The
creative style is known for many things, but perhaps the most popular is its
heavy use of rhetorical devices. Jon
Acuff, a speaker, author, and blogger, is well acquainted with the creative
style. He also understands quite
necessarily that certain tools are required if a successful blog post is to be
created. Acuff writes many blog entries,
but the one analyzed for this critique was published on October 28, 2013 and
entitled, “The #1 word that kills dreams.” Acuff strategically and skillfully
uses multiple rhetorical devices to keep his readers attentive, interested, and
to drive home a point that they will not forget anytime soon.
Jon Acuff is a seasoned writer and
inspirational speaker. He has published
four books and is a New York Times bestselling author, as well as speaking at
hundreds of colleges, conferences, churches, and companies. He became popular after his first book and
subsequent blog, “Stuff Christians Like.”
Identifying himself as Christian, Acuff believes it is important to find
humor in one’s life.
His more recent books relate to
motivation, such as his latest entitled, “Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape
Average & Do Work that Matters.” He
has garnered many followers and fans through Twitter (200,000 followers) and
his blog, which is read by over 4 million people. Such a wide net obviously includes a diverse
range of people. There are Christians,
people who love satire, people who enjoy his sense of humor, people who feel
motivated by his posts, a mix of any of these (since none are exclusive) and
infinitely more types of people who would read his blog. In general, it is safe to assume that whoever
is reading Acuff’s blog is looking for an entertaining, memorable, and
motivational note-worthy entry.
They are also looking for positive
affirmation. Acuff is not only
motivational, but also optimistic. He is
able to lighten a day through his words, while also providing thought-provoking
social commentary. The difference
between Acuff’s writing and those of others is that it is not nearly as
negative. He recognizes the problems of
the world, as do his readers, but instead of simply complaining about them he
provides solutions, or at least provides a way of looking at the world that is
not all doom and gloom.
The majority of the people who read
Acuff then, no matter their nationality, religion, or political views, are
those who wish to do something to positively change the world. They recognize there are problems, but they
also recognize there is hope.
Additionally, they appreciate that there is always something to laugh
about, even if it is at oneself. With
this audience in mind, Acuff uses several rhetorical devices to successfully
reach them.
Two of the most frequently used
rhetorical devices, and both used by Acuff, are those of metaphor and
parenthesis. A metaphor is referring to
something as if it were something else, making an implicit comparison. In Acuff’s blog he writes, “Fear is a powerful
poison but it’s not the most dangerous toxin when it comes to dreaming.” Acuff makes a comparison between fear and a
poison or a toxin. While many might
agree with this metaphor, it is clearly not literal and makes good use of the
rhetorical device.
Acuff uses metaphor with purpose and
intention. He hopes to enliven the imagination
of his readers and keep things interesting.
He may be a blogger, but he is also an entertainer. It is his job to write interesting and
entertaining blog posts. To accomplish
this objective he must use metaphors, and similar rhetorical devices, to keep
the post exciting and compelling.
Metaphors also help people relate to the writing, and look at the
concept from a different perspective, perhaps not associating the two items
being compared before.
Parenthesis is the inserting of an
aside into the middle of a sentence or string of sentences. It is a very natural conversational thing to
do. When people are talking they often -
at least it seems often - insert an aside into a sentence. It makes the writing feel much more informal
and spoken, instead of stoic and non-relatable.
Acuff uses parenthesis in the following section: “If we said, ‘I will
never chase my dream’ the finality of that would shame us into action. But we don’t, instead we believe the lie of
someday. (Steven Pressfield writes brilliantly about this very thing in The War
of Art.).”
Acuff
brilliantly combines metaphor with auxesis simultaneously. He calls the word he keeps referring to a
“dragon” and a “demon lurking just outside your door.” In addition to being metaphor, the use of
this language can also be termed auxesis.
Auxesis is when the importance of something is magnified by referring to
it with a disproportionate name. In this
case it is referring to the word “someday” as a dragon and demon. By exaggerating the comparison Acuff draws
significant attention to the word, which helps the reader focus. This tactic is in line with Acuff’s mission
of making the reader remember the blog post as much as possible, as well as his
other task of keeping the reader entertained and interesting.
When Acuff
asks the questions, “What dragon is this?
What demon lurking just outside your door?” he accomplishes several
things. First, he maintains the
curiosity and interest of the reader.
The demographics of the particular reader matter little. When questions like this are raised most
people are thinking to themselves, “Well, what is it? What IS the dragon? What IS the demon? Just tell me already!” The use of questions stimulates the
reader. It is doubtful that any reader
of the blog was wondering what the demon was after Acuff started talking about
a special word, but they were most likely curious as to what the word itself was. In a fashion that is natural and comfortable,
Acuff proceeds to immediately answer.
The sentence following the two questions reads, “It’s the word
‘someday.’”
