Moment of Truth
By: Nell
Literary devices can be a writers ' best friend, and likewise, worst enemy. In the essay “What A Certain Visionary Once Said”, by Thompson Highway, Highway employs imagery, simple vocabulary and omits repetition. Al Gore, in the essay, A Moment Of Truth, also uses imagery, but uses much more formal vocabulary and repetition. Although, the literary devices found in Gore 's essay are often effective, Highway invites agreement more effectively because he is able to get his point across without being invasive, by capturing the true beauty of our planet with the brilliant use of imagery and by using simple vocabulary.
Gores essay is much longer than Highways, due in part to the use of repetition, which is "used deliberately. Repetition can be an effective rhetorical strategy for achieving emphasis." (Nordquist, 2013) Gore chose this style of writing because his essay is written with a sense of urgency, with a message that us people, MUST do something quickly. "We should not wait. We cannot wait. We must not wait." (Gore, 2013) He chooses this sentence in the end of his essay for emphasize, just as he used repetition throughout. Along with the use of repetition, Gore also exaggerates many sentences in his essay and uses hyperboles. "However, when writing fiction, poetry, memoirs, humor or other creative work hyperbole is an extremely effective literary device. For example, to describe a very long car trip, I might write, "I 'd been driving for about a hundred years when I finally came to a fork in the road." This is dramatically more descriptive than "I 'd been driving for a very long time when I finally came to a fork in the road." Since the reader knows it 's impossible for the writer to drive for a hundred years, it becomes clear that hyperbole is being used. This particular hyperbole is also a good example of comic irony." (Claerr, 2013) The reader is left with no sense of own thought as Gore makes his point clear and also that we should have the same.
Literary devices can be a writers ' best friend, and likewise, worst enemy. In the essay “What A Certain Visionary Once Said”, by Thompson Highway, Highway employs imagery, simple vocabulary and omits repetition. Al Gore, in the essay, A Moment Of Truth, also uses imagery, but uses much more formal vocabulary and repetition. Although, the literary devices found in Gore 's essay are often effective, Highway invites agreement more effectively because he is able to get his point across without being invasive, by capturing the true beauty of our planet with the brilliant use of imagery and by using simple vocabulary.
Gores essay is much longer than Highways, due in part to the use of repetition, which is "used deliberately. Repetition can be an effective rhetorical strategy for achieving emphasis." (Nordquist, 2013) Gore chose this style of writing because his essay is written with a sense of urgency, with a message that us people, MUST do something quickly. "We should not wait. We cannot wait. We must not wait." (Gore, 2013) He chooses this sentence in the end of his essay for emphasize, just as he used repetition throughout. Along with the use of repetition, Gore also exaggerates many sentences in his essay and uses hyperboles. "However, when writing fiction, poetry, memoirs, humor or other creative work hyperbole is an extremely effective literary device. For example, to describe a very long car trip, I might write, "I 'd been driving for about a hundred years when I finally came to a fork in the road." This is dramatically more descriptive than "I 'd been driving for a very long time when I finally came to a fork in the road." Since the reader knows it 's impossible for the writer to drive for a hundred years, it becomes clear that hyperbole is being used. This particular hyperbole is also a good example of comic irony." (Claerr, 2013) The reader is left with no sense of own thought as Gore makes his point clear and also that we should have the same.
Cited: Claerr, J. (2013, 03 28). How to Use Simile, Metaphor, Irony and Hyperbole in Your Writing. Retrieved from Yahoo! Voices: http://voices.yahoo.com/how-simile-metaphor-irony-hyperbole-in-508454.html?cat=3 Gore, A. (2013). The Moment of Truth. In D. V. Gavin, Effective Reading and Writing for COMM 170 and Beyong (pp. 194-198). Boston, MA: Pearson Learning Solutions. Highway, T. (2007, 2010). What A Certain Visionary Once Said. In D. V. Gavin, Effective Reading And Writing for COMM 170 and Beyond (pp. 61-62). Boston, MA: Pearson Education Canada. How to Avoid Colloquial (Informal) Writing. (2013, 03 28). Retrieved from WikiHow: http://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-Colloquial-%28Informal%29-Writing Nordquist, R. (2013, 03 24). Grammar and Composition. Retrieved from About.com: http://grammar.about.com/od/rs/a/repetitionterm.htm Seattle, C. (2013, 04 03). Quotes about the earth. Retrieved from Good reads: http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/earth Thompson, S. (2013, 03 24). Imagery in Your Writing: Metaphors, Similes & Personification. Retrieved from Yahoo!Voices: http://voices.yahoo.com/imagery-writing-metaphors-similes-personification-164889.html