Preview

Rhetorical Techniques In Stephen King's Reading To Write

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
664 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Rhetorical Techniques In Stephen King's Reading To Write
As a very successful author, Stephen King feels as if he knows what it takes to be a fruitful writer. He shares his thoughts with the public through his essay “Reading to Write.” In the text, King addresses his opinion on the importance of reading to become a good writer. Through the writing of the essay, he wishes to encourage uprising or developing writers to read more. The persuasive essay is mainly directed towards anyone who wants to become a writer or anyone who wants to improve their writing skills. If one who does not wish to become a writer stumbles upon this essay, even they may be inspired to read more as well. Throughout the essay, King uses strong rhetorical strategies such as Ethos, Logos and Pathos to express his opinion and …show more content…
He appeals to the readers emotions by making the reader think deeper into what they really care about and value the most. He uses the example that his son only practiced when he was told to. He never did it just because he wanted to or felt obligated to. He was a good music student and did what he was asked, but nothing more. The underlying meaning of the story is that if someone only writes to get by, they will never be great at it. Someone has to truly love it enough to do it in their free time and do it because they love it, not because they have to. If the writing is about something that is particularly boring, King implies that practice makes perfect. This triggers the reader to think about their inner values and morals. What exactly do they want to do with their lives? He lists a list of rhetorical questions about watching television when someone could be reading. This shows pathos because it makes the reader sort out their values as a reader and really prioritize the things that are important to you whether it be reading, writing or anything. In Stephen King’s essay “Reading to Write,” he uses strategic rhetorical tools to help express his opinion on reading in order to write well. He creates a persuasive argument to encourage the audience to read

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Throughout the passage, the author, Dana Gioia, guides the reader’s opinion to resemble his own through the use of persuasive literary tactics. Emotionally charged language, referencing credible sources and presenting factual evidence all assist Gioia to persuade the reader to believe the decline of reading in America negatively impacts today's youth. Gioia uses language that provokes the reader’s emotions to help him form a cogent argument. To relay that Gioia believes America's youth needs to read more, he uses words such as “worrisome” and “troubling” to connote a negative emotion toward students not reading.…

    • 284 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gladwell’s usage of rhetorical devices make for the most successful, persuasive, and compelling assessment. He appeals to the rhetorical device ethos. He uses relevant research from two psychologist and a lawyer. Gladwell establishes their credibility each…

    • 362 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the two books, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and A Time to Kill by John Grisham, they both have a trial. In the trials, they both have a girl who was raped and abused. Atticus Finch gives a speech and Carl Lee Hayley gives a speech about the situation they have faced as lawyers. Both of them use convincing rhetorical strategies to express the true story to get the people to think. In the end, the better speech that was given was was by Carl Lee Hayley.…

    • 336 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The verdict of a court case lies squarely on Atticus’ closing statement that needs to be powerful in order to win. In “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, a court case takes Maycomb by surprise. A case between an African American man and a poor white woman makes for a difficult situation for its residents. The jury needs to be able to analyze the information and evidence given from the witnesses to give an honest conclusion. Depending on how the jury swings, it could put an innocent man’s life at risk. Atticus Finch needs to use many forms of strong rhetoric when giving his closing argument to convince the defendant not guilty.…

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In regards to two influential and criticized men, Dr. M. L. King and Edward Said, both wrote two grand literary pieces. To address their audiences, both writers use effective persuasive techniques. Such as King for example, uses analogies, parallelism, and to reiterate. Said on the other hand uses rhetorical questions, cause and effect, and narration. Similarly, both King and Said are addressing two nuance audiences that are in similar cavalier situations.…

    • 71 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the third section of the book, Stephen King describes his love of writing and offers advice on how to succeed as a writer. King’s first point about writing is that constantly reading and writing will help someone become a better writer. Reading can provide a writer with an extended vocabulary, as well as a taste of many different writers’ styles. Writing often will help a writer practice, and the writer can experiment with what works. This is important because King explains that success as a writer requires patience and a great deal of time.…

    • 308 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In this essay “How to Read Like a Writer” Mike Bunn, claims that college students should distinguish choices the writer made and decide whether they want to implement them in their writing; enhancing their level of writing. Bunn explains that reading like a writer is a strategy that questions, analyses and criticizes a text to make readers look at the structure, the style, the word choice in regards to several factors like: the purpose, the audience, and the genre. The author concludes that this strategy will also signal the writer’s argument. The essay ends by providing a step-by-step example to obtain structural analysis and familiarize students with this strategy.…

    • 109 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    his use of first person throughout the article, engage the reader and creates a mutual…

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Books are uniquely portable magic,” Stephen King wrote in On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. I quite agree with this view. In retrospect, the genres of books which I read gradually varied as of aged. Additionally, those books which I have read, broadened my horizon and improved my comprehension ability to some degree.…

    • 728 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Envision a world where people refused to read. The world would not be as great of a place. The extensive increase in readers might force this to occur. In “Reading is in Painful Decline” by Stephen L. Carter, the author justifies how the decline is negatively affecting the country. Carter uses a wide variety of rhetoric to persuade the reader that the decline in reading is causing many of the country’s problems.…

    • 201 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In using pathos, King acquired the ability to emotionally connect to the reader and evoke pity. This made for a stronger stance on his part. King even starts his letter with the use of a pathos saying "While confined here in the Birmingham city jail..." This immediately makes the reader think of the reasons King became incarcerated and of how unjust the reasons were, which made the reader upset and feel bad for King. More upsetting pathos is used as well, such as "We realized that we were the victims of a broken promise" and "Our hopes had been blasted, and the shadow of deep disappointment settled upon us." These become very useful because every single person has had that specific feeling of getting your hopes up only to have them shot down plenty of times before. Any…

    • 828 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    After reading the article, “Reading Like a Writer”, it made me aware of my reading behaviors. Just like the text, I read to try to understand what the author is attempting to portray. However, what I am doing differently is only reading for information. What the text suggests that readers do is to ask yourself why the author used that method of writing, whether it's persuasive, ironic, or dramatic. Additionally, the author recommends that you discover who the intended audience is; this will benefit you because it makes you understand why the author used this style of writing.…

    • 208 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    On Writing by Stephen King provided helpful literary insight on writing technique, tips, and writing in general. One recurring theme that King presented throughout the novel is that in order to be a successful writer, you must consistently read and write. King states, “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut” (King 145). Over my years of education, I have known this to be true. Reading has always been a passion of mine, and I began to notice recently how much my writing has improved as a result of constantly reading. Reading not only expands my vocabulary, but allows me to unconsciously think back to something I have read and possibly use that phrase or idea in my writing. As King explains, “Every book you pick up has its own lesson or lessons, and quite often the bad ones have more to teach than the good…

    • 987 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    write or die

    • 379 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Write or die, and excerpt from On Writing, discusses two key influences on his writing. A guidance counselor at the end of his rope with the young king and a ruthlessly honest newspaper editor. In the passage he explains why and how he started writing, his counselor felt he should turn his restless pen into more constructive channels buy filling in the spot as the school sports reporter. He also tells bits and parts of his past when he began to write, and how john Gould encouraged him how to write, he also passed along key things that would stick with Mr. King for the rest of his life.…

    • 379 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout my writing career, I have observed several aspects with the potential to shape any writer’s success. Among the elements, the most influential of them is the English course in which the student enrolls. Moreover, English courses hold influence over a student’s life in that they have a responsibility to either advance or reduce the writer’s skills. The progress in my writing development began when English II guided me through noticing worth in my writing, finding pride in a strength, and appreciating positive aspects of the course.…

    • 516 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays