Rhetorical Analysis Emma Marris

Emma Marris uses many types of persuasive elements in her essay “Emma Marris: In Defense of Everglade Pythons”. In her writing she persuades her readers that the pythons should be allowed to be in the everglades since it is not their fault that they are there in the first place. She uses metaphors to relate to the reader and word choice to enhance her writing.
Metaphors are widely used tools by writers to engage the reader and to make him/her understand the text further. Marris uses them throughout this passage and it makes the information relatable and easy for the intended audience to comprehend. When she explains her conversation with E. O. Wilson she states, “He then suggested that I was carrying around a white flag of surrender, and I rejoined that I never enlisted in the war

In Marris’ case, she uses it to make herself appear competent and as though she is fully educated on the subject. To persuade another to agree with one’s own argument, he/she must at least seem to know what he/she is talking about. People want opinions from educated individuals. In turn, Marris makes herself out to be one of those individuals. Just in the first paragraph she uses words such as “fascinating”, “enormous”, and “intrinsically”. These could have easily been substituted with “interesting”or “big”. Instead she uses more intellectual words to appear as a reliable source. Ensuring the reader’s trust is vital in making a persuasive essay and this is what Marris does over and over again in her writing. There are many different tools that Marris uses in her passage “Emma Marris: In Defense of Everglade Pythons” to persuade her audience that the pythons should be allowed in the everglades. Her use of metaphors and her word choice both engage the reader and make herself out to be an intelligent author. These are essential qualities in building an argument and persuading a reader in believing one’s