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Joseph Brodsky How To Read A Book Rhetorical Devices

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In the passage from the Joseph Brodsky’s “How to Read a Book”, he explains the many factors in choosing a book to read. Brodsky uses rhetoric such as metaphor, diction, and rhetorical question to convey the dilemmas that individuals face in determining what they should read. Throughout the passage Brodsky uses the metaphor of an ocean and a compass. “The need for some compass in the ocean of available printed matter.” “In any case, you find yourself adrift in the ocean, with pages and pages rustling in every direction, clinging to a raft whose availability to stay afloat you are not so sure of.” In both of these quotes, Brodsky compares the act of choosing what to read to the ocean, and explains that one must use a compass to arrive at their

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