Rhetorical Devices Used By Gary Soto

Soto’s use of anecdotes occur more than once throughout the essay, which adds more details and meaning to the original story. It’s a writing style Soto uses frequently in all of his writing’s. The first example is on page 23 when he talks about him and his friend Little John in Catholic school and how the teacher had the two of them sit in alternated rows of smart and stupid and smart students. His major point throughout this short story is to describe his best friend’s behavior. “When one day, while dismissing class for recess, Little John couldn’t get up because his arms were stuck in the slats of the chair’s backrest” (Soto 23). This is an example that Little John is a silly little boy who is probably squeamish and likes to be a class clown. Another example of an anecdote in Soto’s essay is the about when Little John wants to help work with Gary but is reminded by Gary that Little John’s mother beat on him

From 1954 to 1968, African Americans fought to end segregation in the southern United States through nonviolent protests. As a major leader of the movement, Martin Luther King Jr. encouraged this approach. Ten years after MLK’s assassination, American civil rights activist Cesar Chavez published an article to commemorate the great leader and what he stood for. In his magazine article, Cesar Chavez utilizes logos, pathos, and ethos to convey the importance of nonviolence.

In the short story Mr. Soto exclaims when he was younger he pushed a lawn mower, door to door trying to find someone who would pay him to cut their grass. At the time he did not know that his area was in the lower-class bracket, “It struck me like a ball. They were poor, but I didn’t even recognize them. I left the projects and tried houses with a little luck, and began to wonder if they too housed the poor” (101). This is significant because later he speaks about how he was so oblivious to how he grew up. Later in this childhood story he stated that he wanted to become a hobo since he thought there was no jobs for him in the world since he did not want to work like his father. He exclaimed that his dad would come home with blistery hands, sit down their living room chair and stare at the television for the rest of the night. At the end of this story he starts talking about how he became who he is now, and why he fell into his career. “It’s been twenty years since I went door to door. Now I am living this other life that seems a dream. How did I get here? What line on my palm arched in a small fortune? I sit before students, before grade books, before other professors talking about books they’ve yet to write, so surprised that I’m far from that man on the sidewalk” (101). This quote from “To Be A Man,” is a very smart and somewhat humorous line, because Mr. Soto realizes that he could have easily been a hobo on that

Cesar Chavez, a civil rights leader fighting for improving pay and working conditions of farmers, employs the use of nonviolence resistance in his role as a leader of the United Farm Workers. As a child, Chavez and his family worked as farmers on a field as migrant workers who were most likely treated in an unjust manner and thus, he dedicated his life to improving the conditions for all farmers. To honor Martin Luther King Jr. on the 10th anniversary of his death, Chavez wrote to a religious magazine that helps people in need about the benefits of nonviolent resistance. Throughout his letter, Chavez applies rhetorical devices such as pathos, diction, and juxtaposition to persuade and inform people about how powerful and effective nonviolence techniques can be for civil rights.

Soto’s use of imagery serves as an aid to the reader to better understand the author’s perspective, which is that of a six-year-old boy. Prior to stealing the pie, the author uses imagery to describe his temptation to steal. “My sweet tooth gleaming and the juice of guilt wetting my underarms” (Soto 1). The imagery here illustrates both the irresistibility of the temptation to steal and the immaturity of the young boy as he can’t take his mind off of anything but what is in front of him. After stealing the pie, Soto

He “knew enough about hell to stop [him] from stealing” and was “holy in almost every bone”. Soto’s diction makes it clear that his younger self was well behaved because he was scared of the consequences of sin, but not necessarily because he wanted to be good. It also implies that even fear could not stop the most mischievous parts of him. Regardless of his willingness to behave, the young Soto truly believed in a God, and often saw “shadows of angels” and heard “faraway messages in the plumbing”. These symbols appear throughout the passage in order to show how sin changed Soto’s interpretation of them. The narrative continues, and the young boy stands in a German Market, staring at pies. As he ponders which type to steal, the “juice of guilt” wets his armpits and he “nearly [weeps] trying to decide”. This imagery of wetness is associated with his sin, and strongly contrasts the dryness of “the flowery dust priests give off”. The opposing wet and dry imagery show that the boy is sometimes bored with the dryness of religion, but the possibility of stealing a pie both terrifies and excites him. Once again, he is reminded of “the proximity of God howling in the plumbing”

Since Soto knows stealing the pie is a sin his guilt is amplified when he ignores his knowledge. Soto’s guilt is emphasized through the tone of the story, “my sweet tooth gleaming and the juice of my guilt wetting my underarms… I nearly wept trying to decide which to steal.” By Soto’s tone towards the pies over exaggerating on which one to steal shows that he is nervous and anxious.

