Kim Nguyen

Rhetorical Analysis-Didion
Draft 3

In her opinionated yet enlightening essay On Self Respect, Joan Didion refers to
allusions such as characters in novels and history and also referring to her personal experiences
in order to define self respect as something that comes from what is on the inside. Self respect
develops as someone grows and matures. Once someone has realized their own self worth,
then they will be able to live a successful life.
Didion provides us with some of her personal experiences in order to demonstrate her
realization about the true meaning of self respect. Didion goes back to her college experience
with Phi Beta Kappa, talking about how she didnt get in. She started to realize that she didnt
need the approval of a college to feel good or have respect about herself. It had nothing to do
with how people saw her or how they thought of her, because once she believed that she is
worthy, then nothing could stop her from her happiness. With this reference, Didion starts to
introduce how she feels about self respect. She tries to make her readers see that how a person
sees themselves is what matters.
Then Didion shifts to alluding to characters in novels and movies to further her
definition of self respect. She refers to the relationship of Rhett Butler and Scarlett OHara,
from the novel Gone with the Wind, to explain how they continued their relationship even
though it was seen as weird to other people. From this allusion, Didion says that it doesnt
matter how people saw you, just as long as you understand how it makes you feel. Self respect
is something that should be felt from the inside. She also refers to Jordan Baker in The Great
Gatsby. In this allusion, Didion explains that Jordan Baker was an example of someone who has
self respect; someone who has courage to accept their mistakes. She says that Jordan Baker has
character, someone who is willing to accept responsibility for ones own decisions and the
things that happen. She didnt need anyone to tell her how to live her life; it didnt matter if
people judged her for her actions. It was how she saw herself and if she was content with the
choices she made. The purpose of these two allusions was to tell the readers that self respect
comes from the inside. It is how a person sees themselves, not how other people saw them.
Didion closes with a reference to history, particularly the nineteenth century. She
mentions the diary entry during the winter of 1846 of the twelve-year-old Narcissa Cornwall.
The diary entry explains an experience that she encounters with her parents. Cornwall writes
about how her father was busy reading and did not notice when Indians were entering the
house until her mother mentioned it. After referring to Cornwalls diary entry, Didion goes on
to explain that anything that is worth having has its price. People with self respect are willing to
accept anything that comes in their way. With this reference, Didion is talking about the
Indians; that Cornwalls father had self respect so he didnt notice anything thats not worth
paying attention to.
In Joan Didions essay On Self Respect, Didion makes references to her own personal
experiences and allusions of characters from novels and movies, as well as events in history in
order to define self respect as something that comes from the inside. It is something that
develops as a person grows and matures. They will learn to realize that it doesnt matter how
other people see you, it is how you choose to see yourself.