In The Zookeeper’s Wife (2007) Diane Ackerman, asserts that the story of the Żabiński family is one of great turbulence and triumph, and is one that needs to be told. Ackerman supports this assertion by telling the family’s story and using excerpts from the diary of Antonina Żabiński that colorfully illustrate their story. Ackerman wishes to educate and inform her audience about the Żabiński’s story in order to reveal the harsh realities of World War II that many of her readers can not imagine. The author uses a sanguine tone in order to keep readers hopeful about what is going to happen in the story, and to deflect a bit from the condescending nature of what was truly happening. All through this book, Akerman implements many rhetorical strategies
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One example of an allusion is “At night, in the small flat on Kapucynska street, she learned a new noise: the anvil blows of German artillery, Somewhere else women her age were slinking into nightclubs and dancing to the music of Glenn Miller, bouncy tunes with names like ‘String of Pearls’ and ‘Little Brown Jug.’ Others were dancing to newly invented jukeboxes at roadside joints. Couples were hiring babysitters and going to the cinema to see 1939’s new releases: Greta Garbo in Ninotchka, Jean Renoir’s The Rules of the Game, Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz” (Akerman 55). This allusion provides facts that help create logos. By providing the audience with pop culture references, Ackerman subtly shows how Antonina felt about the war, since she was stuck in her home instead of out living the normal life of someone her age. Another time that Ackerman uses an allusion is “Guests in flight from the Ghetto found villa life a small Eden, complete with garden animals and motherly bread-maker…” (Ackerman 119). This allusion to the Bible’s book of Genesis provides elements that help to build the sanguine tone. By comparing the villa life to the life of Eden, Ackerman provides an optimistic outlook on the war. A third example of an allusion in this book is “To Antonina, the hamster’s arrival ‘started a new era on our Noah’s Ark which we later called the Hamster Era’” (Ackerman 201). This allusion that compares the sundry
One example of an allusion is “At night, in the small flat on Kapucynska street, she learned a new noise: the anvil blows of German artillery, Somewhere else women her age were slinking into nightclubs and dancing to the music of Glenn Miller, bouncy tunes with names like ‘String of Pearls’ and ‘Little Brown Jug.’ Others were dancing to newly invented jukeboxes at roadside joints. Couples were hiring babysitters and going to the cinema to see 1939’s new releases: Greta Garbo in Ninotchka, Jean Renoir’s The Rules of the Game, Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz” (Akerman 55). This allusion provides facts that help create logos. By providing the audience with pop culture references, Ackerman subtly shows how Antonina felt about the war, since she was stuck in her home instead of out living the normal life of someone her age. Another time that Ackerman uses an allusion is “Guests in flight from the Ghetto found villa life a small Eden, complete with garden animals and motherly bread-maker…” (Ackerman 119). This allusion to the Bible’s book of Genesis provides elements that help to build the sanguine tone. By comparing the villa life to the life of Eden, Ackerman provides an optimistic outlook on the war. A third example of an allusion in this book is “To Antonina, the hamster’s arrival ‘started a new era on our Noah’s Ark which we later called the Hamster Era’” (Ackerman 201). This allusion that compares the sundry