Rhetorical Analysis Of Ralph Waldo Emerson's Essay '

Ralph Waldo Emerson effectively constructs the idea that the intended audience is teaching/being taught the most ineffective way through the use of his didactic diction, sincere tone, and parallel syntax. The didactic diction within Emerson’s essay, manipulates the intended audience by appearing as a person of authority, a teacher. An example of this authority would be “...irreconcilable hater of his vice and the imperturbable slighter of his trifling.” This use of scholastic word choice confirms that he is a credible source of information; which then helps his purpose of exposing the ineffectiveness of the traditional education system. Ralph used many large words in this single sentence to expand the idea of less is more. By bringing up the