No Impact Man Rhetorical Analysis

Informal rhetorical Analysis of No Impact Man: In-class essay

When Beavan approached this book I believe that his target audience was intended to be those that were younger like him, therefore nobody over the age of approximately fifty. I think that he was definitely targeting the liberals of our society as well. He may also have been targeting those that were city-dwellers like him, those that were married with kids, people that were just not that informed about the situation at hand, those that were willing to change, and also middle to upper class people; wealthy. I think his writing was meant to be more on the inspiring and entertaining side, rather than informative. Although certain parts of the book were written very informatively, most of it was meant to tell a first-hand story about his experience. I believe he was writing for various reasons. Some of those include trying to get people to change their lives in some way, having people become
more aware of their actions and its impact on the environment, and also helping people to realize that they really do have the power to make some kind of difference; individual action really does matter. I think that because of the fact that Beavan appealed to a wide variety of people with this book, he was more relatable to a lot of people. Being relatable made the notion of achieving goals such as his in the book, much more attainable therefore he was accepted and his ideas were considered more than if he were to have only appealed to one specific audience. In order for Beavan to allow readers to receive the book how he wanted he made sure that they were not bombarded with all of the information all at once.
In the book, as Beavan begins his journey he starts slowly by conquering certain aspects of his life at one time. For example, he begins by cutting down his waste/trash within the first four months, than fully tackles the food issues he has to face during the next four months, and finally during the last for months of his journey he begins to put into action many ideas that will help he and his family save energy and electricity. Though some of these principles are mildly intertwined with each other, he fully tackles them one on one in order to engage his full attention, as well as become educated on his actions. That being said his ideas were presented in a very logical and reasonable way for his life, and ultimately for the readers that would follow. He knew that his goal was unlikely unattainable all at once so he was able to break things down
accordingly. The way that the book was written was in a very story-like, entertaining and relatable kind of way, and because of this style of writing, Beavan was able to appeal to the emotions, needs, values, and beliefs of his audience. He applied real life situations ranging from his wife to his daughter, and at some points pulled on the heart strings of the readers along the way. He made what he was trying to achieve through his project, very possible to the reader. If he could accomplish these goals so could they. And even if a reader was unable to accomplish nearly as much, they at least were able to walk away from the book with loads and loads of valuable information. Much of the information provided from Beavan and received from the reader was relatable and accessible. The statistics were always valid and either came from a close reliable source of his or through much research which he found on his own. He used informal language, as well as Yiddish terms to make himself more relatable to the general public, and at times it was though it was just he and the reader engaging in conversation. Every aspect of the book and Beavan as a writer are very important to the direction, audience and entire point of the book. It was meant to enlighten, inspire, educate, and entertain, and I believe that is exactly what he accomplished.