     As mentioned before diction was used along with other elements to help bring out the heart of the matter in Soto’s story. When Soto says he held the pie like a “discus” it makes one think that maybe he was ready to throw it like a Frisbee because at the time he was so nervous. Also, when Soto first steals the pie, he notices that the grocer’s forehead “shone with a window of light.” It seems because Soto is so nervous, he begins to notice every little detail of what is going on in front of him. Another example occurs when Soto is eating the pie and he declares that his teeth were “bathed with the jam-like filling.” This makes him look as if he is relishing every moment of eating the pie.

Through the writings of José Martí, a reader witnesses his strong love for justice, virtue, and duty. His writings illustrate, with fantastic diction, Martí’s profound distaste for those who are not virtuous; specifically governments that are not virtuous. The theme that is consistently found in the work of Martí is his belief that the government is ultimately responsible for the acts carried out by its citizens. He believes that the government creates the monsters which it so desperately attempts to eliminate. And, in multiple essays, Martí makes clear that he believes the only way to prevent the acts of these “monsters” is by the government leading its citizens to a life of virtuosity through their own demonstration of such character.

Gary Soto’s body language sets the stage for symbolism on his aim on stealing pie from the grocer’s store. “...the juice of guilt wetting my underarms” (Soto 13). The juice of guilt symbolizes his religious knowledge, since he is acknowledged

deal with some of his hard times as a child. He makes it humorous because he tries to do jobs for other people that don't need to be done. For instance, he tries to rake his neighbors leaves in the middle of summer. In Soto’s “Being Mean”, his neighbor says, “It's summer, and there ain't no leaves.” This is humorous because although he did end up getting money, he was only 9 and did not consider the time of year or the jobs that he should be doing. Moreover, Soto felt very highly about his working. Although he was doing jobs that to some would be considered “degrading” he was virtuous about it and very hard-working. For example, he says, “I felt suddenly alive

From the beginning of the poem, Soto depicts himself as a ten year old who wanted attention. He also depicts the era by which the setting of the poem is written. He states, “At ten I wanted fame”, the word “fame” standing for his intense need for attention (1). In the next line he said, “I had a comb / And two Coke bottles, a tube of Bryl-cream” (1-2). By this he meant, he had thick glasses and slicked back hair, and for that era, thick glasses were for nerds, and the slicked back hair was the fashion in the 1950’s. In addition, a slang word in the 1950’s was “Daddy-O”, who by which Soto refers to a priest (17). He states, ‘“No way / Daddy-O’ to an imaginary priest” (16-17). Since Soto uses the word priest, and not pastor or reverend, this indicates the person for whom he imagined calling “Daddy-O” was a Catholic male (17). Soto uses the word “Chale” toward the imaginary priest, which

In the short play A Raisin in the sun conflict’s both internal and external occure for in three of the main characters regarding their dreams. When the opportunity came for them to accomplish their dreams through using the insurance money they’ve come across from the loss of a family member, one of the main characters, Walter, wishes to be successful in life; but he needs the insurance money to do so. He wants to use the insurance money to open up a liquor store because he believes this would change his life. A exceptional quote that shows his determination to be successful in life is when he speaks to Ruth “You tired, ain’t you? Tired of everything. Me, the boy. The way we live-this beat up hole-everything”(

The poem begins explaining to the reader the story of a Mexican American as he worked in an industrial factory at some point in his life. “In the factory I worked, in the fleck of rubber, under a press of an oven yellow with flame.” (Lines 1-3) Soto uses visual imagery to describe the color of

A method that resonates the best for my artifact is Neo-Aristotelian, an “original method of criticism” (Newbold & Scoot, 2017). This method can best help analyze not only speeches, but also advertisements, novels, public service announcements, etc. Deliberative genre, outlined by Aristotle, is demonstrated in this speech as an attempt to “persuade [young adults] to take some action” to become successful in their future (Nordquist, 2017). Thoroughly invested in the future of young adults, success is what Eric Thomas strives for his audiences to reach and works at gaining their initiative to do so.