Rhetorical Analysis

This essay changed the way I view how to write an essay. I was taught to follow a certain rubric and stay to certain rules. This essay stretched the rules allowing the essay to be more developed and allowed the author to be more creative.

I was taught the last three years the “rules” on how to write a well-developed introduction paragraph.  The first sentence would be a generalized statement that can be related to the theme. The second sentence included the title and the author. And the third sentence would be the thesis, or what you were going to try to prove during your essay. In the article on “A Far Cry From Africa” Marion A. Davis includes three quotes in his introduction paragraph. I was taught never to include quotes until you got into your body paragraphs. Davis use of these quotes allows him to familiarize his readers with the story he is writing about, which could help the reader understand what he is trying to prove in his essay.

In Davis’s essay he starts some of his body paragraphs with a quotation. In my previous English classes I was taught to begin each paragraph with a topic sentence, then include a quotation afterwards.  His paragraph structures contradict the format that I have been taught my whole life. I feel like a topic sentence at the beginning of each paragraph makes your essay stronger because it introduces the reader to the new idea you will be talking about.

In the essay, “A Far Cry From Africa,” I felt as if Davis did not stay to one strong argument throughout his essay. In this second paragraph he was mainly talking about Wallcott, the author of the book, and on Wallcott’s focuses in the story. In my opinion, I felt like the second paragraph was like a second introduction paragraph. This goes against what I was taught, but it seems like a good thing to take into consideration. I think this could be a good technique to consider in my writing because sometimes it is hard to express everything you are going to talk about in your essay in only one small paragraph. Adding a second introduction paragraph, or even a third, could help expand my writing into a more developed essay.

Davis’s essay structure goes against all the rules I have been taught. If I had wrote my essay like this my freshmen and sophomore year I would have most likely gotten a C, maybe a B if I was lucky.  This surprises me because this essay is obviously way better than mine was; it is just writing in a totally different format that I would have known to do. Davis is much more free flowing, and just says what he needs to say without following any rules or structure.

            Reading this essay has shown me that there are many different ways I can expand my writings to become a much stronger writer.  I need to break away from all the step-by -step rules that I have been taught the past few years. If I do this, I believe my essays will go from being good, to great!