Literary Analysis Of Twain's Two Ways Of Seeing A River
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Twains essay “Two Ways of seeing a River” shows a complex usage of literary tropes. Throughout the text twain establishes a love for the beauty and features of the river; however, The text transitions this voice to one in which only the purpose of the river is seen. The river becomes linked to twain through these viewpoints. This allows for a Pedagogy to develop in which a Master-Student relationship is created. To create the pedagogical link between twain and the river we must first begin to construct the context, which through irony the text begins to craft the master and novice perspective.
Now when I had mastered the language of this water and had come to know every trifling feature that bordered the great river as familiarly as I knew the letters of the alphabet, I had made a valuable acquisition. But I had lost something, too.(Twain)
This single passage shows the essays topological voice by equating his knowledge of letters of the alphabet to the features of the river he begins to display metaphor. This metaphor allows the reader to understand the level of twains mastery of the river, this is the first perspective we are introduced to. This voice is twains perspective of the master. He is saying he knows all, however in the next sentence but is the first word which therefore negates the meaning of what came before. This introduces the texts second voice the voice of the Novice through the trope of irony. Furthermore, By using the phrase “mastered the language of