Rhetorical Devices in Night Walker by Brent Staples

Brent Staples uses vivid language and rhetorical devices to express and convey the ele handsts of fear, anger, and violence. We all make many decisions based on past experiences. Thats how we learn to avoid touching a torrid stove burner for example. Its also about how we learn to do things that sire us pleasure. So we all develop discriminating behavior, but when that dissimilarity is based purely on the color on that persons skin, or his ethnicity, without knowing anything else about that person, it becomes racism. being a malicious looking sear man, walking the streets at night may give someone the vagary that youre a rapist, killer, robber, or even a stalker. Nearly everyone has go through these same emotions before and each has reacted similarly with varying degrees. Immediately in the first paragraph, Staples depicts a cleaning woman walking and the fear she experiences dude to stereotyping. In the story he relies on imagery and common experiences to emphasize this emot ion. She purify back a worried glace. (paragraph. 1) That imagery perfectly conveys the emotion of fear.When youre walking alone at night and someone sketchy follows you, its easy to draw on your past experiences and conclude you should be worried. Staples past uses sarcasm to display his disapproval of the womans false impression. She picked up her pace and was soon running in earnest. Within seconds she disappeared into the street. (paragraph. 1) Due to his ethnicity, the woman feared that she was going to be a victim of violence. His choices of words convey a negative connotation and reinforce the fear factorLiving in a piffling town where gang warfare, street knifings, and murders are common, these circumstances tooshie trim down trauma and ingrain hostile emotions. I grew up one of the unattackable boys, had perhaps a half-dozen first fights. In retrospect, my shyness of combat has a clear source. (paragraph. 6) Staples emphasizes that the violence experiences he witnesse d as a kid were the extraction causes for the corking effects imprinted on his psyche. As a boy I saw countless tough guys locked away I prolong inhumed several, too.They were babies, really a teenage cousin, a brother of 22, a childishness friend in his mid-20s all gone down in episodes of bravado played out in the streets. (paragraph. 6) Staples uses personal stories of conflict and pathos to bedeck violence and the emotional/physical price it has on people and their attitudes. Being subject to racism and discrimination is demeaning and debilitating. In fact they can lead you to anger. Relatively speaking, however, I never fared as badly as another black male journalist. (paragraph. ) Stemming from racism is common when someone is mistreated or falsely accused of something because of their race. Mistaking the reporter for the killer, police officers hauled him from his machine at gunpoint and but for his press credentials would probably have tried to book him. Such episod es are not uncommon. Black men trade tales like this all the time. (paragraph. 8) Staples portrays anger using euphemism and implies that the anger sterns from stereotyping of African Americans. These real life experiences and the vivid imagery give the reader an acute awareness into the harmful effects of racism..Fear, violence, and anger brought on by racism all provide the foundation of the story Night Walker by Brent Staples. The author uses personal life experiences and vivid imagery to gateway upon the reader the impact of discrimination. Not only does he use rhetorical devices, he uses concrete details to create a stronger more heavy(a) effect on the reader. Being subjected to racism is demeaning and debilitating and results in a toxic environment for the person being subjected to these acts of ignorant discrimination.