"The Decline and Fall of the English Major" by Verlyn Klinkenborg

The next article I read by New York Times editorial writer, Verlyn Klinkenborg was "The Decline and Fall of the English Major"  As I said in the last post, Verlyn Klinkenborg doesn't have article titles that are very intriguing, but I think that it one of the editorials best quality. The difference between the article titles and the articles is insane. The titles give you false mind set that the article is going to be simple, but they are actually full of eye boggling details. Although the fun, descriptive titles are usually what draws readers in, these drew me in for the reason of wondering if the article would be just as simple and to my delight that was not the case. Another reason wanted to read this article is because the topic of english majors. English is my favorite class and also the reason I am reading these editorials so I thought 'Wow perfect article!'. The article is about how precious literacy and writing is and how people aren't taking english majors that much anymore. The editorialist is a big believer in taking english majors and according to the story he started out with, he was an english teacher! The author's love for english majors is shown through out the article and it is nice to read because his enthusiasm and thirst for knowledge rubs right off on the reader. Just like the other editorial "Locust Moon", Verlyn Klinkenborg has a fancy way of using adjectives to explain the point he is trying to make which I think its a very good rhetorical device. Other rhetorical devices he uses to convince the readers is great sentence structure, repetition and of course imagery. The editorialist is trying to convince the readers that english majors are more important than people see them as and I think he is even trying to persuade the readers to take more english classes. The style that Klinkenborg uses is quite an effective way to draw people in. He tends to start off with a personal story of his. I think it is good that he starts out with this because it draws readers in on a personal level. For me, it made me feel like I actually knew Klinkenborg and wasn't just reading one of his editorials. Then he goes off saying what point he is trying to make- he talks about how less and less students are graduating with english majors, less students have learned about humanities and how even students parents are questioning why people are still taking english majors. After,Verlyn states facts pertaining to his topic. This was a way for the editorialist to give more knowledge to the reader while still persuading about his side of english majors. Although Verlyn does use many rhetorical devices, the most effective one that I saw is diction. The way his words flow, freely and colorfully, really brings life to all of his articles.

"Locust Moon" by Verlyn Klinkenborg

Through out the summer I have been following editorial writer,Verlyn Klinkenborg who writes for the New York Times opinion page. This writer caught my eye because while reading biographies about all the editorial writers, I saw that he had a lot of experience writing books and writing in magazines so I was sure that his articles would be interesting. Another reason I chose to follow him was the list of things Verlyn wrote about. The topics included were: Agriculture, Environment and Culture. I think all these topics are intriguing and as soon as I clicked on his name, I knew I made the right choice. His article titles were all very inviting and up front about what each article was going to be about. I wanted to read all of them, but I knew to just choose a few of my favorite ones.
The first article that caught my eye had a simple title called "Locust Moon". Since the title was very simple, I thought the article would be that way also, but when I clicked on it, I saw something completely different. Klinkenborg used a wide range of adjectives to describe this locust. The words were so vivid and created a full picture in my mind with every sentence I saw. The article itself was started out by Verlyn writing a story about himself. The little details he included were enough for me to feel like I had actually known this man and been there while this story occurred. "Locust Moon" was about the locust that the author had been seeing more and more. Not only did Klinkenborg give his insight on what he saw- the locust making the sky look darker and darker at night time, but also included facts about locusts. The editorial itself is called "Locust Moon" instead of just "Locust" because I feel as Verlyn wanted to make it more interesting and create another picture by giving the image of black locusts actually taking up the moons light. For the starting and end of the editorial, he decided to talk about fireflies in both. Having the contrast of the fireflies light and the locusts darkness really added to the effect of the article because for me- I am not exactly sure what locusts look like, but of course I see fireflies all over the place, so for me to have that comparison, I could really tell how dark the locusts are. In my opinion, this article definitely drew me into read it and I think it did that for many other people too. Verlyn Klinkenborg used many rhetorical devices such as spectacular imagery, stating facts and comparing objects to help the reader paint a picture in their head of how the author wants the topic to be portrayed. The style of his writing really flowed in my mind because it went from a story that drew me in, to the topic discussed and then facts about the topic. It wasn't too long of an article, so I never got bored and with all the imagery I was actually wanting to read more about the topic. The position the writer is making is that the locust is taking up much of the sky at night and I can tell the reader doesn't like the locust and wants to see the light of the moon and fireflies. I think this topic isn't as big as some topics, but I do think many people will agree with his position on it because of Klinkenborg's ability to write about something as little as locusts and play it up by filling the article with adjectives and personal experiences that will get the reader to take the the time at night to see if the moon is actually getting filled by these bugs- at least I know that's what it did for me.