Introduction
Writing is a rather complicated matter due to the purposes it poses for it and the means of their pursuing. In other words, successful writing is a combination of properly organized purposes and well-developed means of their reaching, which are, very often, called writing techniques. These techniques are various and include a great number of items among which the most important ones are figurative language, humor and irony, logos, pathos and ethos. In this paper, I am going to analyze the use of the above mentioned writing techniques by the famous writer and scientist Eric Schlosser who wrote the preview in Sinclair’s book “The Jungle by Upton Sinclair”. I will also examine the work of these techniques and their supposed and actual effectiveness.
Background
The very book by Upton Sinclair is a perfect reflection of the American reality of the early 20th century, as the book was published for the first time in 1906. The author is mainly concerned with the lives of ordinary people and exemplifies his statements about the crisis in the society by stories from real lives.
The Jungle is a symbol of both corruption in the whole society that had to live according to jungle laws, and corruption in meatpacking industry where people and animals are mixed and no one can tell the difference between them (Sinclair, 2007). The foreword to the book, written many years later by a modern writer and scientists Eric Schlosser, presents a perfect piece of literature itself by a proper and targeted use of writing techniques that capture readers’ attention and involve them in the issues raised in the book (Sinclair, 2007).
Schlosser’s Argument
Schlosser, as the author of the proper foreword to the book by Upton Sinclair, makes use of all the major writing techniques. Among them the most significant place is taken by the use of ethos, pathos, logos, figurative language, humor and irony. The starting technique used by Schlosser is ethos and it can be seen in the language used for the foreword. The author tries to be as scientific as possible but at the same time appeal to ordinary people with ordinary words understandable for an average reader. It is clearly seen that the use of terms is proper and the author knows what he writes about (Sinclair, 2007).
Logos is another characteristic feature of this foreword, which can be seen in the proofs that author provides for his arguments. For instance, Schlosser says that meatpacking industry of today is a jungle because the actual economic conditions of this branch are worse than were in 1906 when the book was published. Pathos is also used by the author who appeals to the society with a call to stop destroying itself and not to return to the state of overall crisis experienced in the beginning of the 20th century (Sinclair, 2007).
As for the figurative language, the very title “Jungle” and its usage in the foreword is the brightest example of it. Jungle defines not only the industry but the whole essence of the human co-existence. Humor and irony are also used by Schlosser who considers the reasons of degrading of the society and its values (Sinclair, 2007).
Conclusion
In this paper I have considered the importance of writing techniques for the reaching of writing purposes. The main aim of this work was to see how Schlosser uses these techniques in his foreword to the “Jungle by Upton Sinclair”, and I have managed to find out that Schlosser’s use of ethos, pathos, logos, figurative language, humor and irony is proper and motivated by the purposes he set for his work – capture readers’ attention to the book and to the issues raised in it.
References
Sinclair, U. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. Evergreen Review, Inc., 2007.