Rhetorical Analysis Essay

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Yelizaveta Seredina
Mr. Newell
English 1101
November 12, 2014
Rhetorical Analysis

Journey of a Life Time
Author Robert Frost paints wonderful pictures in your mind as he writes. Frost is a credited American poet. One of the poems he wrote was, “The Road Not Taken” his purpose is to evoke the memory of life changing choices. He tells us a story about a man who was finding a hard time in making a choice—A choice that would affect his life in the present and future. Frost’s poem is effective in using metaphors and literarily pictures, to cultivate personal experiences to the audience about how making life decisions are not easy and should not be taken frivolously.
The author tells us how his life choices were hard ones. He tells us that the two paths are similar, “just as fair” (line 6), that he would take either one gladly, but is having a hard time deciding which one to take. Frost talks about the two roads, “I took the one less traveled by, /And that has made all the difference” (lines 19-20) he wants to make sure he thinks about the decision clearly and rationally. Frost also states, “And looked down as far as I could /To where it bent in the undergrowth” (lines 4-5). He found himself trying to imagine the consequence of the two choices he had. Frost wants the audience to know that he does not want to make a mistake that could hurt or hinder his future. He also tells us that the road that he chooses will have to be the final decision. He will not have time to come back and try the other road in the future. Frost is effective in using pathos to influence anyone that has come to a fork in the road and that his choice in the poem was not easy. He also tells us that he also has to make a decision there is just no way around it, that it will be okay no matter what road he chooses and regardless of his choice it will be the right one made.
Frost also makes a point to sigh closer to the end of the poem. He states, "I shall be telling this with a sigh / Somewhere ages and ages hence" (lines 16-17). The poet knows that the decision he must make, will change how he leads the rest of his life. Frost demonstrates pathos with the sigh. The sigh can represent more than just one emotion, it could have said that he was sad, happy, or remorseful in his decision. The author might be sighing because he wants to go down both of the roads, but does not having the time or ability to do so. Unfortunately, he finds that there will always be a fork in the road and he will have to overcome his uncertainty by choosing one.
The setting of this poem is almost as important as the metaphor. Frost tells us that, “two roads diverged in a yellow wood” (line 1) so he paints a picture about how it was autumn. This could also represent his age just as much. This also coincides with not having time to come back again to the two roads and try again because he too is in his later part of his life. While Frost has a range of emotions throughout this poem, it is clear that he has to be happy with what happens down this path and does not have time to think of ‘what if’ in the future but must do it now in the present. Creativity is Key
Sir Ken Robinson a renowned educator and author establishes credibility in this matter. In his TED speech, “Do Schools Kill Creativity” he relies on personal experiences with children who have always been told they are too eccentric and need to calm down. His purpose in this speech is to draw attention to how creativity is a key factor in children’s behavioral education and to convince other educators to change their methods of teaching. Robinson’s speech is effective in using stories, humor, direct and indirect experience with teaching, to convince educators that creativity is the key in most of the day to day activities we grew up with and that it is an import fundamental process that we shouldn’t lose. Do schools kill creativity? Sir Ken Robinson thinks so. He explains why he thinks that the current school system is
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