Rhetorical Analysis of “Angles on a Pin: The Barometer Story”
By: Chris Bolitho
The article “Angles on a Pin: The Barometer Story” was a narrative about a disagreement between a student and a physics professor about a physics test question, where the narrator (another professor) was the mediator. A physics professor named Alexander Caladra wrote it for an audience of students as well as teachers, but it also appeals to anyone who likes a clever story with a deeper meaning, since it is written in a not so academic style. In this paper I intend to analyze a rhetorical strategy that was used by Calandra in the writing of this article. The most prominent and effective rhetorical strategy used was style.
The whole article was written using narration a particular type of style. I believe he used the style of narration because it was familiar to him being a professor, it is also a simple way to shed light on a issue while keeping people interested. The language he chooses to use is not strictly academic which makes it more appealing to the students. By using that style he leaves it up to the readers to draw their own conclusions about the underlying issues of the story while, he builds a case against a flawed education system. For example Calandra said, “…I asked the student if he really did not know the answer to the question. He admitted that he did, but said that he was fed up with high school and college instructors trying to teach him how to think, … , rather than teaching him the structure of the subject.”
This analysis has given me more insight into rhetorical stratiges and how they can be used in different ways to persuade an audience. Looking deeper at this seemingly simple short story has given some insight as to why it was so interesting and appealing to me. I also now realize that I have never really utilized this style of (Calandra n.d.), I enjoy it but I don’t know if it is the route I would take to get a message across.
Bibliography Calandra, Alexander. "Angels on a Pin : The Barometer Story." In Composing Knowledge: Readings for College Writers, by Rolf Norgaard, 158-160.
By: Chris Bolitho
The article “Angles on a Pin: The Barometer Story” was a narrative about a disagreement between a student and a physics professor about a physics test question, where the narrator (another professor) was the mediator. A physics professor named Alexander Caladra wrote it for an audience of students as well as teachers, but it also appeals to anyone who likes a clever story with a deeper meaning, since it is written in a not so academic style. In this paper I intend to analyze a rhetorical strategy that was used by Calandra in the writing of this article. The most prominent and effective rhetorical strategy used was style.
The whole article was written using narration a particular type of style. I believe he used the style of narration because it was familiar to him being a professor, it is also a simple way to shed light on a issue while keeping people interested. The language he chooses to use is not strictly academic which makes it more appealing to the students. By using that style he leaves it up to the readers to draw their own conclusions about the underlying issues of the story while, he builds a case against a flawed education system. For example Calandra said, “…I asked the student if he really did not know the answer to the question. He admitted that he did, but said that he was fed up with high school and college instructors trying to teach him how to think, … , rather than teaching him the structure of the subject.”
This analysis has given me more insight into rhetorical stratiges and how they can be used in different ways to persuade an audience. Looking deeper at this seemingly simple short story has given some insight as to why it was so interesting and appealing to me. I also now realize that I have never really utilized this style of (Calandra n.d.), I enjoy it but I don’t know if it is the route I would take to get a message across.
Bibliography Calandra, Alexander. "Angels on a Pin : The Barometer Story." In Composing Knowledge: Readings for College Writers, by Rolf Norgaard, 158-160.