It is important to understand rhetoric in order to interpret the author’s message. Understanding rhetoric not only helps to identify the author’s message but also teaches one to comprehend much quicker and easier. When students are given standardized tests that include stories that use rhetorical devices, they are tested on how well they interpret the implicit meaning. Rhetoric can be very persuasive, and misleading. However, once it is understood the outcome is much greater. For example, in Two Views of the Mississippi Mark Twain has a play on words when he describes the river turning to blood. My first interpretation of “a broad expanse of the river was turned to blood” was that it turned red, the color of blood because of the sun setting for the day. It wasn’t until after the true meaning was brought to my attention that I fully understood that the river was turned to blood because Twain lost his brother on the Mississippi river. Today’s society expects direct and blunt answers, this prevents readers from understanding the true meaning of a piece of writing, especially if the answer is not very easy to pick out very quickly. Mark Twain gave human-like characteristics to the river, the wind, and all of his surroundings. Twain gave those objects human-like characteristics to persuade the reader, and in order to create a powerful message and