Rhetorical Analysis Of 'How To Mark A Book'

“How to Mark a Book”, written by Mortimer J. Alder, Ph.D., and published on July 6, 1941. This article is the “father of books” opinion of the benefits of marking in a work of literature as you read it. Dr. Alder devoted his life to education and firmly believed that great conversation and learning stems from the discussion of great works. This article particularly highlights this belief as it is his expressed opinion of the proper way to “do the most efficient kind of reading.” This article walks you through what he believe the benefits are to not just reading between the lines but marking in them, as well as a few creative suggestions to navigate around some of the popular objections to the thought of writing inside a book. While this article is only opinion Dr. Alder makes his goal to persuade both an understood implicated goal but if that were not enough with in the introduction he directly states his goal; “I want to persuade you to write between the lines”. Even though “How to Mark a Book” is based on Dr. Alder’s opinion it is an effective writing because it is persuasive, and appeals to both pathos and logos, as well as counter argues ethos. Personally I could not think of a counter argument to the author’s opinion that he did not cover in his writing, making this not only a good article but, a …show more content…
Alder was very effective in persuading his audience, he made several well educated points as well as presented the counter arguments and then refuted them. His writing was concise and to the point but he gave plenty of examples and supporting details, to his points. While I have no doubt the Dr. could’ve written an advanced scholastic piece with layers upon layers of vocabulary and advanced details, he kept his audience in mind and made the piece not only simple, but relateable for his general audience. Dr. Alder used his exceptional descriptive words in his explanations that left you with a clear mental picture and a better understanding of his