Analyzing Rhetorical Devices Ireland 5 Worksheet on Analysing Rhetorical Devices – Answer Key Text: Richard Conniff, “God Bless You, Father”, Peter‐J. Rekowski, ed., Ireland: A Story of Beauty and Hope (München: Langenscheidt, 2010), pp. 34‐35.
B TASKS AND SUGGESTED ANSWERS 1. Analyse the stylistic device in lines 26‐27, “a fierce clockwork of prayer”. When he reaches the top of Croagh Patrick, Conniff observes how the pilgrims move and behave there, at the goal of their pilgrimage. He uses the metaphor “a fierce clockwork of prayer” (ll. 26‐27) to describe two more or less round movements: firstly, how the pilgrims circle around the pile of stones at the mountain top, almost mechanically, and secondly, how many of these people move their rosaries through their hands ‐ as if the circular movement around the “cairn” was one gear in a clockwork and the movement of the rosary beads another gear, joining the first one. The adjective “fierce” reinforces the impression of strong determination that the poetic image of a clockwork suggests. The metaphor shows that the writer is almost intimidated by the robot‐like, unstoppable movement that seems to multiply the effect of the pilgrims’ prayers. 2 What stylistic device is used to illustrate the behaviour of villagers towards each other? Refer to lines 61‐68. After writing about the important role the Catholic religion has had in Ireland, the author begins to contrast life in “old Ireland” (l. 61) with life at the end of the 20th century. One of the characteristics of the past, as he portrays it, was people’s urge to control everybody else’s adherence to the religious rules. This attitude is made very memorable by means of a personification. Conniff quotes a Dubliner as remembering the phrase “valley of the squinting windows” (l. 63) for the whole country. Here the © 2011 Langenscheidt KG, Berlin und München
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Analyzing Rhetorical Devices Ireland windows are referred to as having a life ‐ and eyes ‐ of their own, “squinting” in order to see all the more clearly what their neighbours are doing. This personification becomes even more impressive when in the next sentence the windows are said to have been able to squint especially “ferociously” (l. 67) on love affairs. So the fact that every house has several windows, usually on all sides, underlines the permanent state of surveillance that everybody felt, since (in reality) there could have been a person standing behind all these windows, looking as hard as they could in order to find out that somebody was breaking one of the commandments. At the same time, the personification of the windows expresses the anonymity of this process, as nobody knew who was watching him and maybe passing on supposedly relevant information to the village priest. 3 Analyse the stylistic device used in lines 31‐32. The conversation between the journalist and one of the pilgrims begins with an exchange of elliptic sentences. Richard Conniff asks the man, “Why barefoot?”, and the answer is even shorter than that, consisting of only one word, “Penance” (ll. 31‐
32). It becomes quite clear what they mean (“Why are you making this pilgrimage barefoot?” ‐ “I’m doing it as penance for my sins.”), and the stylistic device seems to be very natural here since both men are obviously somewhat exhausted, maybe even out of breath, so long sentences would be impossible anyway. In addition, the situation is very informal, and this exchange of short sentences is appropriate to the kind of familiarity that a walk together may engender. The elliptic sentences make the passage appear more natural than it would be with full sentences. (Peter Ringeisen) © 2011 Langenscheidt KG, Berlin und München
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