Marc Aronson Up Close Analysis

Sometimes one may wonder what the life of politicians and other nationally known figures lives were like. It is hard to fully understand what they are like because those who wonder were not able to live them first hand, but in the nonfiction biography, “Up Close: Robert F, Kennedy a Twentieth Century Life” by Marc Aronson, the reader is able to learn and understand on a deeper level what Kennedy’s life was like before he was assassinated. The primary ways Aronson was able to convey Kennedy’s life was with the use of rhetorical devices such as rhetorical question and photos to evoke a feeling of pathos as well as ethos throughout the novel. Rhetorical devices are useful in so many more ways than one. For example, Marc Aronson used rhetorical questions in his biography on Robert Kennedy to change from subject to subject while also remaining in chronological order with his life. Aronson wrote, “How did Kennedy take the key states that he needed?” while talking about the presidential election in 1960 against both Jack and Richard Nixon. By asking this question it gets the reader thinking about how the presidential candidate went about his business, and possible ways that helped him gain votes during that time. Just before that question, Aronson was talking about how Kennedy was going to bail out Martin Luther King Jr. from jail. Although they
By uncovering the rhetorical strategies and devices in nonfiction books, people can begin to understand and enjoy reading the books much more. In the biography, “Up Close: Robert F. Kennedy a Twentieth Century Life” by Marc Aronson, the author was able to give wonderful facts about Robert Kennedy’s childhood life and (almost) everything leading up to his assassination by using rhetorical questions, pathos, and ethos. Without these devices, the writing would not flow as well and the biography would appear to be dull and