Rhetorical Devices In Freakonomics

Drug dealers still bunk with their mothers due to the fact that they uphold subpar jobs. The reason for this is proven in the third chapter of Freakonomics. The

In 1963, the civil rights movement was going on in almost every city in America. Our African American neighbors were standing up for equality and their own basic rights. Martin Luther King Jr., civil rights activist, writes a book called Why We Can't Wait to describe the social conditions of the black people living in America in this era. In his book, MLK uses strong imagery, historical allusions, and rhetorical questions in order to describe what the black community was going through in the 1960s.

Rhetorical devices are devices that are used to convey a meaning to the reader and create emotions through different types of language. Elie Wiesel uses rhetorical devices such as personification, metaphors, and rhetorical questions to emphasize and establish the theme of losing faith.

In chapter 2 of Freakonomics the main argument is that the absence of information can be used for personal gain. The main example used to display this tactic is when the KKK is compared to real estate agents. Although the crafty practice of real estate agents is in no way similar to the horrors of the KKK, they have a distinct similarity when it comes to the hoarding of information. The majority of the chapter focuses on the history of the KKK and Stetson Kennedy’s effort to stop it through the infiltration and exposure via radio of the Klan. Since the Klan was dependant on their violent—despite not being extremely violent—reputation, the disclosure of the information they had withheld from the public rendered them powerless. The narrators

The second example of a rhetorical technique is Pathos. The author tries to make you feel sorry for her when she describes how embarrassed she is about having her crush over for Christmas dinner and also when she describes the menu that is going to be served for Christmas Eve. “ Dinner threw me deeper into despair. My relatives licked the ends of their chopsticks and reached across the table, dipping them into the dozen or so plates of food.” Amy describes how depressed she was that Robert and his family had to witness the typical Chinese cuisine she and her family normally have.

Martin Luther King Jr. intentionally uses instances of allusions in order to strengthen his overall argument. In MLK’s letter titled “Letter From Birmingham Jail”, he addresses the clergymen who have condemned his actions, and who labeled have him as an “extremist”. MLK addresses this by integrating a biblical allusion. For example, he states, “Was not Jesus an extremist in love? -- ‘Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you.’”. MLK references what the clergymen know best, the bible. This allows him to labels Jesus as an extremist since he had an extreme love for God and his creations. This essentially puts MLK in the same group as Jesus, removing the negative connotation of being an extremist. With

In what way are schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers similar? At first, this question might be puzzling, but the answer is provided in the book Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. Freakonomics is the result of a partnership between an award winning economist, Steven D. Levitt, and a journalist, Stephen J. Dubner. The duo decided upon making a book after Dubner was given an assignment to profile Levitt. Dubner realized that Levitt took a different approach to economics than other economists and he saw that Levitt had an interesting and effective way to explain statistics. This pushed the two to release the 315 page book to the public in 2005 in New York, New York. Since then, the book has flourished and has been republished numerous times. In Freakonomics, Dubner and Levitt reveal that fundamental ideas of economics can be used to interpret just about everything in modern society. The book focuses on a few key points including; incentives are the driving force behind everything, conventional wisdom is often wrong, small causes can often have dramatic effects, and the advantages of having information. The authors use many interesting stories and statistics to demonstrate these economic themes in the modern world. Stories include how some school teachers in the Chicago school system cheat, the influence that the legalization of abortions had on crime rates, and how real estate agents tend to sell their own homes for higher prices than if they

“McCandless didn’t conform particularly well to the bush casualty stereotype.” Jon Krakauer, in his book Into The Wild, argues that McCandless was a unique personality who yearned for adventure. He supports his claim by the usage of epigraphs, interviews with McCandless’s acquaintances, and various maps that are indicative of where the protagonist travelled. Krakauer's purpose is to use an argumentative structure in order to convince the audience that McCandless was more complex than previously known. He uses a nostalgic and commanding tone in order to emotionally appeal to an audience who may have originally had different opinions on McCandless. In Into The Wild, Krakauer employs techniques of ethos and speaker in order to thoroughly convey

Nonconformity allows people to go against a prevailing rule so that they may do as they please.

In “On the Want of Money”, a 19th century text, William Hazzlit presents a strong position on the role of currency in society and the ironic relationship between man and his status through use of rhetoric; such as but not limited to syntax, repetition, and imagery. In doing so, Hazzlit strengthens his argument and gives more weight to his claims that support the idea that in possession of money and lack thereof man is miserable in his ways. Ownership leaves man alienated from friends and family, to be commemorated by a lonely, seldom frequented monument of massive proportions. Austerity dictates lives, limiting those in pursuit of wealth to a constant, consuming search. In summation, the concept of money is hopeless

In her essay “Living Like Weasels”, Annie Dillard explores the idea of following a single calling in life, and attaching one’s self it this calling as the weasel on Ernest Thompson Seton’s eagle had. Dillard presents her argument using the analogy of a weasel and how the; “weasel lives as he’s meant to, yielding at every moment to the perfect freedom of single necessity” (Dillard). In constructing her argument, however, she often contradicts herself undermining the effectiveness of her argument and leaving the reader confused. Dillard primarily uses ethos and pathos to support her argument and concerning both, the reader discovers; inconsistencies in her character, and conflicts between her perceptions of the weasel’s emotions and its actions. Concerning her ethos, Dillard presents herself as a part of suburbia and then is suddenly, inexplicably overcome by the desire to live wild. Dillard also uses very detailed language throughout the essay in describing her surroundings and thoughts, however; this further undermines her argument and ethos as she is trying to convince the reader that she could simply become as simple and single minded as the weasel she has focused her argument around. With her use of pathos, Dillard begins her essay with descriptions of the weasel’s brutality, yet; she concludes by stating the weasel lives as is necessary. By simplifying her experience and presenting a reasonable explanation for why she wanted to

In the book Freakonomics, Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner note “An incentive is a bullet, a lever, a key: an often-tiny object with astonishing power to change a situation” (16). This is to showcase the amount of power an incentive can have over a person or a situation; either good or bad. Humans are found to use incentives when it comes to making daily decisions. Often, people need motives to proceed with their plans. Some tend to make either moral, social, or economic incentive. The moral incentive is about self-respect; keeping in check with what was taught to believe is right and wrong. The social incentive is how the public views the person; wanting to look good in front others. Economic incentive, however, would relate to monetary benefit. While all three incentives can affect people’s decisions, economic

In spite of what many might argue, economics affects everyone’s lives. Its methodology and the way it is perceived by different individuals is deeply affected by their ideologies. Hence, in the decision-making process and the strive to deal with real-world problems, economics makes use of rhetoric. Klamer pointed out in his paper entitled “Making Sense of Economists: From Falsification to Rhetoric and Beyond” that rhetorical differences matter.

I chose to write about the "Reach for a LUCKY instead of a sweet" ad created by Lucky Strike cigarettes and how they appealed to the average American woman of the 1920 's. We 'll be going over what the average American woman of the 20 's was as well as why they were so fascinated with smoking cigarettes. Didn 't they know that cigarettes cause cancer? Didn 't they know that they could die, and leave their loved ones behind because of cancer? Did they truly believe that cigarettes were the miracle to keeping them skinny? Or do you think that cigarettes were more of an accessory than a need to be happy and healthy? The truth is, ads like this target women who want to look sexy and keep their slim figures, or maybe even lose weight, but

Rhetorical device (can use diction, sentence structure, grammar, etc) and/or Logical Fallacies: Identify 5 Rhetorical devices or Logical Fallacies in each chapter and discuss what effect it has on the tone, message, etc – in other words, what is its significance?