Jessi Kivari
Mr. Gragg
AP Language/Composition
2 October 2012
Readings and Their Tropes and Schemes
“Shooting Dad”
Subject
Audience
Valuing differences
Along with writing this
piece for her father,
Sarah Vowell directed
her descriptive narrative
to young adults who
think of differences as a
negative quality.
Purpose
Vowell’s prime purpose
is to explain to her
young audience that
differences bring out the
best in in people, and
that one should value
and appreciate that.
Vowell excellently
supports her purpose
with father/daughter
examples, helping her
audience understand
more clearly that
opposites attract.
Witty and understanding
Tone
Tropes
Schemes
“Civil War
battleground…house
was partitioned off into
territories” (130-131),
“The sound it made was
as big as God” (132),
“My dad finished his
most elaborate tool of
death yet” (133).
(Metaphor, simile,
euphemism)
“Amy shared our
father’s enthusiasm for
firearms…I tended to
daydream though Dad’s
activities” (132), “If I
was ever going to
understand his most
ballistic bee in his
“Champion of the
World”
Pride
Because this passage is
taken from I Know Why
the Caged Bird Sings,
one can say that Maya
Angelou’s specific
audience is young
adults; but the piece
could also be for whites
when the Civil Rights
Movement had just
ended in 1969; this
piece was written in
1970.
The purpose of
Angelou writing this
section is to inform
readers how racial
discrimination did not
prevent people (mainly
African Americans)
from feeling good about
them. Joe Louis, the
“champion of the
world,” caused blacks
to be proud of their
heritage and race,
instead of embarrassed.
Candid, but proud
“Batting Clean-Up and
Striking Out”
Acceptance
Author Dave Barry not
only targets his essay
directly to wife, but to
other woman who tend
to make men more
feminine or other
people who seek
change where change
will most likely not
happen.
“The Meaning of a
Word”
Connotation of words
It is implied that
Gloria Naylor, the
author, writes directly
to young, immature
adults who have
known the word
nigger to be
derogatory.
Barry main purpose in
is to describe the
differences in men and
woman in order to
illustrate that one
should accept
contrasting features
between different sexes
instead of searching for
change. He is
encouraging his
audience to stop
changing what will
probably never change.
Witty, yet subjective
Naylor’s purpose is to
define the word
nigger in order to
support her argument
on the connotation of
words. Throughout
her moving essay,
Naylor stresses that
words are
meaningless until one
changes the value of
the words.
“Some bitter comedian”
(87), “If the Brown
Bomber’s victory was
a particular bloody
one…” (87), “People
drank Coca-Colas like
ambrosia and ate like
Christmas” (88).
(Antithesis, epithet,
simile)
“Batting Clean-Up and
Striking Out” (203),
“This can lead to
tragedy, as it did
in…Pompeii” (203),
“…Always get letters
from woman
who…could crush mu
skull like a ripe grape”
(204). (Metaphor/Pun,
Allusion, Simile)
“She gives me this
look…same look that
she uses on me” (204),
“…Men tend to
feel…and woman tend
to be” (204), “We could
not focus our
attention…like that
“Mood was shot
through…as a black sky
is streaked with
lightning” (86), “It was
out people…it was
another lynching…it
was hounds…it was a
white woman slapping
Candid and
communicative
“I’ve managed to
keep the wolf away
from the door” (388),
“The debate…That
battle is doomed”
(388), “We order
reality” (388).
(metaphor, metaphor,
and hyperbole)
“In the singular the
word was applied…in
some situation for his
strength” (389),
“Parents
who…drunken
couple who…people
who…were all
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Analysis
bonnet…” (134), “I will
pack…I will go…I will
plunge…I will light the
fuse” (135).
(Juxtaposition,
alliteration, anaphora)
her maid” (87), “We
were stupid and ugly
and lazy and dirty and
unlucky” (88).
story by Edgar Allen
Poe” (204).
