Rhetorical Analysis Of Wendell Berry's Essay 'Our Only World'

Rhetorical Analysis of “The Commerce of Violence” The book “Our Only World” is a group of essays that exemplifies the great work that Wendell Berry has written over a number of years. The essay “The Commerce of Violence” is one of the many works in his book “Our Only World” and was written in 2013. In Wendell Berry’s essay “The Commerce of Violence,” he uses strong statements, emotional appeal, and logical reasoning as he constructs solutions on tackling worldwide issues. Berry also uses these tactics to persuade his audience in favor of his strong emotional opinions. The author utilizes the knowledge of his audience, his motivation for writing, and his argument, backed up by logical examples, to achieve the purpose of his essay. The main point of the essay was to call to attention the attitude that countries have towards each other. As Berry stated in “The Commerce of Violence,” that attitude is described as an “eye for an eye.” Countries are willing to do whatever it takes, whether they have to attack, torture, or even destroy, in order to be on top. While America is a voluntary participant in these actions, our country takes on a roll of innocence. Media comes off as surprised and innocent when they are smoked with a bomb, even though they are attacking other countries simultaneously. Berry calls attention to these issues, …show more content…
Berry uses comparison and reasoning to explain in an easy way to his readers that things are not always as they seem, we are not always the good guy, and bad things happen to everyone no matter who they are and what they have done. Wendell Berry’s style of writing is strong and ethical, he makes things easy follow by varying his syntax and using basic word choice. Berry puts into context each situation and makes the reader feel what he is