Disability, Life Narrative, And Li, By Georgina Kleege

In the piece by co-authors Paula Fernandes, Nelson DeBarros, and Li Li, as well as the piece written by Georgina Kleege, we can see how these authors use rhetorical devices in order to draw in and persuade their audience on the topic of disability. Through a deep and thorough analysis of the texts, we will be able to understand how their focus on certain rhetorical elements and techniques creates flow in their writing, how the ideas motivating their writing are expressed, as well as how these elements combined create an effective narrative on the topic they are trying to discuss. The topics, though surrounding the topic of disability, use very different approaches and have very different targets with their works, with one being especially
Georgina Kleege, as a blind woman, works at the English Department of University of California, Berkeley and has a number of essays to her name. Her interesting position as a professional instructor on writing while not being able to read gives her a unique position to write fabulous material as G. Thomas Couser, author of Disability, Life Narrative, and Representation, would say. Upon reading the first time, one could understand that this text focuses on the emotional aspect of disability and how the disabled cope with daily life. To this effect, Kleege uses a letter format where she writes to an already deceased yet renown blind and deaf woman able to earn a college degree Helen Keller. Using this format appeals to emotion , assuring the reader that what is being written on the paper is unfiltered and genuine, something extremely important in establishing if the rhetorical element of pathos is the cornerstone of the piece. To begin her piece, she immediately makes it clear to the reader that she is addressing Keller because she’s “having a bad day”. Her use of informal language is consistent throughout and establishing that she is not trying to address an audience in a formal manner, but really addressing herself and her own thoughts through Keller. She even addresses the fact that she is writing to the deceased, a humorous instance that she aims in making the reader feel more at ease. She follows this with a lengthy anecdote on all the aspects of her bad day, detailing wherever possible. She later explains after the entire anecdote that she was insinuating that her bad day was lead almost entirely by her lack of sight providing obstacles exclusive to her situation. She uses a tactic of empathy with Helen Keller and with average citizens, trying to equate herself to others who also have bad days. But, being that her situation is completely