Burgess and Crevecoeur Essay
Burgess and Crevecoeur Essay
Anthony Burgess’s piece “Is America Falling Apart?” and Hector St. Jean Crevecoeur’s piece, “What is an American?” from Letters from an American Farmer both have unique tones in them discovered through their use or rhetorical devises. Burgess’s piece has a negative tone and, this can be identified by his use of tri-colons, anaphora, and his use of ethos. Crevecoeur’s piece has a positive tone and, this can be identified by his use of hypophora, anaphora, and his use of ethos.
Initially, Burgess’s use of tri-colons and anaphora in his writing identifies the tone of his work. A good example of his negative tone and use of tri-colons is on page 288 where he states, “But there seemed to be no spark; no daring, no madness, no readiness…” He is referring to America and what we lack. Also, on page 287, “The wretched run-down down rail service… The nightmare of filth… But far worse is the nightmare of travel…” This is an example of an anaphora and Burgess’s negative tone towards the United States. Another example of anaphora is on page 287, “…mechanics grow more expensive… The more efficiently self-contained… the more dependent it is…” Here he relates to the topic of America over pricing our wares.
Subsequently, another rhetoric devise used to find Anthony’s tone is his use of ethos. By making the readers feel a connection to him, they are more likely to stand on his side against America with a negative tone. On page 288 there is an example of this, “Education, for instance, since I have a 6-year-old son to be brought up.” Anthony relates to his child and the horrible education he gets here in America. Pg 288, “The quality of first-grade education that my son received, in a New Jersey town noted for the excellence of its public schools, could not.” In this part of his piece Burgess mentions his opinion on education and secretly tries to get the reader to listen to take his side, “I know that American technical genius, and most of all the
Anthony Burgess’s piece “Is America Falling Apart?” and Hector St. Jean Crevecoeur’s piece, “What is an American?” from Letters from an American Farmer both have unique tones in them discovered through their use or rhetorical devises. Burgess’s piece has a negative tone and, this can be identified by his use of tri-colons, anaphora, and his use of ethos. Crevecoeur’s piece has a positive tone and, this can be identified by his use of hypophora, anaphora, and his use of ethos.
Initially, Burgess’s use of tri-colons and anaphora in his writing identifies the tone of his work. A good example of his negative tone and use of tri-colons is on page 288 where he states, “But there seemed to be no spark; no daring, no madness, no readiness…” He is referring to America and what we lack. Also, on page 287, “The wretched run-down down rail service… The nightmare of filth… But far worse is the nightmare of travel…” This is an example of an anaphora and Burgess’s negative tone towards the United States. Another example of anaphora is on page 287, “…mechanics grow more expensive… The more efficiently self-contained… the more dependent it is…” Here he relates to the topic of America over pricing our wares.
Subsequently, another rhetoric devise used to find Anthony’s tone is his use of ethos. By making the readers feel a connection to him, they are more likely to stand on his side against America with a negative tone. On page 288 there is an example of this, “Education, for instance, since I have a 6-year-old son to be brought up.” Anthony relates to his child and the horrible education he gets here in America. Pg 288, “The quality of first-grade education that my son received, in a New Jersey town noted for the excellence of its public schools, could not.” In this part of his piece Burgess mentions his opinion on education and secretly tries to get the reader to listen to take his side, “I know that American technical genius, and most of all the