Rhetorical Analysis Of The Damned Human Race

AIDS, Ebola, Influenza, Cholera, Smallpox, Tuberculosis, The Black Death. What do these have in common? For most of you that is a rhetorical question, for many others not so much. Some of those words are the names of epidemics, some even earned the title of pandemics.

Mankind is placed at the top of the animal kingdom because of man’s ability to think and reason. Despite this ability, mankind seems incapable of moving past negative emotions and the greatest atrocities: hate, anger, abuse, and murder. For these reasons, some humans question the true nature of mankind. Some argue that humanity is no better than any other vile species and conclude that mankind is only a “beast.” However, as Albert Camus demonstrates in his novel The Stranger, the situation is more complex. Camus utilizes his character Salamano and his dog to demonstrate that humans have to parts. Salamano represents the ideal of a human and his dog represents that bad -- the part that humanity hates about itself. The novel’s protagonist, Meursault

The ability to persuade the audience to think or act in a certain way is essential in

The statement that can best be made about the purpose of The Lowest Animal by Mark Twain is that he believes that mankind is immoral, vulgar, wasteful, vengeful, discriminatory; cruel, greed, and obscene. This is because he has a moral sense and conscience despite this, doesn’t make our decisions right and properly. However, contrast with Mark Twain’s thesis; I think human beings are not that all bad and not the lowest animal, but perhaps not the highest animal either.

In his essay, “The Lowest Animal”, Mark Twain attempts to prove a pessimistic opinion of his. He compares humans to animals, and explains how contrary to widespread belief, humans are a lower animal to other species. While he makes some valid points about greed, selfishness, and violence, he misses the overall picture of human nature. I firmly believe that the human race is made of not only civilized, but caring human beings. If humans were as abominable as Twain attempts to make us out to be, we would not have countries, communities, or any other caring and loving, individual connections. We would also have countless amounts of prisons, prisoners, high mortality rates due to violence, and lower life-spans. Twain writes from a subjective point of view, allowing his opinions of

     Twain ends his paper stating that the cause for man?s cruelty is that of the ?moral sense.? Man is the only animal that owns it, yet it is the primary cause for his degradation. ?Without it,? Twain

Mark Twain, in his essay¨, The lowest Animal¨,(1896), Mark Twain argues that human beings are not on the same ¨level with other animals¨.He claims that humans are the most lowest animals in the world. He announced that humans are the most idiotic creatures and that humans starts wars for no reason. Mark Twain suggest the problem for humans, that they are reveal as the lowest animal. Mark Twain explain the humans for being shelfless, cold hearted and less intellligent then the rest of the animals.To his audience Mark Twain revealed the humans problems not being reasonable with mankind. Fur the audience to know humans weakness to mankind.

Furthermore, Twain uses style to continue to persuade the reader of the fact that humans cannot think for themselves but only conform to the views of society. One of the literary devices Twain uses to emphasize his point is a hyperbole. He declares, “as a rule we do not think, we only imitate” (Twain, 801). This statement, although an exaggeration, is effective in helping the audience understand the stance Twain has on the importance of original opinions. The diction in this work is well formed, easy to understand and gives a clear view into the thoughts Twain has about society. Twain’s choice of language in the beginning gives off an aura of humility making the readers more inclined to take what he says into consideration. Through narration and exposition the objective of the piece is evident thus making it effective.

In Mark Twain’s The Damned Human Race, he refutes the Darwinian theory of the “Ascent of Man from the Lower Animals,” arguing that the theory should be named the “Descent of Man from the Higher Animals.” He says that he accumulated research from his own investigations and used the scientific method to come to this conclusion. While emphasizing his argument, Twain uses tone to help bring his point across to the readers. The best use of tone throughout his essay is the use of satire, or the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize foolishness or corruption. Twain says that, “He [Man] is the only one that inflicts pain for the pleasure of doing it.” He then provides why this statement is true, and gives real world

Concepts, techniques, and ways of thinking can last much longer than their creators. The philosophy of Plato is an example of that. Its ideas can be found in a speech written thousands of years later. In “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” Frederick Douglass, a former slave, addresses an audience of white abolitionists on July 5th of 1852. He focuses on the disparity between the American values celebrated on the Independence Day and the issue of slavery. To do so, Douglass raises the question of to whom those values apply and explains why and how it should be different. Analyzing Douglass’ effort, we see that he is using arguments that trace back to the ancient Platonic ideas to support his stance on the equally ancient question of citizenship.

“And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie's head" (254). Now what was going to happen next? That's the question we ask ourselves everyday. In the world we live in today our lives and our actions go by so quick, that sometimes we haven't even realized the full extent. John Steinbeck through his book Of Mice and Men that all humans are destine for a future, whether that's a positive or negative one all depends on the environment we live in today. The time period this book was written in was a time in which society didn't fully understand the power of friendship and family. Isolation is a huge theme throughout the book. Steinbeck wanted to show that human beings need the friendship and love of other people in order to prosper.

In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain juxtaposed events in American society to demonstrate to the reader contrasts between different levels of class and race in society.

In Mark Twain’s essay, “The Damned Human Race”, Twain contrasts the different features between animals and human beings using the appeal to pathos and logos approach. He uses the appeal to pathos as the dominant appeal to connect with the audience and persuading them to feel and the see things the way he does. He uses the logos approach to support his conclusion. All of his comparisons have some truth behind them, making the reasoning behind his arguments successful. And although he uses false authority and hasty generalization, the argument was successful.

Examples throughout Twain and Wallace’s works establish that the way in which a writer articulates their opinion correlates with the way in which the opinions is received and accounted for. Twain and Wallace both connect the reader visually to the characters in their works, however, Twain leaves room for the reader to form an opinion of the character for themselves. He allows them to decide if they appreciate the gentle energy of the older traveler or the warmth and attentive nature of the wait staff. On the other hand, Wallace’s demanding language leaves no room for interpretation for the reader. His extreme and dramatic phrases ultimately cause the reader to question the value of his opinion, which simply proves that moderate language used in Mark Twain book is more successful than the bold language that David Foster Wallace chooses to

As Mark Twain said, “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” Mary Oliver in her poem embraces the same idea that Mark Twain presents in his quote; she is no longer afraid of death because she embraces life fully and accepts the fact that death will come, and when it does come she will be proud of her life and all that she has accomplished. Oliver’s use of symbolism, personification, repetition, and alliteration throughout the poem assists in the meaning of the poem – that death is certain but should not be feared but rather embraced and used as a tool to fully live ones life. When death comes is a poem about Oliver anticipating the arrival of death in a myriad of ways. Oliver captures the innate curiosity humans have regarding death. She also regards life as precious, and hopes like many others that when she dies she can be happy with the way she lived her life without doubts and regrets.