Rhetorical Analysis Of The Flapper

The 1920s were a time of great change in the United States. World War I had just ended and everyone was joyous that it was over. New jobs were created and styles changed to fit these new times. It was during this period that the flapper came about. The flapper’s unfamiliar style shocked those of the older generation. Her hair was cut in a bob style , she wore shorter, more revealing dresses, and walked around with a bold new confidence. The flapper was a symbol of the change that occurred during this era. The 20s were a time of change and enthusiasm for the future. In this passage, Stevenson uses the rhetorical devices of diction, metaphors, and asyndeton to describe to her younger audience this interesting and entertaining new age.
Stevenson uses diction to thoroughly describe the changes that were brought
about during the 20s. Through this diction, she lets the audience know how women went from being soft to being bold. She gives thorough detail of the new outfits and attitudes of these women. In one example, Stevenson describes the dress a flapper is wearing. “Her dress is the slightest, flimsiest silk, cut low and square-necked, thin straps over her shoulders.”(Stevenson 1). Stevenson uses many describing words to let the audience know what the outfit looked like. Through her description the audience can almost feel the dress and see its shapes. She uses slightest and flimsiest to describe the silk, cut low and square-necked to describe the dress’s shape, and thin to describe the straps. After describing the new styles, Stevenson portrays the new attitudes of these women. “Girls, by this time, are shown putting on lipstick in public, confident of their own importance, and displaying a breezy independence of opinion.”(Stevenson 2). Stevenson describes the boldness of the flapper, of whom people had never seen before. She was confident enough to put lipstick on in public. Stevenson uses breezy independence to let the audience know how sure of herself she was. The attitudes and styles described by the use of diction help the younger generation, who has never experienced this, know how extraordinary it was.
To describe the new age from a unique perspective, Stevenson uses metaphors.
These metaphors make comparisons between new jobs and personalities with traits commonly found in objects. For instance, Stevenson describes time as being solid, where time is not solid at all (1). In addition, she describes the excitement for the future and the success it created through a metaphor. “... careers danced upon this foam of confidence.”(Stevenson 1). Stevenson uses this metaphor to show how success was based the trends of the times. Access to the future created a “froth”(1) that people used in order to make money and become successful. Stevenson used foam as her example; foam is not very sturdy, showing that the jobs of this time would not last. Stevenson also uses metaphors to describe the boldness of the flapper. “... her way of skating gaily over thin ice.”(Stevenson 2). The flapper shows her boldness by not being worried about what other people think of her. She is willing to make people irritated or annoyed by this boldness, but is careful not to cross the line. Stevenson’s use of metaphors helps the audience understand what the changes were like in this time
period.
Asyndeton is used to the list the changes in people from the beginning of the 20s to the end of the era. Stevenson describes how the flappers settled down and how opinions of the older generation may not have been justified. Here, she uses asyndeton to tell what happened to the flappers after the trend passed. “Many girls of the mid-twenties, however, grew up, finished school, fell in love, married, all without any whiff of the style...”(Stevenson 2). In this quote Stevenson describes the girls of the mid-twenties that continued with their lives after having had the flapper experience. These women ended up like all the other women before their time as well as the women that did not conform to the flapper trend. After leaving the flapper lifestyle behind, they did not go back. Next, asyndeton was used by N.W. Ayer & Sons in an advertisement that begins by discussing the thoughts of the older generation on the styles of the younger generation. “You may consider their manners crude, their ideals vague, their clothes absurd.”(Stevenson 3). The ad says that people may think of the flappers as having poor manners, vague ideals, or unique clothes, but it is just people being reluctant to change. This use of asyndeton helps to explain people's ideas of the changing time. Although Stevenson did not write this, she shows her agreement by adding the advertisement quote to support her ideas. Stevenson’s use of asyndeton shows the reader how things changed over time and what people's opinions were of this time.
To engage a younger audience in the exciting changes of the 20s, Stevenson used rhetorical devices. She used diction to describe the outfits and attitudes of the women of this era. She also used metaphors to describe people’s new boldness. Lastly, she used asyndeton to show how people moved past this time. This passage is important, not only for its historical facts and opinions, but also for its use of rhetorical devices throughout. There were many excellent examples of diction, metaphors, and asyndeton as well as similes, hyperboles, and alliteration. These devices make younger people more engaged while reading an interesting and historical passage such as this.