Rhetorical devices

Anecdotes

Anecdote is one of the most important rhetorical devices in the excerpt from Will Jawando’s memoir My Seven Black Fathers: A Young Activist’s Memoir of Race, Family, and the Mentors who Made Him Whole. The text contains many anecdotes which paint a clear picture of Jawando’s relationship with Kalfani, from its beginning to its end. Jawando uses these anecdotes to make the readers familiar with both Kalafani and himself as boysThis will make it easier for the readers to understand the circumstances of Kalfani and Jawando’s childhoods. As a result, the readers will be more receptive towards the writer’s political message in the last paragraphs. 

One such anecdote is the stairwell incident when Shay picks on Jawando, and Kalfani is not sure how to react: “ ‘William,’ Kalfani half pleaded, his feelings cut like a deck of cards. I...