ARhetoricalGrammarAnalysisofTwoWaysofSeeingaRiver

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【Abstract】“Two Ways of Seeing a River”， an excerpt from Life on the Mississippi， written by Mark Twain and published in 1883， is a short but effective comparison essay in which Twain contrasts his then-and-now views of the Mississippi River. The rhetorical strategies and devices that are used by Twain to effectively communicate his messages to readers will be analyzed from the sentential level： vocabulary and phrases， and the figure of speech.

【Key words】Two Ways of Seeing a River； rhetorical grammar； figure of speech

“Two Ways of Seeing a River”， an excerpt from Life on the Mississippi， written by Mark Twain and published in 1883， is a short but effective comparison essay in which Twain contrasts his then-and-now views of the Mississippi River. The rhetorical strategies and devices used by Twain to effectively communicate his messages to readers will be analyzed from the choice of words and the figure of speech， such as metaphors， repetition， asyndeton， parallelism， and passive voice. Twain uses these rhetorical strategies to present to his readers how different his views of the Mississippi River then and now are， and to convince his readers that people's attitudes toward and their perceptions of the same event or object might be in a state of change.

At the beginning of the essay， Twain compares his familiarity with the language of the water of the Mississippi River to his mastery of the letters of the alphabet， which emphasizes the usefulness of both types of knowledge for him as a steamboat pilot and writer. In the following sentences， he repeats the simple sentence “I had lost something” and uses the attributive clause “which could never be restored to me while I lived” to stress the importance of that “something” he lost （“Two Ways”1）. Several sentences with the same structure： a prepositional phrase + a clause， and adjective + noun （e.g.， graceful curves） are powerful parallel sentences that improve the continuity of the text. The color words： “red”， “black”， “many-tinted”， “ruddy flush”， “silver”， and “flame” display the richness of the color of the sunset， which adds the visual effect to the writer's description. The present participles such as “floating”， “slanting”， “sparkling”， “boiling”， “tumbling”， and “flowing”add motion and audio effect to the picture， making the still picture move， from which readers can hear the river at sunset.

Passive sentences are used when the writer thinks it unnecessary to mention the doer， but important to highlight the object， in that it is the topic of the message. By using passive voice， the writer also keeps the known-new contract with readers （Kolln and Gray 86）. For example， in the following sentences “A broad expanse of the river was turned to blood； in the middle distance the red hue brightened into gold”， the river is the known information in the first sentence， and “was turned to blood” is new information， which becomes the known of the next sentence in the subject position （“Two Ways” 1）. It is obvious that the sunset changes the color of the river， and if the writer places the sunset in the subject position， it will be impossible to introduce various objects on which the writer wants to focus readers' attention. Therefore， the use of passive voice here is effective.

In paragraph one， the writer also uses asyndeton： the use of commas rather than conjunctions in series， to enhance the rhythms of the sentences and to speed readers up （Kolln and Gray 199）. For example， when reading the sentence “All the grace， the beauty， the poetry， had gone out of the majestic river！” readers can not only feel the rhythms of the sentence， but they can also feel the strong emotions of the writer： his pity， sadness， and maybe annoyance of losing the insights into the natural beauty. On the contrary， in the last sentence， the repeated adjective + noun phrases， the present participle “dissolving”， “enriching”， “passing”， and the prepositional phrase “with new marvels of coloring” all depict an endless picturesque sunset scenery from which the writer feels drunk， never wanting to sober up.

At the beginning of paragraph two， the writer continues to tell readers how he enjoys the natural beauty： “like one bewitched”， and “in a speechless rapture” （“Two Ways” 1）. These two prepositional phrases function as adverbials to modify how the writer feels at that moment in a vivid and expressive way， making invisible feelings visual and imaginable for his readers who are expected to feel what the writer feels. However， “a day came”， and “another day came”， and finally， the writer lost the ability to note all the beauty in the surroundings. The article “a”， and the indefinite “another” imply that the gaining and the losing does not happen suddenly， but gradually. Using the subjunctive mood “if that sunset scene had been repeated， I should have looked upon … and should have commented upon…” the writer attempts to convey the message to his readers that “that sunset” had never come again， or “that sunset” was so gorgeous that no other sunsets could be comparable with it. Or perhaps， “that sunset” did come， but he was unable to see it as he used to.

