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I'm an American
Guillermo Gonzalez
Period 5
AP English I’m an American Many people today have a great misconception on what an “American” actually is. Not only today, but back in the day where Formal was the everyday casual. In “I’m an American” by Michel-Guillame Jean de Crevecoeur a man tries to depict the misconceptions that people have of the word American and stands for. He uses Pathos, Logos, and Figurative language to assist in his reasoning. He uses many examples to prove his way of thinking and uses rhetorical devices to improve the statements in his reasons. In the authors essay, one rhetorical device he uses to help present his statements is pathos. Pathos, which is one of the greatest rhetorical devices, is employed by the author in a way while strikes the reader in a sentimental way that is valued. An example to how he uses this is shown in the quote, What attachment can a poor European emigrant have for a country where he had nothing? The knowledge of the language, the love of a kindred as poor as himself were only the cords that tried him.” Most people do not understand that when a man is poor, he begins to care less and less about his country. A man calls a country his own when he actually feels for it, but a man whose country does nothing for him loses his respect. A country who cares for its people, is a country that a man calls his. Another Rhetorical device used and found in this passage is a metaphor. It is used in the statement, “Can a wretch who wanders about, who works and starves, whose life is a continuous scene of sore affliction or pinching penury - can that man call England or any other kingdom his country? A country that had no bread for him, whose fields procured him no harvest, …” He uses this quote to introduce the fact there is no such thing as calling a country yours, and appealing to their sympathetic side. He also uses the metaphor of a country with no bread doesn’t produce to represent that a country with no people will not survive. He uses this first to introduce the subject so that he can continue to talk about it knowing that the reader has a grasp on the subject. The final piece of rhetorical device I encountered was effective in this mans writing was Pathos. He uses pathos in order to show the reader what people now a days believe an American is to be. He writes, “The American is a new man, who acts upon new principles; he must therefore, entertain new ideas and form new opinions. From involuntary idleness, servile dependence, penury, and useless labor he had passed to toils of a deferent nature, rewarded by ample substance. This is an American.” In this quote the author boldly states his opinion on what he believes to be an American. He strongly shows that this is what the definition of an American should be, and with it say it with the tone of confidence, and knowing of many men who represent an American; showing a statistic in the men he knows to be the type of man described in the quote. In conclusion , the authors rhetorical devices and overall structure of his work help to suggest his point is proven to the audience. When he uses tone, metaphors, pathos, and logos it shows that he knows a lot about what he is talking about and is not a foolish opinion to be questioned. An American is a man who works for what he gets, who deserves what he has been given, and is a new man overall; a man should not be determined on the matter of where a person is picked. He states that an American is a group of individuals “who have melted into their own race”. The have been through labor and posterity in order to form this nation that has changed, and will continue to change the world.