Questions on Rhetoric and Style

  1. What is the effect of juxtaposing details of Joe DiMaggio’s legendary baseball prowess with details of his everyday life in San Francisco as a retired athlete?

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    Chapter 9 - The Silent Season of a Hero - Questions on Rhetoric and Style: What is the effect of juxtaposing details of Joe DiMaggio’s legendary baseball prowess with details of his everyday life in San Francisco as a retired athlete?
  2. Why does “The Silent Season of a Hero” open with a quotation from Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea? Cite specific passages from Talese’s essay to support your answer.

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    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=
    Chapter 9 - The Silent Season of a Hero - Questions on Rhetoric and Style: Why does “The Silent Season of a Hero” open with a quotation from Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea? Cite specific passages from Talese’s essay to support your answer.
  3. The “tall gray-haired man in a dark suit” in the first paragraph is obviously Joe DiMaggio, but Talese waits until the end of paragraph 2 to name him. What is the effect of delaying identification of the essay’s subject?

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=
    Chapter 9 - The Silent Season of a Hero - Questions on Rhetoric and Style: The “tall gray-haired man in a dark suit” in the first paragraph is obviously Joe DiMaggio, but Talese waits until the end of paragraph 2 to name him. What is the effect of delaying identification of the essay’s subject?
  4. Characterize the narrator. Does he step forward at any time? Who is the “man from New York” (para. 12)? Who is asked by the narrator to comment on DiMaggio?

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=
    Chapter 9 - The Silent Season of a Hero - Questions on Rhetoric and Style: Characterize the narrator. Does he step forward at any time? Who is the “man from New York” (para. 12)? Who is asked by the narrator to comment on DiMaggio?
  5. Although DiMaggio was a baseball player, the essay sometimes sounds as if it’s about a fisherman. Trace both the language of baseball and the language of fishing. Which is predominant?

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=
    Chapter 9 - The Silent Season of a Hero - Questions on Rhetoric and Style: Although DiMaggio was a baseball player, the essay sometimes sounds as if it’s about a fisherman. Trace both the language of baseball and the language of fishing. Which is predominant?
  6. Talese suggests—but doesn’t come out and say—that Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe were competitive about their celebrity. How does Talese use Monroe’s mythical status to develop his portrait of DiMaggio? Is he sympathetic to her? Does his profile of DiMaggio deepen our understanding of Monroe, or does she remain as tantalizingly out of reach as she seems to have been to DiMaggio? Explain your responses.

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=
    Chapter 9 - The Silent Season of a Hero - Questions on Rhetoric and Style: Talese suggests—but doesn’t come out and say—that Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe were competitive about their celebrity. How does Talese use Monroe’s mythical status to develop his portrait of DiMaggio? Is he sympathetic to her? Does his profile of DiMaggio deepen our understanding of Monroe, or does she remain as tantalizingly out of reach as she seems to have been to DiMaggio? Explain your responses.
  7. Several parts of the essay—especially paragraphs 3 and 41—evoke Hemingway. How do the images and language of those allusions create another level of meaning? How do they add to the portrait of DiMaggio?

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=
    Chapter 9 - The Silent Season of a Hero - Questions on Rhetoric and Style: Several parts of the essay—especially paragraphs 3 and 41—evoke Hemingway. How do the images and language of those allusions create another level of meaning? How do they add to the portrait of DiMaggio?
  8. What is the overall tone of the essay? How does Talese achieve his tone? How does the tone add a layer of meaning?

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=
    Chapter 9 - The Silent Season of a Hero - Questions on Rhetoric and Style: What is the overall tone of the essay? How does Talese achieve his tone? How does the tone add a layer of meaning?
  9. Talese notes that sportswriters have called DiMaggio an “immortal” (para. 124). How does the essay both support and debunk that myth?

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=
    Chapter 9 - The Silent Season of a Hero - Questions on Rhetoric and Style: Talese notes that sportswriters have called DiMaggio an “immortal” (para. 124). How does the essay both support and debunk that myth?
  10. Explain the assumptions Talese makes about his audience based on his portrait of DiMaggio as an aging hero.

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=
    Chapter 9 - The Silent Season of a Hero - Questions on Rhetoric and Style: Explain the assumptions Talese makes about his audience based on his portrait of DiMaggio as an aging hero.