Analytical essay
In this analytical essay, persuasive techniques used in the text Boy: tales of childhood by the author Roald Dahl will be discussed. Techniques that are specific to non- fiction writing to impart the intended purpose of the text,
Boy: tales of childhood.
The text boy: tales of childhood begins with Roald’s “one-armed father” Haral Dahl and Roald’s uncle Oscar, who are both running away together to France to make their fortune. Pg 14 “while uncle Oscar was bustling around in La Rochelle, his one-armed brother Harald was not sitting on his rump doing nothing”. Roald uses the colloquial term ‘rump’ instead of the formal word bottom or behind. This gives us the impression that Roald is talking to us in a more humorous and light hearted manner.
Roald’s onomatopoeia techniques make the text much more memorable for the reader. For example Dahl’s use of “Ow! Ouch! Ouch!” on page 48 is to imitate the sounds of poor little boy Twaites being beaten by a cane, which invokes sympathy in the reader. It also provides the reader with the extent of pain that Roald’s friend Twaites is experiencing. The painful sounds remain in the readers mind.
Dahl’s use of figurative language provides the reader with a vivid imagery of Mr Hardcastle. For example on page 108, Dahl describes Mr hardcastle as “His legs were as hard and thin as ram’s legs”. “The skin around his calves was almost the colour of mutton fat”. Here Roald figuratively uses humour to provide a vivid image of a character in the story.
On page 150 “ a vast ungainly man with drooping bloodhound cheeks and filthy clothes”. Gives the reader a clear mental image of a man who is of old age and lifeless, and who may not bother about his self image. Roald’s use of such figurative variety describes characters in the story thereby engaging a more vivid imagination for the reader’s experience.
Roald’s constant use of shock tactics engages the reader’s morbid fascination for the exaggerated “horror affect”.
“My
Boy: tales of childhood.
The text boy: tales of childhood begins with Roald’s “one-armed father” Haral Dahl and Roald’s uncle Oscar, who are both running away together to France to make their fortune. Pg 14 “while uncle Oscar was bustling around in La Rochelle, his one-armed brother Harald was not sitting on his rump doing nothing”. Roald uses the colloquial term ‘rump’ instead of the formal word bottom or behind. This gives us the impression that Roald is talking to us in a more humorous and light hearted manner.
Roald’s onomatopoeia techniques make the text much more memorable for the reader. For example Dahl’s use of “Ow! Ouch! Ouch!” on page 48 is to imitate the sounds of poor little boy Twaites being beaten by a cane, which invokes sympathy in the reader. It also provides the reader with the extent of pain that Roald’s friend Twaites is experiencing. The painful sounds remain in the readers mind.
Dahl’s use of figurative language provides the reader with a vivid imagery of Mr Hardcastle. For example on page 108, Dahl describes Mr hardcastle as “His legs were as hard and thin as ram’s legs”. “The skin around his calves was almost the colour of mutton fat”. Here Roald figuratively uses humour to provide a vivid image of a character in the story.
On page 150 “ a vast ungainly man with drooping bloodhound cheeks and filthy clothes”. Gives the reader a clear mental image of a man who is of old age and lifeless, and who may not bother about his self image. Roald’s use of such figurative variety describes characters in the story thereby engaging a more vivid imagination for the reader’s experience.
Roald’s constant use of shock tactics engages the reader’s morbid fascination for the exaggerated “horror affect”.
“My