The following sentences in the quotation marks are like the writer's monologue： his interpretations of the signals and symbols from nature with his professional knowledge， and the contradictory feelings of gaining and losing ─ digging into the reality while overlooking the appearance， discovering the practicality while ignoring the romance. The use of the demonstrative “that”/“those” in “that sunset”， “that floating log”， “that slanting mark”， “those ‘boils’”， “that silver break” ， and “that tall dead tree” does not only help readers refer to the antecedents that are described in paragraph one to sustain cohesion of the text， but it also emphasizes each of the objects for comparison （“Two Ways” 1）. This powerful rhetorical device reminds readers of the writer's different insights into the same object.

Including figures of speech is a strategy to make a strong ending paragraph （“How to Write a Conclusion”）. Similarly， ending an essay with questions leaves readers thinking even after they have finished reading the text （“Ending”）. In this comparison essay， what makes the conclusion strong and the writer's claim persuasive is Twain's employment of the rhetorical device ─ analogy and questions. Making analogy， the writer compares the way a pilot sees the river with the way a doctor examines the face of a beautiful woman. Since the writer employs the rhetorical device ─ personification ─ in the previous paragraph： “the river's face”， it is not abrupt for readers to encounter this analogy at this moment. The writer perceives great similarities between his trade and a doctor's trade and he wants to convey this message to his readers， which is fulfilled by using analogy. If a steamboat pilot is familiar only to a few people， then a doctor should be familiar to most people； thus， this analogy effectively relates something remote to something close to readers.

The second strategy of making a strong conclusion is to pose thought-provoking and open-ended questions. Normally， readers may expect to find the writer's opinion and position of the argument at the end of a comparison essay. Instead of giving a clear answer as to whether the writer gained most or lost most， Twain asks readers to explore the answers by themselves. Ending an essay with questions， the writer aims to generate readers' critical thinking on the issues revealed in his discussion： the relationship between the gained and lost， between appearance and reality， and between romance and utility. Additionally， ending the paragraph with questions implies that the writer himself wonders as well， “whether he gained most or lost most by learning his trade” （“Two Ways” 2）. Or， maybe， it is unnecessary or meaningless to answer this question in that gains are always followed by losses， and losses are always accompanied with gains.

“Two Ways of Seeing a River” is a well-organized and coherent comparison essay. Twain's observational details of the sunset scenery by using plenty of color words， present participles showing motions， prepositional phrases， adjective + noun phrases， and demonstratives spread a splendid picture of the sunset to his readers. Furthermore， Twain's intentional and skillful use of various rhetorical devices adds flavor to the description and persuasive power to his thesis. He repeats key words and uses parallel phrases and sentences to keep the flow and cohesion of the text while describing the scenery and making contrasts. He uses asyndeton to intensify his emotion. He uses analogy to interact with his readers in an understandable way by putting them in a broader context and to convince his readers of his claims. Lastly， the writer leaves his readers with final thoughts by encouraging them to think critically. The analogy and questions ─“the contextualization” ─ help readers see the connection between the text and themselves （“How to Write a Compelling”）. Using figurative language and questions in a conclusion constructs a bridge between the writer and readers.

References：

[1]“MARK TWAIN：Two Ways of Seeing a River（1883）.” ，n.d.Web.25 Oct.2014.

[2]Kolln，Martha，and Lorretta Gray.Rhetorical Grammar.7th ed.New Jersey：Pearson Education，2013.Print.

[3]“How to Write a Conclusion for a Compare & Contrast Essay.” Archuleta，Nadia.Demand Media，n.d.Web.26.2014.

[4]“Ending with a Question.” Time 4 ，n.d.Web.26.2014.

[5]“How to Write a Compelling Conclusion.” Writing Commons，n.d.Web.26.2014.

作者简介：李永仙（ 1980-），女，云南耿马人，文山学院外国语学院讲师，TESOL硕士，研究方向：二语习得及英语教学。