Rhetorical Analysis for “Called Out” by Barbara Kingsolver

An American novelist, poet, and activist once said: “In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they’re still beautiful”. The author’s purpose in writing this essay was to inform and inspire some sort of appreciation for flowers and nature. Kingsolver effectively used figurative language, technical language, and connotation in “Called Out” to inform and inspire appreciation.

The author uses many different types of figurative language throughout the text in hopes to engage the readers and make her argument more relevant and convincing. “This year they predicted gold, but it’s already gone platinum” (Kingsolver 34). Kingsolver uses a metaphor. She compares the flowers growing to an album or a song going from gold to platinum. This is effective in getting the message to the audience because a lot of us know what she means when she says gold to platinum. Making a reference to something the audience knows of already helps the audience understand the point the author might be trying to make. “Our desert hills and valleys were colorized in wild schemes…hues that Crayola hasn’t named yet” (Kingsolver 4-6). The author uses figurative language again when she is describing how colorful the flowers in the desert hills and valleys are. The figurative language that the author uses here gives a different take on the desert which helps readers understand the author’s message that nature has a beautiful process. This is once again effective because it helps the audience envision what the author is trying to convey.

In addition to figurative language, Kingsolver effectively used positive connotations as well to get through with her purpose which was to inspire appreciation. “Miracle” (Kingsolver 17). Connotations set the tone when writing and speaking. When she describes the flowers as miracles you think about magic and that sort of stuff because when you hear the word miracle it creates these positive feelings, thoughts, and images. “Remarkable” (Kingsolver 108). The author describes the plant as remarkable. This

An American novelist, poet, and activist once said: “In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they’re still beautiful”. The author’s purpose in writing this essay was to inform and inspire some sort of appreciation for flowers and nature. Kingsolver effectively used figurative language, technical language, and connotation in “Called Out” to inform and inspire appreciation.

Save your time!
We can take care of your essay

• Proper editing and formatting
• Free revision, title page, and bibliography
• Flexible prices and money-back guarantee

Place Order

The author uses many different types of figurative language throughout the text in hopes to engage the readers and make her argument more relevant and convincing. “This year they predicted gold, but it’s already gone platinum” (Kingsolver 34). Kingsolver uses a metaphor. She compares the flowers growing to an album or a song going from gold to platinum. This is effective in getting the message to the audience because a lot of us know what she means when she says gold to platinum. Making a reference to something the audience knows of already helps the audience understand the point the author might be trying to make. “Our desert hills and valleys were colorized in wild schemes…hues that Crayola hasn’t named yet” (Kingsolver 4-6). The author uses figurative language again when she is describing how colorful the flowers in the desert hills and valleys are. The figurative language that the author uses in here gives a different take on the desert which helps readers understand the author’s message that nature has a beautiful process. This is once again effective because it helps the audience envision what the author is trying to convey.

In addition to figurative language, Kingsolver effectively used positive connotations as well to get through with her purpose which was to inspire appreciation. “Miracle” (Kingsolver 17). Connotations set the tone when writing and speaking. When she describes the flowers as miracles you think about magic and that sort of stuff because when you hear the word miracle it creates these positive feelings, thoughts, and images. “Remarkable” (Kingsolver 108). The author describes the plant as remarkable. This connotation is effective because it creates this image in the reader’s mind that the plants are astonishing and phenomenal which was her whole purpose in writing this essay. Kingsolver’s use of positive connotations throughout the text is effective because it helps her communicate her purpose.

Along with figurative language and connotations, Kingsolver’s use of technical language was effective in expressing her purpose. “…they were stashing away future seasons of success by varying, among and within species…germination, flowering, and seed-set” (Kingsolver 95-98). This example of technical language is effective because technical language is specifically purposed to inform and the author’s main purpose along with inspiring appreciation was to inform the audience about these flowers. “Challenging conditions for an ephemeral…that promise gets broke, that right there is the end of its little life” (Kingsolver 70-72). The author is describing the challenging conditions. This is effective because it provides readers with valid information on the topic. The author’s use of technical language was effective because it communicates more specific scientific information and the purpose was to inform.

Given these points, Kingsolver’s use of figurative language, technical language, and connotation in “Called Out” to inform and inspire appreciation or disclose her purpose were effective. Figurative language helped the audience envision what she was trying to convey, technical language provided readers with valid information on the topic and connotations were effective because it created images in the reader’s mind that the plants were astonishing which was her whole purpose in writing this essay.