Rhetoric Deconstruct Reading
Bissoondath (1989) uses several figurative languages in his article I am not Racist but… to add more emphasis to his description. He uses similes such as “as Canadian as maple syrup”, “as American as apple pie”, and “as Indian as aloo” to show how racism has become the backbone of today’s world just as these products are in their countries (para. 1). The author also uses metaphors in the phrases, “A woman, because of her sex, easily becomes a female dog” and “A French Canadian a frog” (para. 2). The use of metaphors has been used to show an explicit comparison between the objects and how they are perceived in some cultures. Similes and metaphors have consequently been used to paint vivid pictures to the readers of the dissolution of racism in today’s activities.
Furthermore, the article by Bissoondath (1989), also makes use of rhetorical modes such as illustration and narration to improve the level of understanding and memorization of his audience. He employs the use of illustration in the phrase, “pure racial hatred-such as the Nazis held for Jews or the Ku Klux Klan for blacks” to paint clearly illustrate the kind of abhorrence he means (para. 3). He also uses narration for the case of the naive woman he met who used racial descriptions because of her ignorance on the subject. (para.3) The narration explains how racial statements can sometimes be used unintentionally.
Finally, Bissoondath (1989) uses rhetoric devices, that is, persuasive appeals, to convince his audiences of the ideas he wants to put across. He, for example, uses logos to explain how to reason had been used to explain why the Chinese were sometimes perceived as the worst drivers on the road, because of their small eyes that deny them a peripheral vision. Though the logic may not be scientifically true, it provides some kind of reasoning that leads to this stereotype.
In the article “An A+ student Regrets his Grades” by Gill (2013), the author has used several figurative devices such as hyperboles and similes to draw emphasis to the notion being discussed. For instance, he uses the hyperbole in the phrase, “habitually drilled” in the first paragraph to stress on the laborious efforts taken by schools to input information into students throughout their childhood and teenhood that does not necessarily become useful to them (para.1). The author also used imagery in the phrase, “getting inside your prof’s head to figure out what’ll be on the exam” to paint the image of getting to read the professor’s mind (para.5). It is almost impossible for the reader to process the information without imagining the picture in their head. The two rhetorical devices, hyperbole and imagery, consequently make the particular information to stand out to the reader and explicitly explain without leaving any doubt.
Gill (2013) also uses rhetorical modes to iterate his arguments. He uses comparison in the phrase, “Valuing success above all else is a problem plaguing the schooling systems,” to liken a plague with the tendency of putting more significance to the level of success achieved (para.2). Through this, he brings back the emphasis on how the education system is going wrong with failing to recognize other modes of success outside class. The author also uses descriptions to help the reader visualize the idea. In the phrase, “The course covered concepts from how to start a start-up, build business models and prototypes, to venture deals, stock options, and term sheets”, the author clearly describes some of the courses he learned that taught him how to apply his knowledge in the real world.
Finally, the author uses persuasive appeals such as logos to appeal to the readers using logic. The statement, “There’s a psychosocial dynamic of not questioning current practices of education”, logically explains why we tend to get comfortable with what our minds have become accustomed to, even if they may not be healthy for us.