nostalgic to her. Journals can be a way to remember who we were in the past, how we had thought and things we’ve done. Over time we forget things, and keeping a journal helps us relive both significant and insignificant events in our life that otherwise would have been blurred, or forgotten over the course of our lives.

The passage from chapter fourteen conveys a significant and victorious tone, as Rosaleen earns her voter’s card. “For heaven’s sake, all I’m doing is getting my voters card” (Kidd 281). Rosaleen had great desire to acquire a voters card. The tone implies that it was a great achievement to acquire a voter’s card, and now it was finally time that Rosaleen got hers. “Getting it just right. Her big moment. Suddenly I wished I’d gone with them” (Kidd 282). The tone emphasizes the significance of Rosaleen getting her card. Lily shows signs of regret that she did not go to support Rosaleen who had always been there for her. The tone of this passage greatly affects how the reader percepts the importance of an African American receiving a voter’s card.

An individual who experiences isolation and confusion can become consumed by fear of all that surrounds them. Edgar Allan Poe induces fear in the character featured in ‘The Raven’ which heightens the moods and adds intensity. The fear which is shown connects to the madness of the character who is having hallucinations of his dead wife, Lenore. “Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before; So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating…” Poe juxtaposes “fantastic terrors” to emphasise the fear of the unknown sound that is claimed to be heard. The phrase which follows, “never felt before” is used to explain to the audience that the character portrayed has never felt such emotions in his life. Though these emotions have been

Chapter 10 is called “The Leech and His Patient.” This title is a perfect symbol for what happens in the chapter. Roger Chillingsworth continues to work on his patient, Dimmesdale, to try to figure out what is wrong with him. At the same time though Chillingsworth, the leech, is growing obsessed with his patient. Chillingworth has connected Dimmesdale's spiritual sickness to his physical sickness. At the end of the chapter, he finds something on Dimmesdale’s chest while he is sleeping, which he is overjoyed by. This mark is a permanent mark, Dimmesdale’s own scarlet letter, except it is part of his skin, not a detachable letter. While leech can be used to represent physicians as physicians commonly used leeches, the idea of the leech

Happenings and the memories they bring about cause people’s emotions to be evoked, and notebooks are one way in which they can be recorded. In “On Keeping a Notebook”, an excerpt written by Joan Didion, the narrator talks about keeping a notebook that simply describe the main acts to express her feelings caused by it rather than recounting it. A notebook and its constituents represent the person’s character and denote the significant effect a certain occurrence has on them. Didion uses numerous rhetorical strategies to suitably reinforce her point and to appeal to her readers.