Kingsolver's Rhetorical Techniques

      Barbara Kingsolver is a highly relatable and talented author who writes essays and novels about common American controversies. For a whole year, her family moved to a farm and grew their own food, rather than purchasing their food at the local grocery store, to experience what eating all organic food is like. The controversy of health and where food comes from is explained in both her non-fiction works titled, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, and Lily’s Chickens. Kingsolver uses many rhetorical techniques to express her beliefs, including, logos, pathos, ethos, a gentle yet warning tone, and an entertaining yet suggestive style.  She does a good job of conveying her purpose on the importance of organic food by relating to the readers and expressing how simple gardening can be. Kingsolver assures that if her family can do it, then so can other families.
      The use of logos is a very important technique in persuading the reader to pay closer attention to their food choices. Kingsolver adds in multiple heath facts and statistics to help make her points. She explains food miles, which is the distance food goes from where it is grown or raised, to your own kitchen. Most food travels all around the world when it can easily be grown in your own backyard. Kingsolver contributes many of her personal life experiences of living on a farm as a child, which gives her logic about gardening and organic food. Pathos is also common in Kingsolver’s writings. She touches the hearts of many parents through her works by telling stories of her children and also subtly convicting them by asking, “don’t you want to do what is best for your children?” Because Kingsolver is a mother of two daughters, she knows what it is like to raise children in a world of bad eating habits and she can easily reach out to other parents who are going through the same problem.  
      Kingsolver also uses ethos in her writings. She earns credibility by not raising herself to a higher level than her audience. She admits to her shortcomings and assures us that she is not perfect. Kingsolver also uses her personal experience to make her more reliable and knowledgeable about eating healthy. Her tone is very gentle and loving, rather than rude and snotty. Since she went through a drastic food change, she could have chosen to act superior to other people, but instead she portrays herself as a normal human being. She doesn’t strictly tell us what we need to eat or make us feel bad about ourselves, but she does suggest a healthier lifestyle that would be more beneficial to our families. Her style is relaxed yet entertaining. She keeps the reader listening by using anecdotes and mixing in some witty jokes.
      Kingsolver is an excellent persuader, informer, and role model in our world consumed with fast food unhealthy diets. She acts as a motherly figure towards her readers by making them feel comfortable yet warning them of the negative consequences of bad eating habits. Kingsolver simply wants us to be aware of our food’s origin and point us in the direction of healthier lifestyles.

                                           

The Kingsolver Challenge

          Fast food is one of America’s greatest pride and joys. Growing up in a family that goes on many road trips has meant a lot quick drive-thru stops for cheap meals. Whether we were traveling for sports or for simple vacations, we always manage to make many fast food stops. After learning about the Kingsolver family and how they lived off food from their own gardens or local farmer’s market has really made me question my love for fast food. Yes, it is delicious, but not knowing where the food truly came from is a huge turn off. The Kingsolver’s challenge would be very difficult, maybe even impossible, for my family. We are always on the go for either Ryan’s, my twin brother, sports or my cross country meets. However, I am now going to commit to being more careful about my eating habits. The Kingsolvers are very inspiring and great role models for keeping the American tradition of farming alive.

Rhetorical Analysis of Emerson's "Self-Reliance"

                Ralph Waldo Emerson was a phenomenal essayist.  One of his most famous essays was, “Self-Reliance”.  This essay was written in the 1800’s, which was the start of the movement for individualism. Emerson was the founder of transcendentalism, who strongly believed in truly being yourself and not being altered but the influences of the world.  He wrote this essay to encourage people to have confidence in who they are. Emerson’s audience is “the unknown friend”, which means anyone who can relate to him or apply his lessons to their lives. He wants people to break out of their shell and be the person God made them to be. Emerson uses many rhetorical strategies in this work to express his true feelings.

                Starting at the second paragraph, Emerson uses pathos and repetition to convict the reader. He writes that “envy is ignorance” and “imitation is suicide”. This merely means that if you are jealous of someone, then you are a fool because everyone has problems and no one is perfect, and if you imitate someone, then you are sacrificing your own individuality. These short ideas are emphasized by being straight forward and to the point. Emerson then continues to say that we should take ourselves for better or for worse. This line relates to wedding, where we take those we love, for better or for worse. Emerson writes this to encourage the reader to love themselves for who they are, just like we would love our significant other. In this same sentence, he compares a nourishing kernel of corn of the growth of an individual and explains that we must use what the good world has given us to become the people we were meant to be. We are in control of our destiny. Emerson wants the reader to feel powerful and confident in themselves.

                In the proceeding sentence, Emerson writes in a motivating tone to once again make the reader feel in control. He says, “The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried.” Emerson doesn’t want his unknown friends to limit themselves or assume that they are incapable of accomplishing something. This motivating tone he is expressing emotionally makes the reader feel secure with themselves and their ability to branch out of their comfort zone. In the next sentence, Emerson again uses repetition by repeating all the things we as individuals face in our lifetime. He does this by using multiple different short experiences to create one big idea that we are influenced everywhere we go. With this repetition, Emerson informs the reader that everything happens for a reason. He then goes on to use the metaphor, “the sculpture in the memory”, to describe our life experiences. By this he means, all of one’s experiences leave a mark on our life, like an imprint in our brain, and we can’t go forward in life without looking back at the past and what it has done to us and our society. This “sculpture” grows as we grow. Emerson once again does this to remind the audience that we are in control of our future. Pathos is used many times throughout Emerson’s work and is used to stir the emotions of the reader by giving them a hope for the future.

