Rhetorical Analysis of Colin Fletchers The Man Who Walked...

The story, The Man Who Walked through Time, by Colin Fletcher, is depicting a situation where he takes over the role of a non-existent Indian. Fletcher is trying to experience things the same way the Indian man used to. Fletcher lets the audience see this by using rhetorical devices such as word choice, tone, and descriptive examples. In Fletcher s style of writing he sometimes makes the reader think that he is actually experiences some of the same things that the Indian experienced. Fletcher, at first makes the reader believe that he actually lives in the dwelling. Choosing such sentences as, I climbed back to my pink apartment house, unpacked, and settled in, (Fletcher 81, 2000), this helps the reader to understand that this is no†¦show more content†¦The cubical showed every sign of having been built for a man just about my size, (p 81). Again Fletcher is assuming that the cubical was built for a man of his size. I dwelt in my cliff dwelling for twenty-four hours. And, hour by hour-conscious of my vast ignorance, yet curiously confident-I began to focus on my cave dweller more sharply, (p 82). In this sentence Fletcher reassures the reader that the man knows he s not really experiencing anything with the Indian. We know this because he tells the audience that he is aware of his own ignorance. By choosing those words, Fletcher lets the reader know that the man is imagining being with the Indian. Fletcher has an expository tone. Throughout the essay Fletcher tries to explain to the audience what it must have been like to live like an Indian. There are very few factual statements in this writing. Fletcher makes many assumptions and gives his opinion to try to explain to the reader what it must have been like to live in a cliff dwelling. By only assuming he does a pretty good job of making the reader believe. The descriptive examples that Fletcher uses really let s the audience picture it. Throughout the writing when the man speaks of events, he explains in great detail. first I pictured him building his home. I saw him chipping patiently away at the roof of the cave, so that there would be headroom when he sat up in his cubical, (Fletcher 82).