TTTC Rhetoric Essay Synthesizing one’s thoughts into coherent, tangible aspects is achieved through employment of admissible rhetorical devices, conveying intricate, involved concepts. With such a multitude of rhetorical devices to choose from, writers often apply numerous different ones without even realizing they might be doing so. Diction, for example, is often not deeply contemplated before implemented. Such devices as tone and diction simply reveal themselves through expression of author's raw ideas, but, nonetheless, still largely impact the piece and it’s overall flow. Other devices, such as figurative language, syntax, and repetition can also be adopted subconsciously, but in many cases are specifically wielded to evoke a certain…show more content… Soldiers experience various states of mind through war. Deviating from anxious to apathetic tones, O’Brien begins in his portrayal of Dave Jensen’s feud with Lee Strunk, writing, “Jensen couldn’t relax. Like fighting two different wars, he said. No safe ground…” (Enemies). His depiction of Rat Kiley on the other hand emanates a more apathetic tone as he shot haphazardly at the baby water buffalo, recounting, “It wasn’t to kill; it was to hurt,” (How to Tell a True War Story). Commencing with the fear of Jensen and progressively making his way to the indifference of Kiley, O’Brien’s implementation of tone characterizes the effect war can have on one’s nature and being. All it takes is one moment, in Kiley’s case the death of his close friend, to alter one’s essence. Expediting his portrayal of the effects of war, O’Brien incorporates less dramatic deviations of tone throughout his work. When reflecting on Jimmy Cross for example, O’Brien commences by conveying a hopeful tone, stating, “More than anything he wanted Martha to love him as he loved her… but Lieutenant Cross understood that Love was only a way of signing and did not mean what he sometimes pretended it did,” (The Things They Carried). O’Brien proceeds thereafter to a melancholic tone, describing how, “...[Cross] loved her more than anything, more than his men, and now Ted Lavender was dead because he loved her so much he could not stop thinking about her,” (The Things They Carried). Parallel to Rat Kiley’s situation, Lieutenant Cross suffered the mental toll of the death of one of his men, morphing his character. Cross began as a man full of hope, holding on to a dream of a better life with someone he knew deep down he could never truly have to himself. Enduring the loss of one of his men, Cross progresses into a blame spiral, blaming himself and his
