Rhetorical Devices in Don Quijote - Research Paper Example

Unit Rhetorical Devices in Don Quijote Rhetoric is the art of persuasive talking or writing. It refers to discipline training students to understand languages better. Rhetoric makes language live in writing and orally. It is helpful to students in enriching their language in their writing and speaking. Language concerns itself with form and content. Rhetoric is an ancient principle of training communicators. It entails the study of the principles and rules of writing and ancient critics like Plato developed speaking that emphasized on stylistic devices among which was the rhetoric. During the ancient times, shrewd people in their communication with the aim of persuading or convincing used rhetoric. The romans realized the value of rhetoric and sought to use it developing their speeches, an aspect that was common during the renaissance and humanism periods. Rhetoric is recognized as the art of ruling the minds of men; it is an ornament that decorates language by making it more persuasive or appealing to the language user. Rhetoric presents the message in coded language that has little harm to the author as well as the readers. It also provides room for expression of issues in different contexts and situations because the technique can perform many tasks using similar words. This research paper seeks to analyze the use of rhetoric in literature and construction of genres. There are many rhetoric devices. They include questions, parallel structures, sound patterns such as alteration and assonance, contrasts, for example, a statement like; we have to be cruel to be kind. Other rhetoric patterns include repetition, hyperboles, emotive language, imagery, and contrast. Primary themes in every literary work examine the issue of appearance and reality. The authors justify appearance and the reality in their works in several ways. They create characters that pretend to be what they are not to link these two aspects in a dramatic way. Don Quijote is one of the great Spanish literary works written by a prominent Spanish writer, Cervantes. The novel was published in 1615 as a response to an earlier version published by an unknown person. In this novel, Cervantes defends himself from the earlier allegations made by an unknown publisher. He demonstrates reality by mentioning the earlier version of the book that he considers as being false and to the second part which is the true book. The author rhetorically creates characters who have read the false book are recognized a lie. He sought to bring reality and truth at a time when an unknown publisher of his first book had damaged his name. The actual interest of the book is the possibility and the desire of finding the ideal and real and realization of human freedom. His interest was to bring a difference between real life and idealization. Sancho and his master Don Quixote, the main characters in Cervantes novel aimed at maintaining harmony among them. Don Quixote counsels Sancho concerning the appearance and perception. He argues that whatever Sancho perceives about something is different from how Don Quixote perceives. This indicates that the two are encountering the same thing. This, therefore, indicates that truth or reality is relative. Cervantes uses the rhetoric to distance himself from the events in his book while he secretly challenges his opponent. Through rhetoric, he manages to slip in the personal conflicts (Parr 88). Cervantes uses contrast among his characters to bring out his ideas clearly. The temperament changes experienced in his dialogical device bring out the different perspectives among the characters. Don Quixote and Sancho take up each other’s personalities, and when the time of truth came, Quixote turns back to his sanity making Sancho loose the perspective of reality and desiring to become the island’s governor. This brings the reader to the question of identity; it also begs the question of appearance. Quixote takes the identity of Sancho and vice versa making the reader struggle find out who is who between the two characters. This is real rhetoric used by Cervantes to attack his opponent. The linguistic style of Cervantes’ novel helps the reader to identify the characters well in order to make sound and logical resolutions. He mixes several points of view in order to offers unclear vision that is helpful to the reader in interpreting reality and isolating it from ideality. The issue of identity is complex. Cervantes alienates the protagonist who for his case is a reader who has combined his real identity with that of the characters in his book. He uses phrases that guarantee the man a word of honor that lies in the aristocratic identity of self while, at the same time, he disintegrates his own identity. Through these rhetoric scenes, the author presents a problematic effect of the nature of human identity and in particular, nature of the reader captured by the written fictitious works. Cervantes uses a tactical device to enlighten the reader imprisoned by an inability to differentiate between reality and ideality. Rhetoric helped Cervantes to express his ideas that were controversial in nature through provoking creative judgment in the mind of the reader (Parr 67). Don Quixote acting as the main character opens the eyes of the reader on issues of reality of existence. He transforms the effect of experience as a medium of creating special awareness. Alonso Quixano, for example, after the effect of imagination from the chivalry books, decides to transform himself it the Knight of La Mancha, Marcella transforms herself into a shepherd after reading the pastoral tales and Samson is influenced to try to conquer his enemy finally. The novel’s characters are influenced by the internalization of the external influences or their experiences. Truth is relative and, therefore, those who speak or write about it easily manipulate it. Survival in this brave world relies on one’s ability to present them rhetorically. Facts carry less importance compared to the feelings, overstatements, and calmness among other related factors. This explains why Cervantes provokes feelings that would lead to judgmental attitude, which is important in tracing facts (Smith 104). The most interesting part of Quixote is his ability to question the authority in all dimensions. It specifically deals with transmission of deeds throughout the distant past to the present. It manages to describe the three cultural dimensions of the Spanish culture, which include Muslim, Christianity, and the secular. His distancing attitude creates rhetoric style that is undeniable to every literature expert. This style gives the author a chance to express his feelings through the creation of an authoritative text based on secular or sacred appeals. Additionally, the author manages to avoid tribalism and sectarian based issues that would arise if the plain language were used. In every literary work, rhetoric serves many purposes. They are important on empowering the authors and his readers. Rhetoric challenges the speaker and the reader to find the underlying meaning of the words used. The readers of Don Quijote become creative and analytical to the lamentations of the author. Cervantes, the author, uses rhetoric to express the controversial nature of ideal and truth. He manages to manipulate his characters to portray the community that is faced by the challenge of believing and trusting in the fictitious works that are not true. This gives him a safe opportunity to communicate with his readers without facing direct confrontation or intimidation. Cervantes’ novel is about the author writing himself and working through his created characters. Rhetoric makes a person creative. Illusions created by the author make the reader inquisitive in order to get the message that the author is trying to pass across. One would wonder why heroes like Sancho despite many challenges decide to stick to the master to face drudging. One would also wonder why the ridiculous knight remains dignified in the most humiliating situation. The same way that Sancho and Don Quixote are forced to reconsider the situations and experiences of knight as the causes of his dignity, the reader is forced to emphasize rather than sympathize. This makes use of rhetoric an elusive way of educating readers to mature in their self-awareness in the same way Sancho and Don Quixote. They also allow the author to objectify life experiences, therefore, allowing the reader to apply it to the real life experiences (Smith, 130). Essentially, Don Quixote depicts the emancipation of life seen through the character’s experience. Reality, illusion, and truth are evident in the book. The author uses supporting literary style that completely ornaments the literary work. The characterization, dialogue, the setting among other evident stylistic devices brings out a revelation of human personality. The use of rhetoric in this aspect, therefore, brings out a dramatic literary value in the book. The general success of the book lies on the organic development of the styles characterized by the actions of the characters themselves. It gives the physical image of diverse personalities and the differences in interpretation of the world surrounding humanity. Conclusively, rhetoric is a technique that has won much recognition for the role it plays in every literary work. Philosophers, politicians, religious leaders use rhetoric to air their issues and opinions that are in conflict with other people’s through the use of rhetoric. Based on the relevance played by rhetoric, it is important to acknowledge the place of rhetoric in Spanish literature.Top of Form Works cited Work citedTop of Form Parr, James A. Don Quixote: A Touchstone for Literary Criticism. Kassel: Reichenberger, 2005. Print.Bottom of Form Smith, Paul J. Writing in the Margin: Spanish Literature of the Golden Age. Oxford: Clarendon, 1988. Print. Read More