Blog # 1 Rhetorical Strategies
• Allusion (Biblical and Historical): Nettie has “Pictures of Christ, the Apostles, Mary, and the Crucifixion. Speke, Livingston, Stanley, Schweitzer” (pg 160) on her wall, but what she really wants is a picture of her sister. The allusion to all the important figures, both biblical and historical drive the idea that Cecile is much more important to Nettie than all of the people that are generally held as very important, or even venerated, and yet they pale in comparison to Cecile in Netties mind. Cecile has an admiration for Shug and when she first is getting to know her she mentions that she “knows everybody.. Sophie Tucker, know Duke Ellington” (pg 111). By alluding to these famous jazz singers, Cecile is giving the reader an idea of the social circles in which Shug runs, proving her importance and popularity, which justifies her obvious admiration of (bordering on an obsession with) Shug.
• Strong language/Imagery: When talking about the anger and pain the Olinka tribe felt when they were wiped out monetarily because they were forced by white men to pay for tin to cover their roofs, Nettie says “And as they struggles to put up roofs of this cold, hard, glittery, ugly metal the women raised a deafening ululation of sorrow that echoed off the cavern walls for miles around” (pg 230). The description of the metal as cold, hard and ugly provides a sense of the hatred that the Olinkas felt towards their circumstances. The “deafening ululation of sorrow that echoed off the cavern walls” shows the depth of the sorrow by creating an image in the readers mind of the loud cries that the women put forth in response to their sadness.
• Simile: When Harpo’s wife, Sophia, is fixing up her roof, Cecile describes the scene saying “ Sound echo across the yard like shots” (pg 62). The hammering sounds like shots because Sophia is doing mans work, making her husband seem too weak to do it himself; each hammer stroke is like a shot to his pride.
• Rhetorical/unanswered questions: Throughout the entire book, questions are asked that are not answered, nor are they expected to be answered.When Nettie is describing a man in her life to Cecile she asks “Did I Tell you he writes verses? And loves to sing?” (pg 244). This draws attention to the fact that both sisters are writing letters to each other without the security of an answer in return.