Roache 1 Kelly Roache Mrs.

Brenner English 10 AP 27 March 2012 Many writers tend to make assumptions about the topics they write about. They often let their opinions run wild without even realizing it. While discussing what type of people are writers and why they write, the author of this particular essay used assumptions as the foundation of his piece. He also used numerous rhetorical devices in unison with these assumptions to further illustrate them. The author characterizes individuals who write to have similar personalities. He makes this assumption based on the personality of Nietzsche. In the essay he states a quote from Nietzsche that reads, Now everything I touch turns out to be wonderful. Now I love any fate that comes along. Including these statements in the essay, the author assumes that all other writers have the same outlook as Nietzsche. The author makes out Nietzsche and all other writers to be people that generally have entitled and smug personalities. However, he persuasively does so by pairing his assumption with the rhetorical device of anaphora. He cleverly included the quote for this reason. The repetition of the word Now at the beginning of each sentence captures the attention of the reader. It is more pleasing to the ear than simply using a different word. It makes his assumption seem more appealing. The author also characterizes the reasons that motivate writers using assumptions. Here the author also ties in rhetorical strategies to make the assumption more appealing. He assumes

Roache 2 that writers are motivated to write simply because, it is life. The author stated that, It is not an alternative to life, still less than an escape from life, it is life. This may or may not be true for some writers but his assumption that writers are motivated because it is their life is presented in a very persuasive way. This is mainly due to the rhetorical strategy that the author tied into his assumption. The repetition of the word life throughout the long, complex sentence puts extreme emphasis on the assumption. Often times the more you emphasize something, the more true it begins to appear. This is exactly the case with this assumption. After reading the sentence the readers mind had processed the word life so many times that it is all that it is thinking about; the tie between life and the motivation of the writer. The author of this essay successfully utilized rhetorical strategies to convey his assumptions. When these two elements are collectively combined, they develop into a very persuasive and seemingly factual essay.