Write A Rhetorical Analysis Of Annie Dillard's

In Annie Dillard’s excerpt, the narrator follows the process after a new birth. The bustle of the obstetrical ward is documented carefully, by the narrator listing each individual step precisely and carefully. The nurses are often seen with a bored expression on their face while the new parents gaze at their children with wonder and amazement. The narrator adds her own personal emotional remarks to the monotonous routine of the nurses. These rhetorical devices contrast the different reactions from the nurse and the narrator to the new born child: a quotidien event versus an extraordinary one. To any other individual, a newborn baby is seen with wonder and excitement, but the nurses picked up the babies, “unsmiling” and detached emotionally (Dillard). The actions by the nurse are listed in a flat, monotonous tone with little no emotion: “[sliding] along the counter, [plucking] off the cap, [unwrapping] the body” (Dillard). The medical related aspects of caring for the new born baby were catalogued with no description, said only with the bare necessities. The plastic ID card and umbilical cord were seen as just that to the nurses. However, the narrator added her own emotional connection to the baby. …show more content…
The periodic process is emphasized by the parallelism seen in the sentence structure: “She diapers him. She swaddles him. She folds” (Dillard). The repetition of the same structure underscores the roboticism of the routine. The lack of thought to following directions by nurses in the past also highlights the mechanical thought process. In the past, nurses had placed infants on their stomachs, “lest they choke in their sleep and die”; now, nurses are told to place infants on their backs, “lest they smother in their sleep and die” (Dillard). The nurses just obey and proceed without a second thought, automating every action in the