Finding Zoe Analysis

Words: 935
Pages: 4

In the memoir Finding Zoe, by Brandi Rarus and Gail Harris, Rarus describes how she became deaf and the effects it has on her life. Rarus’ purpose is to explain the challenges the deaf community face and how Zoe came to be apart of her family in order to show how being deaf does not set limitations. She adopts a sentimental tone in order to appeal to similar feelings in her parental readers. For organization, Rarus divides her memoir into three parts based on if it is her past, Zoe’s past, or their life together. By splitting the book into three parts, My Winding Road, The Road of Others, and The Roads Converge, it makes it easier for the reader to follow and creates symbolism. The three parts provide a clear distinction in whose point of view that section is from and how it fits into the story overall. As a result, it is very easy to discern the importance of each event, and there is no difficulty in following the storyline. She uses symbolism in order to illustrate how her life and Zoe’s life were distinct and separate, but like roads, they merged together. Additionally, this analogy creates a cheerful mood for the readers. After sharing the exuberant amount of difficulties she and Zoe faced in the first two parts, in part three, they finally achieve their “happily ever after.” Throughout the book, the reader becomes emotionally …show more content…
She adapts to the intended audience by explaining technical terms, Telecommunications Relay Service, Video Relay Service, SEE, ASL, TTY, used by the deaf community that hearing people are unfamiliar with. She defines these words in order to keep her audience engaged. If she used a vocabulary that did not fit her audience, the readers would not understand what she was trying to say and be more likely to stop reading. This word choice shows Rarus is aware of her target audience and is adjusting to their