Rhetorical devices

In the preface to The Shepherd’s Life: A Tale of the Lake District, James Rebanks uses several rhetorical devices that help him get his points across to the readers. The main device used by Rebanks is the anecdote, which is a popular choice when writing an autobiographical book. 

Anecdote

In the first part of the text, Rebanks inserts personal anecdotes that help readers understand his life in the Lake District and see things from his perspective. Anecdotes are personal experiences of the author and are often meant to make readers aware of deeper and more sensitive topics. For example, one anecdote presents Rebanks’ conflict with the school’s headmaster:

… I argued with our dumbfounded headmaster that school was really a prison and ‘an infringement of my human rights’. He looked at me strangely, and said, ‘But what would you do at home?’ As if this was an impossible question to answer. ‘I’d work on the farm,’ I answered (…) He shrugged his shoulders hopelessly, told me to stop being ridiculous and go away (ll. 18-22)

This example shows the clash of views between the two. While Rebanks believed that following in his ance...

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