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Logan Rosson
Oberg, Laurie
English 11
11/24/14
Rhetorical Devices Can Shape a Story?
In the story Young Goodman Brown, the author has a very strange way of conveying the
story. He uses several rhetorical devices. These enhance his storys and give the reader a better
idea of what is going on. Throughout his story you can see the use of them. Theyre very helpful
and convey how exactly he is trying to tell the story. There are two key things he uses to explain
the story. One, imagery, to describe something almost amalgamative, and the other is
foreshadowing, an effect that keeps the reader guessing about what comes next and truly helps
you understand the story. You find many types of rhetorical devices in the story. These are the
two that enrich and enhanced the story the most.
In this story the imagery and imagination is quite questioning. The way the author
describes certain events are quite dream like. You almost dont know if they really happened or
not. But the only thing about him that could be fixed upon as remarkable was his staff, which
bore the likeness of a great black snake, so curiously wrought that it might almost be seen to
twist and wriggle itself like a living serpent. This, of course, must have been an ocular deception,
assisted by the uncertain light. This is describing the man with a staff that looks like something
that could not happen in the real world. The image gives you the idea that somethings not right.
Even with little images of just staffs you can truly see whats going on. The traveller put forth
his staff and touched her withered neck with what seemed the serpent's tail. It paints a picture
for the reader of not only whats going on but what he feels when he touches her neck. You can

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physically feel what hear neck must have felt like. The author uses these little images to describe
whats going on in the story. It causess you to question what is going on. And by doing so its
helping you understand what exactly what Goodman Brown is feeling. The moment his fingers
touched them they became strangely withered and dried up as with a week's sunshine. This is a
rhetorical device that is intriguing. You can feel exactly what it would feel like. This is panting
an image of the story in your mind. All three of these all help describe the story and tell you
whats going on.
There is a lot of foreshadowing that happens in this story. Foreshadowing adds dramatic
tension to a story by building anticipation about what is going to happen next. This Authors use
foreshadowing to create suspense. Foreshadowing can make fictional events seem more
believable. Its hard to follow who exactly Goodman Brown is talking to in the forest but there is
foreshadowing that it is the devil. "Mingled with fine wheat and the fat of a new-born babe,"
said the shape of old Goodman Brown. The devil took the form as Goodman Brown, but at this
time you dont know its the devil shapeshifting but you do know that whatever it is it can
shapeshift. This would explain why the old lady would say, The devil!" screamed the pious old
lady. In these moments you can start connecting the dots that Goodman Brown is walking with
the devil. All the foreshadowing really helps you to understand the story better. It allows you to
connect the dots and put a solid idea of what is exactly going on.
The story of Young Goodman Brown is very hard to read and comprehend. But with the
help of rhetorical devices like imagery and foreshadowing you can have an easier time
understanding and remembering this story. The devices make the fantasy more realistic and
believable. Imagery helps you imagine the picture of what you are reading and foreshadowing

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helps the reader along in the story with hints about what is coming in the future. All of this added
together helps the author tell a complex story in an interesting way.
Works Cited

"Short Stories: Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne." Short Stories: Young Goodman Brown by
Nathaniel Hawthorne. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2014.

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