                Later on in the paragraph, Emerson uses a simple style to convey simple ideas. He says, “A man is relieved and gay when he has but his heart into his work and done his best.” This simple statement is purposeful by making this idea clear and easy to understand. If you simply do your best, then you will experience true happiness. Once again, Emerson plays with pathos to assure the audience that they will be happy if they simply put their heart into their work. The next idea of this sentence contradicts happiness and portrays a feeling to distress. Emerson does this by saying that if you don’t give life your all, then you won’t have peace. This warns the reader of the negative emotion they could potentially experience without a motivated heart.

                Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” essay is very influential and encouraging to whoever reads it. He teaches the importance of individualism and how it affects our lives daily. The use of pathos, repetition, motivating diction, and metaphors effectively portrays the beauty of being one’s self. Emerson wants the world to be unique and diverse. His powerful essay has truly spoke knowledge and hope into many lives and will continue to for many more years.

Seeking a True Pal

                                                     

I enjoy reading books, traveling across the nation, and writing essays and poems.

Religion is something I am very passionate about. I attended Harvard University to become a Unitarian minister. I definitely believe that there is a divine God and that all things on our earth are connected to him; however, I am also a strong believer in Transcendentalism. Transcendentalism is the balance of nature, spirituality and humanity. The Holy Trinity does not exist. There is a very power God, but I can’t speak to him. There is a soul within me, but it is my own, not the Holy Spirit. Jesus was a great man who lived on earth at one point in time, but he was nothing more than that. I don’t consider him to be my savior. I am not in need of a savior.

I am in search of a true, genuine friendship. I need a friend that is both sincere and honest. A person who is sincere has the ability to be their complete selves at any time and any place. I need a friend who doesn’t feel like they need to impress me; rather, they feel freedom to be real. I shouldn’t feel the need to impress them either. There are so many fake relationships that are consumed with hypocrisy. If a person acts one way in front of just me but another way with a group of people, I don’t want them. I am seeking a friend who is real all the time. They need to have confidence to let down all barriers. I want to be able to think out loud without feeling judged or ridiculed. A true friendship is revolved around love. I’m not searching for romantic love. I desire a brotherly love, an unconditional love that is there through the ups and the downs. I need a friend who loves me for who I am and not for what I have. True friendships are hard to come by, but I strongly believe they are real.

Throughout our lives, we connect with a wide variety of people. Some are only temporarily apart of us, while others last a lifetime. No matter the circumstance, a true friend by your side through thick and thin. If they leave you when times get tough, they are nothing but an association. You should never hate people, but if they aren’t there to support you, then you shouldn’t confide in them. True friendships are rare. They hold together like a strong cloth while being pulled or twisted. Friendships represent equality. No one person is better than another. We were all made for different reasons which should not be compared. There is no competition in friendship. I don’t want to alter my beliefs and personality to merely fit in with a group. I also wish that no one would ever feel like they need to do that for me. A real relationship requires acceptance. I want to feel accepted for who I am, not judged. There is a freedom in friendship. I want to be able to speak my mind and completely open up my heart without feeling discouraged. Personal thought is extremely important and should not be ignored by anyone. Friendship involves truly listening. A real friend listens to your problems and isn’t selfishly always trying to talk about themselves. When friendships are real, they are not glass threads of frostwork, but the solidest thing we know. They should not be taken lightly. A true friendship is powerful. However, they are hard to find. If anyone feels that they hold these friendly characteristics, please contact me. I’d love to meet up and get to know you. I am always open to new people and I believe that one can never have too many friends.

A Trail of Your Own

                The highly influential, Ralph Waldo Emerson, once said, “Don’t go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” Throughout high school, there are many pressures to be what is considered “popular” or “cool”. Many teens completely change who they are and what they stand for all to just fit it. For me, feeling accepted, whether it’s by my peers or completes strangers, is extremely important. However, throughout my high school experience, I have found that complete, true happiness comes from accepting yourself and never giving up something you believe in.

                No matter where you go, social media seems to be subconsciously defining what is beautiful and perfect. Starting the summer before my freshman year, I became really self conscious about my physical appearance, especially my weight. Being a teenage girl in a world full of false interpretations became a huge struggle. One of my good friends was consumed with trying to be the best physically, and her outward desires started rubbing off on me. The subliminal messages of beauty portrayed on commercials and in magazines caught more of my attention every time I would see them. I slowly developed into a psycho health freak at the age of fifteen. I would barely eat any food, and the food that I did eat I burned off by running four miles a day. After a few months I had lost a lot of weight yet I still felt ugly and unwanted. My friend would continue to tell me, “if we look like them more people will like us”, even after my drastic change.

                As the year went on, I stayed at a consistent unhealthy weight. I wasn’t losing anymore, but I hadn’t gained it back either. One night my brother persuaded me into attending a Christian conference called Field’s of Faith. At this conference, many high school students gave their testimonies that included various struggles commonly faced by teens. One girl’s testimony particularly caught my attention. She spoke of her serious struggle with anorexia and how it caused her to quit all sports activities and even put her in the hospital. However, during her hardship, she developed a faith in God which saved her life. Later on in my freshman year, with the encouragement of that girl’s testimony and my amazing brother, I also developed a strong faith in God. I learned that he sees me as beautiful no matter what I look like, and that he has a put me in this world for a special reason.

                When Emerson warns us to no go where the path leads, he is it talking about the path that takes us farther and farther away from who we really are. Emerson wants us to be leaders and to not conform to society because we think it will make us “popular”. My problem wasn’t as severe as the girl’s in the conference, but it was something that altered my personality and my morals. Because of my faith in God and his greater plans, I can now make a positive trail, which will hopefully inspire other girls who are going through the same things I went through. Emerson truly wanted people to accept themselves and to stand up for what they believe in, and now I can successfully do that.