Rhetorical Device - Alliteration

          Alliteration can be defined as a repetition of the first sound or sounds in two or more words that follow each other in succession. However most of the examples of alliteration usually contain at least 3 words that start with same sound as alliteration of 2 words often occurs coincidentally.

These words may be adjacent or may be separated by some words between them. This is because prepositions are often fixed as conventional expressions, so it is hard to think of new one that starts with particular sound that matches in those cases. This also happens to verbs as there are not many synonyms for often used ones, such as ‘have’, ‘do’, ‘be’ and so on. Because of this, many examples of alliteration are comprised only with nouns.

Alliteration is found very often in poetry; but, is also found in many works of literature because it adds interest to the written and spoken word as it makes the sentences sound rhythmic.

           Alliteration is also often used in tongue-twisters as it is hard to pronounce quickly and makes the sentences sound fun. There are some famous ones such as :

-She sells sea-shells by the sea shore.

-Peter Piper picked a pack of pickled peppers.

 

           This device is also used often in novels and poems as well as following :

-I watched the bare brown back of the prisoner marching in front of me. (A Hanging, Gearge Orwell)

-Behemoth, biggest born of earth, upheaved His vastness (Paradise Lost)

-So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. (The Great Gatsby)

Bibliography : examples.yourdictionary.com

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'The Tell-Tale Heart' and Gothic Literature

           We’ve all learned that ‘Gothic literature/novel’ (or genre of Gothic) is a mixture of mostly horror, thriller, mystery, science fiction, and Romantic. I found out that ‘Romantic’ novels (with a capital R) do not mean love stories but is a type of novel from Romanticism, and includes impractical/idealistic ideas. I also came to know that most of the short stories written by Edgar Allen Poe are Gothic. Especially, stories titled <The Black Cat> and <The Tell-Tale Heart> were the typical ones.

<The Tell-Tale Heart> is a story of a murderer who kills an old man for his hate towards his eye. While the old man was sleeping, this ‘mad man’ (who rejects being called that way) sneaks into the man’s room for 7 nights to make his actual murder perfect. From these, most of the readers feel frightened since the reason for his murder and the method are so unusual and it lies out of normal range of prediction. We often feel horrified when we get to know about ‘psychopaths’ around us since their thoughts are highly unpredictable, and they usually don’t show their madness until they actually commit crimes. I guess that’s the part where we feel horror, and where shows that this story falls into the category of Gothic.

The specific depiction of the man’s emotions is another part that makes us feel tension and horror. For example, the author illustrates the emotion and actions of the mad man when he was silently sneaking into the old man’s room in the darkness. The writer also shows specific emotions and thoughts of this man, and increases readers’ fear even more. This hits its peak at the last part of the story, where the man hears the old man's heart beating louder and louder.

Some might say this story contains mystery, but I thought this book can’t be a mystery. There is a chance of myself being wrong, but from my point of view, this story can never be mysterious about something. I can see that there are many scenes and elements that can be a mystery, but the point is, the murderer himself is the narrator. Since we already know who is the murderer, why and how he killed the victim and so on, there is no curiosity that can rise from this crime for the readers. Still, the overall atmosphere and the fear it is creating lets the story be a good example of Gothic literature.

To be honest, I didn’t enjoy reading it since the story was all about a murderer and his madness, so it couldn’t be a comfortable type of story to read. I don’t hate it though-I surely found out that it is not only scary and frightening, but is valuable from the aspects of literature as well.

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How does the use of genre and writing style support the main ideas in George Orwell's 'Why I Write'?

              George Orwell was a writer who dealt with political issues and criticized undesirable form of governments in his novels, mostly in relation to the ones that existed at that time. ‘Why I Write’ is his autobiographical essay, which is mainly about answering two questions: ‘why’ and ‘how’ he writes.

Orwell recognizes that in nature, he would have been writing purple passages -sentences or expressions without specific meaning but rhetorical purpose only- and artistic, beautiful books without any political purposes. However, as he was living in the time when totalitarianism was hitting its peak, international relationships were worsening every day, and World War II was about to  take place, he felt responsibility to reveal the truth against the wrongs –especially political ones- done around the world. In short, he implies that he writes in order to let the general public acknowledge political injustice.

In the last paragraph, Orwell states how prose should be written (and how he tries to write), metaphorically, that “Good prose is like a windowpane.” Windowpanes are made up of glass and windowsills. Glass is transparent, symbolizing the place we see the world through. Windowsills are the ones that judge where the glasses will be placed. As writer’s political aspects differ from each others’, the windowsills will be placed differently. If all prose is like a windowpane, the readers will be able to see the world in diverse aspects from different angles. Therefore, the people will be able to remain objective, decide right or wrong themselves and eventually find out the injustice in the politics.

This piece of writing is a mixture of several different genres. First, this writing is an autobiographical essay. As the author writes about himself and his own thoughts, this essay is surely being autobiographical and expository. While in novels, authors must stand behind characters to convey messages and thoughts, usually in indirect ways, Orwell was enabled to write down his thoughts on why and how he writes freely and directly.

Second, this essay is being persuasive, since the author is giving out his opinion on which kind of prose is good. Since he is not being argumentative or against something, it is not a typical persuasive essay, but he is at least arguing that prose should never be lifeless but like a windowpane.

Poetry also comprises this writing. There is a poem in the middle of the essay, written by Orwell, which shows his struggle between writing style of his nature and style which the world wants him to write. The poem is being effective in conveying his struggle within short, symbolic words. Through this, readers could clearly see the reason why he writes right now. It also makes readers feel fresh to read poem inside a prose.

Orwell is being very dry and simple with his sentences in this essay. He tries to use rhetorical expressions or metaphors less as he writes. This makes the sentences look clean and clear, which helps him to convey exactly what he wants to. Being straightforward in meaning also shows that we are in emergency(when international tension has elevated) that we can’t be vague or misleading with our words.

Simple and clear sentences also let the whole essay be definitive. As people read this, they will feel that the writer is very confident and has no doubt on whatever he is writing about. This helps the essay to be more persuasive as he argues about how prose should be written.

Plus, this might be related to the fact that Orwell is viewing ‘purple passages’ negatively in this essay. In his young days, he once admired the literary value of those and wanted to be writing those later as they were producing joy and pleasure, making the sound rhythmical. However, he says they are ‘lifeless’ in the end since they are not helping the readers to see the world through a windowpane that the writers have made.

George Orwell’s essay ‘Why I Write’ is definitely a well-written essay as its genres; autobiographical, expository, persuasive and poetry; and its writing style, being dry and simple, benefit the intensity and delivery of the main points positively and effectively.

 

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