"Okefenokee Swamp" - An AP essay about a common article about the natural beauty of Okefenokee Swamp.

The Okefenokee Swamp is certainly an interesting and intriguing place to learn about regardless of how you see it, but the reality and facts of the swamp can be interpreted to give different perspectives and meanings of the place. This is evident in the two unique and stylistically different passages describing the Okefenokee Swamp. In passage one, the style of the writing is for the most part, factual. Passage one focuses on providing the un-tinted facts about the swamp without trying to incur any feeling or mood of the place on its own, but rather, leaving the perspective and purpose of the place in the freedom of the reader. This is evident in the passage when it states, "The Okefenokee Swamp includes low, sandy ridges, wet grassy savannas, marshes, and extensive 'prairies,' or dark water areas covered by undergrowth and trees." Rhetorical devices used in this passage include diction and arrangement of ideas. On the other hand, passage two is much more histrionic in its description of the same swamp. Passage two focuses more on the feelings that the facts incur on author, offering a more dramatic and surreal ambiance to the description for the reader. This is most apparent in the passage when it describes, "...they scratch and stink and sniff at themselves, caterwauling and screeching through every minute of every day and night till the place reverberates like some hellish zoo." Two rhetorical devices that passage two uses are imagery and diction.

Passage one displays a very plain and factual description of Okefenokee Swamp. Rather than attempting to convey a specific mood or feel of the swamp that the author feels, the passage focuses solely on the indisputable facts of the swamp. This objective style reflects the author's purpose. The style of this passage indicates that the purpose of passage one's author is purely to inform the reader. The lack of bias in the passage helps to achieve this purpose by leaving the facts unclouded by feeling or opinion, which