Mark Slouka, in his article “Dehumanized” uses patterns of diction and rhetorical
questions to reinforce his disagreement with the idea that school’s focus should be math
and science, and that humanities can be forgotten. He claims that not only are we losing
the humanities but also our ability to “understand and empathize with others, challenge
one’s beliefs, to strive for reason and clarity,” which we are becoming increasingly reliant
on. Throughout Slouka’s essay, he compares education in the US to a battle and a race.
[Sloukas use of aggressive and competitive diction throughout the essay helps to establish]
a disagreeing tone in order [to reinforce his point that math and science aren’t the only
important things students should learn in school.] Slouka states what is taught in our
schools is “an expression of what that culture considers important.” He then starts to
explain how currently our culture is focused on our economy and fixing it. While
commenting on that argument, he employs a battle pattern of diction to indicate that he
feels like he’s fighting in a war; [by using phrases like] “outmaneuvered”, “lines of attack”
and “terms of battle” [an image is created] that he’s on the opposing side and they aren’t
winning. [Furthermore, Slouka utilizes the power of rhetorical questions]to turn our
attention to his larger argument that humanities should not go forgotten. Throughout the
entire essay they are used to contract popular arguments. An example of this occurs when