No Name Woman Rhetorical Techniques
Elia Rios
English II Pre-DP
Ms. Tami Davis
December 6, 2012
“No Name Woman” Commentary Essay In this passage from “No Name Woman,” Maxine Hong Kingston imagines what old world China was like, and paints a picture of a repressive, strictly ordered society in which people were essentially unable to have private lives. Everything had to be done for the sake of the family’s or village’s well-being. In such a world, Kingston’s aunt represents the worst kind of transgressor, one whose private lusts disrupted the social order and threatened the very existence of the village. Kingston uses interesting and imaginative stylistic techniques to represent the “circle” or “roundness” of Chinese life and the struggle this creates for both the village and No Name Woman. The village that …show more content…
Kingston shows the reader what the idea of “roundness” means to the village by using symbolism. “The frightened villagers, who depended on one another to maintain the real, went to my aunt to show her a personal, physical representation of the break she made in the “roundness.” (4-7) the village views the idea of “roundness” as the universe, or unity. They believe that the “roundness” was the cycle of life; the way the community functions. Kingston uses imagery to give the reader an image of the village “The round moon cakes and the round doorways, the round tables of graduated size that fit one roundness inside another, round windows and rice bowl-these talismans had lost their power to warn this family of the law: A family must be whole, faithfully keeping the descent line by having sons to feed the old and the dead who in turn look after the family.” (21-26). the sentence proves to the reader how much the village emphasizes the idea of “roundness”. They have tables, doors, and windows that are all round. Kingston’s vivid imagery shows the reader that their whole life and universe is based on the idea of
English II Pre-DP
Ms. Tami Davis
December 6, 2012
“No Name Woman” Commentary Essay In this passage from “No Name Woman,” Maxine Hong Kingston imagines what old world China was like, and paints a picture of a repressive, strictly ordered society in which people were essentially unable to have private lives. Everything had to be done for the sake of the family’s or village’s well-being. In such a world, Kingston’s aunt represents the worst kind of transgressor, one whose private lusts disrupted the social order and threatened the very existence of the village. Kingston uses interesting and imaginative stylistic techniques to represent the “circle” or “roundness” of Chinese life and the struggle this creates for both the village and No Name Woman. The village that …show more content…
Kingston shows the reader what the idea of “roundness” means to the village by using symbolism. “The frightened villagers, who depended on one another to maintain the real, went to my aunt to show her a personal, physical representation of the break she made in the “roundness.” (4-7) the village views the idea of “roundness” as the universe, or unity. They believe that the “roundness” was the cycle of life; the way the community functions. Kingston uses imagery to give the reader an image of the village “The round moon cakes and the round doorways, the round tables of graduated size that fit one roundness inside another, round windows and rice bowl-these talismans had lost their power to warn this family of the law: A family must be whole, faithfully keeping the descent line by having sons to feed the old and the dead who in turn look after the family.” (21-26). the sentence proves to the reader how much the village emphasizes the idea of “roundness”. They have tables, doors, and windows that are all round. Kingston’s vivid imagery shows the reader that their whole life and universe is based on the idea of