· Imagery: “It seems more sedate than I remembered it, more perpendicular and strait-laced, with narrower windows and shinier woodwork, as though a coat of varnish had been put over everything for better preservation” (9).
· Simile: “I had always felt that the Devon School came into existence the day I entered it… and then blinked out like a candle the day I left” (10).
· Rhetorical Question: “Why not? He had made it up hadn’t he?” (40).
· Antithesis: “If you broke the rules, then they broke you” (74).
· Repetition: “If I was head of class on Graduation Day and made a speech… then we would both have come out on top, we would even, that is all. We would be even” (51-52).
· Imagery: “The ocean, throwing up foamy sun-sprays across some nearby rocks, was winter cold” (47).
John Knowles employs a moderate amount of rhetorical strategies throughout A Separate Peace in order to convey his specific style. Two of the major rhetorical strategies Knowles uses are repetition and rhetorical questions. By using repetition Knowles is able to form the mentally-instable mess that is Gene Forrester. After meeting with Leper, Gene repeats “I didn’t want to hear any more of it,” it being Leper’s story about the training camp and how he became insane (151). This repetitive babbling is most commonly associated with those who are not mentally complete. Again this happens when Gene starts to believe that Phineas has the goal of distracting him so that Phineas would come out on top. He becomes obsessed with being even to Phineas: “we would be even” (52). His obsession is manifested through the constant repetition of these phrases. To reinforce the mental hardships surrounding Gene, Knowles utilizes rhetorical questions also. Gene regularly questions his own actions and the actions of others. After Phineas breaks the record for the 100 yard free style and does not want anybody to know, Gene questions, “was he trying to impress me or something? Not tell anybody? When he had broken a school record without a day of practice?” (44). The many rhetorical questions employed by Knowles supports the overwhelming idea that Gene is very much insane. John Knowles constructs his own style by way of the many rhetorical strategies used.
Personally, I found your analysis of John Knowles' usage of rhetorical strategies to be particularly insightful. "A Separate Peace" utilizes the growing insanity of Gene to exemplify the instability of the world, during this point in the war. As you mentioned, repetition and rhetorical questions are utilized to illustrate the mental state that Gene is currently in. By questioning his friendship with Phineas, the insecurity of being a teenage boy living in a world at war, is perceived. This insecurity eventually drives Gene insane and Gene is seen to cause the fatal fall of Phineas. After the accident, guilt is added to Gene's insecurity and Knowles exploits supplementary repetition and rhetorical questions to typify the downward spiral of Gene and Phineas's relationship as well as the escalating mental volatility of Gene.
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