A Sweet Devouring (1957-Eudora Welty)

In A Sweet Devouring, Eudora Welty explains the hunger for books she harbored as a child, and how this hunger developed with age. As a child, she cared more for the quantity than the quality of books. It is clear that Welty is credible regarding topic, as she alludes to many book series’. The essay is written in the context that Welty is no longer inspired to read as many books as she can, and her main purpose is to explain how the hunger for reading shifts from childhood to adulthood. Welter argues that you should not judge a book by its cover, both literally and figuratively. As a result of this, the main audience is people who read books just for the sake of reading them and not for their true value. One rhetorical device Welter uses is a nostalgic tone. The nostalgic tone she employs idealizes the basic childhood instinct to read whatever comes into sight. Welter recollects, “Our library in those days was a big rotunda lined with shelves” (247). The sympathy associated with this antithesis adds to the author’s credibility, as it is a prime example of the Rogerian approach. Another rhetorical device found in the essay is the allusion, as Welter references many literary works. In addition, the allusions allow the reader to see examples of the types of books against which Welter is warning. A final rhetorical device the author employs is the narrative mode. Throughout the essay, memories from the author’s early life are featured, and these add both to the her credibility and main argument. Welter introduces her essay by narrating, “When I used to ask my mother which we were, rich or poor, she refused to tell me” (246). The author technically accomplishes her purpose, but it could have been a little more direct. Rather than ever come outright and state her thesis, Welter skirts around it so that it is merely an implication. Although this is often an effective strategy, Welter’s abstract argument would have been more clear had she chosen a more direct approach.

Nobody expected her amazing voice!
Source: Hell in the Hallway