Horizontal World Close Read Essay PDF

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Horizontal World Close Read Essay...

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In The Horizontal World excerpt, Debra Marquart expresses her love for the Midwest region, despite the opinions of those who have contrary views about the Midwest. Through her thorough use of diction, figurative language, and appeal to ethos to characterize the Midwest region, she is able to draw attention to the dull parts of the Midwest and use compelling words and descriptions to shift their viewpoint about the Midwest. Throughout the excerpt, Maraqart uses diction in order to convey her admiration for the Midwest despite the judgments that others have. She cites Edwin James, who is the official chronicler of Major Stephen Long’s survey, who “declared the region “a dreary plain, wholly unfit for cultivation,” and, of course, “uninhabitable by a people depending upon agriculture for subsistence.’” (l. 39-41). She states that the surveyors reported the land as unimpressive and “a dreary plain, wholly unfit for cultivation.” She sets up the judgments of harsh critics of the region in contrast to her own feelings for the region itself. Maraqart also shows an attempt to shifting the opinions of contrary views about the Midwest by introducing her story about her grandparents. Her “grandparents wouldn’t have known the etymology of the word, but they would have felt it, the anticipation, as they waited along with the other immigrants from Russia to receive their allotments of land.” (l. 70-74). She entails that her grandparents felt “anticipation” into migrating to their land. By comparing the adverse characteristics of the land, in which have been judged by surveyors, with her grandparents “anticipation,” she reveals to the audience how the Midwest is more than what other people perceive it to be and is special to certain people. To furthermore expand on her message, Maraqart draws attention to the dull parts of the Midwest and uses figurative language to shift the negative viewpoints about the Midwest. An example would be her use of similes when describing the freeway in North Dakota. Maraqart describes it as “a road so lonely, treeless, and devoid of rises and curves in places that it will feel like one long-held pedal steel guitar note” (l. 3-5). Her description of the road as “lonely, treeless” would appear to be negative, however, Marquart compares the road to a guitar note. Her association with music shows appreciation of the roads in North Dakota as she would with a guitar note. Another literary element she uses is an allusion. Maraqart states “Eureka—from the Greek word heureka, meaning “I have found it” — is reported to have been the word that Archimedes cried when he found a way to test the purity of Hiero’s crown” (l. 66-70). As people migrated to untaken lands, her grandparents decided to settle at South Dakota. Marquart alludes their arrival to when Archimedes “found a way to test the purity of Hiero’s crown.” To appeal to her readers, Marquart utilizes ethos to establish authority or credibility with her intended audience. The frequent reference to surveyors and views from professional writers are presented consistently throughout the excerpt. She cites Sylvia Griffith Wheeler’s poem in which she says “‘We are the folks presidents talk to when times require... Earthlings.” Networks make up women to look like us “who will not trade their bleaches, soaps for anything’” (l. 2125). To establish her credibility, she cites Sylvia Griffith Wheeler in which she says that people around the country would only go to the Midwest if they need anything. An example she draws upon is filmmakers would look in the Midwest to cast women who are “blond, fresh-faced” and have a midwestern appearance for their movies and dramas.

In Debra Marquart’s memoir, The Horizontal World, she expresses her fondness for the region, despite the judgments of those outside the Midwest. Her writing is effective in presenting the dull but also pleasant parts of the Midwest to certain groups. The satire language she had used when referencing Sylvia Griffith Wheeler was difficult to understand. However, through her thorough use of diction, figurative language, and ethos to characterize the Midwest region, she is able to draw attention to the “unimpressive” parts of the land and alter the outsider’s perspective about the area....