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Rhetorical Analysis Of Just Walk On By

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In the essay “Just Walk on By” by Brent Staples he uses compelling anecdotes of experiences in his life in order to create an emotional appeal that makes us empathize with the endangered black man. Staples opens up the essay with an experience of his. He says “My first victim was a woman- white, well dressed, probably in her early twenties.” He then goes on to explain when he was walking at night in Chicago that same young woman ran away from him. It is his word choice within the first sentence of this essay that is astonishing. He says his “victim” as if he caused harm to the woman. In reality he was walking down the street, minding his own business. ... In the sixth and seventh paragraphs Staples talks about the town he grew up. In Chester

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