Asking
questions and then proceeding to answer them is the rhetorical device known as
hypophora. As already explained, this
device brings about a more conversational flavor while stimulating curiosity
and keeping the reader interested. You
may already be noticing a few patterns amongst the rhetorical devices Acuff
used. Most of them directly relate to
keeping the audience captivated, entertained, and/or making the writing
memorable.
Repeating
the last word or words of a sentence at or near the beginning of the next
sentence can help the reader focus by calling attention to that specific
word. By calling attention to a specific
word, it is easy for the reader to acknowledge the word as being an important
idea - something they should pay attention to and remember. The reader’s continuity of thought is
maintained with the similar words being reused, and the concept is reinforced
by this rhetorical tool known as anadiplosis.
Like the previously mentioned devices, Acuff uses anadiplosis to keep
his readers focused and following along with the blog. It is his intention to have his entire blog
post read and remembered, and to do that he must help the readers along so they
remember the main idea and do not fall off the track. During his post, his use of anadiplosis can
be seen in the following: “It’s the word ‘someday.’ Someday is where most of us
store our dreams.” Clearly, Acuff is
emphasizing “someday,” which makes sense since the entire blog post is about
“someday.” After all, it is a demonic
dragon or something of similar comparison.
While Acuff
continues to use several other rhetorical devices, the final one that will be
analyzed for this critique will be his use of anaphora. Anaphora is repeating a word or words at the
beginning of successive phrases, clauses or sentences. Acuff drives home the idea of “someday” by
repeating it over and over: “It’s the word ‘someday.’ Someday is where most of
us store our dreams. Someday I will
write a book. Someday I will start a
business. Someday I will ask her
out. Someday I will let him know how I
really feel. Someday I will go on that
trip.”
While
anaphora can be an aggressive device, it certainly grabs the reader’s attention
by creating a hammering effect. Grabbing
the reader’s attention is precisely what Acuff is striving for in this blog
post.
Although
Acuff uses a wide variety of rhetorical devices during the blog post, once
analyzed a few patterns start to appear.
Almost all of the devices he uses help to capture the attention of
whoever is reading the blog, and drive home the main idea. Repetition is key, as is making the post
sound like a casual and natural conversation the reader is having with a friend. This natural and repetitive nature is used
for the purpose of making the blog post memorable. Acuff wants readers to remember his post
about “someday.” To make that happen he
must make the post easy to follow along with (conversational) and memorable
(repetitive, reinforcing).
The other
obvious pattern that arises through analysis is Acuff’s attempts to make his
writing entertaining. By asking
questions and then immediately answering them, exaggerating words and their
importance (referring to a word as a dragon/demon), and making eyebrow-raising
metaphors Acuff creates a piece of writing that is driven by interest and
entertainment. Acuff may be a blogger
who is simply trying to do his part to add good in the world, but in order to
remain popular he must write pieces that keep readers’ interest. He is, in effect, an entertainer.
One may wonder how a blogger is able
to so expertly interweave his text with classic rhetoric. The answer is simple: Acuff is an
orator. Just as the classic rhetoricians
honed their skills through oral presentation, Acuff has traveled the country
giving speeches to a wide variety of audiences.
To be a successful speaker he has to constantly adapt and change for
those he is speaking to, and can easily tell whether he is successful or not
since the faces of those he is speaking to say it all.
The devices Acuff has learned while
speaking, whether unconscious or not, are used to keep the piece entertaining
and informal. Acuff’s writing would
certainly be less entertaining if the devices were not used, and if the creative
elements were removed. Contemplating the
use of so many devices in so short a blog causes one to wonder whether these
types of devices are necessary for the success of a blog.
In this age of the Internet, social
media, and instant gratification it is absolutely necessary to keep the
attention of one’s audience. There are a
limitless amount of potential distractions for every reader, so how can Acuff
keep them reading his blog instead of others?
He is a story teller.
The way Acuff writes could easily be
understood as a transcription of a conversation. While one reads his words it is easy to
imagine sitting across from him at a coffee table or listening to him in an
auditorium. This relaxing,
conversational style creates an element of humanness that is often so lacking
in the current digital world.
Perhaps the excitement of the
digital age is starting to wear off.
Perhaps people are starting to realize there is a deep longing for
personal interaction. Reading Acuff’s
blog does not meet these needs. But his
style of conversational writing paired with the ability to feel like a part of
the conversation by being able to post comments and share with friends creates
an illusion that a dialogue is actually taking place.
The success
of a blog does not depend solely on the use of rhetorical devices or making it
sound informal. The success of a blog is
dependent on the ability of making the reader feel human, to make the reader
feel connected with other readers and with the world around them. One way to achieve this humanness is through
a heavy use of rhetorical devices that lend themselves to conversational
flow. This type of rhetorical usage comes
naturally to trained and gifted orators, and it just so happens that Jon Acuff
is a trained and gifted orator.
-M.C. Reynolds
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