(Epistrophe,
parallelism,
circumlocution)
All the quotes support
the saying: Sarah Vowell
was exceedingly
different from her father,
but in the end valued the
difference. Vowell
asserts through her
battleground metaphor,
that differences between
her and her dad have
always occurred. She
doesn’t enjoy using guns
so purposely exaggerates
and compares the shot of
a small pistol to the
power of God. Vowell
provides another
example of a trope
(euphemism) when
describing a cannon.
Vowell, being so unlike
her dad, describes the
cannon as a terrible,
terrible machine,
wrapping back to the
idea that Vowell differs
greatly from her father.
Vowell mentions her
sister in order to show
great juxtaposition
between her and her
sister when learning
about firearms. Vowel
remains uninterested in
such objects, until the
end. There, she
humorously adds how
she will do countless
services for her father
when he is died, one of
them firing him from a
cannon, and thus, adding
to the cheerful tone.
Maya Angelou displays
a truthful, but proud
tone. She wants to tell a
story in which African
Americans have proven
to be “as good as”
whites. To help her
support her purpose and
maintain a strong tone,
Angelou sets up a
gloomy atmosphere
with an antithesis of a
comedian. One
visualizes a comedian
to be entertaining and
friendly; but when the
audience reads “bitter
comedian,” they will
visualize the beginning
serious tone. A
character named Joe
Louis goes by the name
“Brown Bomber”
because of the idea the
Angelou wanted to
draw special attention
to African American
pride. Angelou makes
her characters feel
extremely pleased with
the boxing outcome to
stress the point that
blacks had something to
be proud of when
discrimination was
common. Angelou uses
symbolism as a scheme
to symbolize that the
streak of lightning is
hope for Americans,
and that hope will
eventually bring pride.
By using forms of
repetition, Angelou
interests her audience
while addressing the
her overall purpose and
candid tone.
Dave Barry writes a
highly descriptive piece
with a pun, simile,
allusions, epistrophe,
parallel structure, and
circumlocution. A
metaphor/pun is used
for the title encourages
people to read Barry’s
compare and contrast of
men and woman. With
that title, Barry already
begins his argument:
men try to clean up, or
do as woman, but in the
end they strike out and
end up actually being a
guy. Barry continues
supporting his purpose
by alluding to Pompeii
and then comparing its
disasters to those of
men and woman. The
simile, epistrophe, and
parallel structure all
provide examples on
the idea that men and
woman are increasingly
different, thus backing
Barry’s idea. The
circumlocution is a
definite example on
how well men contrast
from woman. Barry
explains sports and to
watch them is a mustdo, for men. Barry
describes the Tell-Tale
Heart, but doesn’t
actually say it, making
the overall paragraph
enjoyable and easy to
connect to with a witty
tone.
‘trifling niggers’”
(390), “…Used in
direct address and
regardless of the
gender doing the
addressing” (390).
(Alliteration,
Parallelism,
Assonance)
Gloria Naylor places
heavy emphasis on
the connotation of the
word nigger; and for
support, she
incorporates
metaphors, an
alliteration,
hyperbole, parallel
structure, and
assonance. The tropes
create visual pictures
for the Naylor’s
audience, images that
will help her audience
understand what is
being said more
clearly. One can
image a prolonged,
heated debate on the
meaning of words. By
comparing the debate
to a to a wolf or a
battle and over
exaggerating it,
Naylor draws in her
audience while still
portraying a neutral
tone. Naylor uses
forms of repetition to
come back to the idea
that words are utterly
useless meaning is
given to them. She
sets her essay up in a
way where repetition
supports her purpose,
subject, tone, and
ultimately draws her
audience in.
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Works Cited
Angelou, Maya. “Champion of the World.” 1970. The Brief Bedford Reader. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2003.
Barry, Dave. “Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out.” 1988. The Brief Bedford Reader. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s,
2003.
Burton, Gideon. “The Forest of Rhetoric.” Silva Rhetoricae. Brigham Young University, n.d. Web. 28 Sep 2012.
<http://humanities.byu.edu/rhetoric/silvs.htm>.
Naylor, Gloria. “The Meaning of a Word.” 1986. The Brief Bedford Reader. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2003.
Vowell, Sarah. “Shooting Dad.” 2000. A Brief Bedford Reader. Boston: Beford/St. Martin’s, 2003.