the f word
Scott Kernan
The F-Word: A Rhetorical Analysis
In the book excerpt by Firoozeh Dumas, “The F-Word”, Dumas uses several techniques to hook her readers and keep their interest in her piece. It was her style, however, that did most of the work. Dumas' article has a very strong single argument that she works toward throughout her entire piece. She claims that the English language could do with a bit more “spice”, as she calls it (Dumas). Though this argument is only listed only twice in the excerpt, it is the underlying foundation of every humorous story as well as every painful moment. Throughout the excerpt, Dumas has paired together the use of her style with how she builds ethos in the reader's eyes. This creates a very good way to convey the argument, however it still lacks certain strengths. Had she written in a slightly more formal tone and included more evidence, she could have kept her humor and continued to build on her ethos by appealing to a more professional group. The use of an easy going conversational style in Dumas' excerpt helps to portray her claim in a way that most readers will be able to identify with, however, the style does not work well in appealing to a professional setting due to the lack of empirical evidence.
Dumas spends the entire excerpt, and probably a great deal of her book, simply building her ethos to her readers. She builds up her ethos by talking about all of her childhood stories about how her name was mispronounced or how she had to change her name to get anywhere in life. Within every single one of these stories, she uses subtle humor to get the reader to identify with her story just a little bit more. Humor creates a more personable view of the author for the readers and gives them more to identify with, thus pushing the author's ethos and respect higher. For good measure, she uses a situation that nearly everyone has had to face; having to respond to your name that has been horribly mispronounced in a
The F-Word: A Rhetorical Analysis
In the book excerpt by Firoozeh Dumas, “The F-Word”, Dumas uses several techniques to hook her readers and keep their interest in her piece. It was her style, however, that did most of the work. Dumas' article has a very strong single argument that she works toward throughout her entire piece. She claims that the English language could do with a bit more “spice”, as she calls it (Dumas). Though this argument is only listed only twice in the excerpt, it is the underlying foundation of every humorous story as well as every painful moment. Throughout the excerpt, Dumas has paired together the use of her style with how she builds ethos in the reader's eyes. This creates a very good way to convey the argument, however it still lacks certain strengths. Had she written in a slightly more formal tone and included more evidence, she could have kept her humor and continued to build on her ethos by appealing to a more professional group. The use of an easy going conversational style in Dumas' excerpt helps to portray her claim in a way that most readers will be able to identify with, however, the style does not work well in appealing to a professional setting due to the lack of empirical evidence.
Dumas spends the entire excerpt, and probably a great deal of her book, simply building her ethos to her readers. She builds up her ethos by talking about all of her childhood stories about how her name was mispronounced or how she had to change her name to get anywhere in life. Within every single one of these stories, she uses subtle humor to get the reader to identify with her story just a little bit more. Humor creates a more personable view of the author for the readers and gives them more to identify with, thus pushing the author's ethos and respect higher. For good measure, she uses a situation that nearly everyone has had to face; having to respond to your name that has been horribly mispronounced in a