写作技巧

1. Contrast

A contrast paragraph or essay discusses the differences between (at least) two things.

This essay mainly discusses the differences between the lifestyle of modern American people and that of American people in the past.

In the first two paragraphs, the writer contrasts her featureless ride driving on fast roads and the pleasure of the return trip of a different route.

2.Rhetorical Questions

A rhetorical question implies that the answer is obvious—the kind of question that does not need actually to be answered. It is used for rhetorically persuading someone of a truth without argument, or to give emphasis to a supposed truth by stating its opposite.

Why is it that the featureless turnpikes and interstates are the routes of choice for so many of us? Why doesn't everybody try slowing down and exploring the countryside? (Para. 3)

●How dare anyone keep America waiting longer than overnight? (Para. 5)

●Why waste 45 minutes listening to the whole thing when someone else has saved us the trouble of picking out the best parts? (Para. 6)

●Why are we in such a hurry to save time? (Para. 7)

●If winter comes, can spring be far behind?—Percy Bysshe Shelley, Ode to the West Wind

●Didn’t I tell you he would forget?

●What difference does it make?

3. Repetition

Repetition is a major rhetorical strategy for producing emphasis, clarity, amplification, or emotional effect.

If we wanted a new sofa or a week at a lakeside cabin, we saved up for it, …

If we lived in the right part of the country, we planted corn…

If we wanted to be thinner, we simply ate less of our favorite foods and waited patiently for the scale to drop, a pound at a time. (Para. 4)

Then we take our fast money to a fast convenience store, … And if our fast meal doesn't agree with us, we hurry to the medicine cabinet for—you guessed it—some fast relief. (Para. 5)