Mini Rhetorical Analysis of Thoreau's Walden

“Society is commonly too cheap. We meet at very short intervals, not having had time to acquire any new value for each other. We meet at meals three times a day, and give each other a new taste of that old musty cheese that we are. We have had to agree on a certain set of rules, called etiquette and politeness, to make this frequent meeting tolerable and that we need not come to open war. We meet at the post-office, and at the sociable, and about the fireside every night; we live thick and are in each other's way, and stumble over one another, and I think that we thus lose some respect for one another.”

Henry David Thoreau, Walden or Life in the Woods

Thoreau claims that society is too cheap, going through the same routine every day, the same interactions and actions amongst each other, like old musty cheese, and that thus, as humans, we lose respect for each other through the way we "live thick and are in each other's way." Thoreau’s brilliant use of a resilient tone, and a choice of creative and precise diction and syntax, work in union to strengthen his claim on the nature of the human being. 

Thoreau is displeased with the nature of human beings. His tone shows frustration and annoyance towards society as he makes the claim that people are always in each other’s ways, living thick lives and going about unnecessary interactions He suggests indirectly that it would be better if people interacted less often, so that the time spent alone would actually give people the chance to have something important to communicate, rather than pretending society is more enjoyable than it actually is through their same, redundant interactions. He calls society too “cheap,” and compares a human being as “musty old cheese,” showing almost a sense of disgust towards this aspect of human nature. Although his dominant tone is calm, it is more complex, as he uses different interchanging tones along with the dominant one. Because of his lack of exclamation, Thoreau’s tone is nonchalant, a bit disappointed because of his disgust and annoyance with human nature, and a bit didactic because of the suggestion he indirectly makes by shunning and criticizing human nature, to lessen interactions between each other. 

Thoreau’s precise and direct language, yet complex syntax and indirect instruction draw in the reader and strengthen his argument about human interactions and human nature. Thoreau uses words and phrases like “cheap,” “musty old cheese,” “tolerable,” and “lose respect,” to emphasize his annoyance and displeasure towards people’s actions. His diction is precise, and not complex at all, yet it sets up a sentence and idea structure that is a little more complex, and has an indirect message towards the reader. His brilliant and flawless syntax and precise diction all work to make his argument, in which he purposely makes an indirect suggestion to the reader, where he gives the advice to interact less, so that people have more important things to communicate after being alone, rather than the same “musty old cheese” that they redundantly do.  By doing this purposely, Thoreau achieves the objective of making the reader thing more in depth about his argument and his claim, and to dig deeper into his argument and take out the piece of counsel ad recommendation he wants them to acquire.

Outsourcing in Egypt

Egypt is gaining popularity as a location for IT outsourcing. As Sourcing Line states, “in 2008, Cairo was ranked 7^th on the top 50 emerging outsourcing cities, and Egypt was bestowed with the title of “Outsourcing destination of the year.” As reported by the Yankee group, Egypt is by far the Middle Eastern country best positioned to take great advantage of the outsourcing boom. Egypt has the best to offer when it comes to average wages and low infrastructure costs. Egypt is also westernized, and opened to westernization, and the diverse population speaks English, German, French, Spanish, and many other languages that support the multi-lingual labor. Egypt’s geographical location between Asia, the US, and Europe puts it in the prime place to serve the world. Many multinational companies have invested in Egypt already, including IMB and Microsoft. Egypt also has a Smart Village, a 600-acre business park just outside of Cairo. It is designed to become the Middle East Center of Information and Technology, and industry analysts are saying good things about the next few years in Egypt in terms of IT and outsourcing. “Analyst Datamonitor predicts that the demand for Egyptian call centers will grow by 50 percent over the next three to four years,” states Sourcing Line. Things are looking good for Egypt, whose IT industry plans to generate around $10 billion in revenue in the next ten years.

There is one problem, despite the potential that Egypt has in terms of outsourcing. Egypt has a very unstable political system, which can prevent foreign investors to be attracted to outsource to Egypt. As predicted, the IT industry is estimated to bring about $10 billion in revenue in the next ten years. But, as recent events have unraveled in Egypt, with political uprisings and the problems with infrastructure and government, it has become less appealing to foreign investors, and dampens the chance of it actually reaching the projection of 10$ billion in 10 years. If Egypt were to clean up its act, and have a more stable geopolitical system, these projections made by analysts may surpass the goal in revenue.

Egypt has invested millions to promote its sourcing capabilities. But, with the recent threats of political unrest, these investments are also under threat of not serving their purposes. Top internet providers such as IMB and Verizon rely on Egyptian resources and as Horses for Sources states, “largely for call center work and software support and development, its hazardous when the government shuts off the Internet and all hell is breaking loose.”  Social media is clearly fueling unrest in the Middle East, and if situations such as what happened in Egypt in terms of the Arab Spring happen again, the first reaction of governments now seems to be to shut off the internet.  This obviously impacts IT services that are reliant on the internet in the Middle East to succeed, and there needs to be a stable political environment for this to happen also. This is a serious blow to nations that seek to outsource to Egypt. But, the questionable political instability is a hindrance.

Works Cited

Fersht, Phil. "Egypt’s Crisis: Where Social Media Threatens Global Outsourcing." Egypt’s Crisis: Where Social Media Threatens Global Outsourcing. Horses for Sources, 30 Jan. 2011. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.


"Outsourcing to Egypt." Sourcing Line. Sourcing Line, n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.

Rhetorical Analysis- "Customer Service Calls Routed to India," Beth Duff-Brown

In Beth Duff-Brown’s, “Customer Service Calls Routed to India,” she combines the use of a precise and strong tone coming from her diction and writing style, professional yet personal diction, and use of rhetorical devices, to work in harmony to strongly support the arguments she makes in her article.

Duff-Brown’s tone in her article “Customer Service Calls Routed to India” is detectable throughout her article. By examining her use of diction, one can infer her tone both through her choice of words, and her writing style. Because Duff-Brown’s diction is very intellectual, although very personal and not too “tight up,” as one would say, she creates a tone of formality, but personal connection to the reader, as if she were speaking directly to her audience. Duff-Brown’s writing style support her unique tone because of the way her words flow, and how she accurately made a great choice on words to support her arguments in this article. Because her tone is strong, it gives the audience a sense that they are not reading just another news article, but one coming from a reliable, and identifiable, knowledgeable source. Duff- Brown also throws in hints of comedy and humor into her article, also altering her tone into being still formal, but casual and lighthearted at the same time. This not only builds her ethos, but it also pulls in readers. Her tone is used precisely to pull in readers and keep them in the article’s grasp with its uniqueness. By using this slightly modifying, unique tone, Duff-Brown achieves a strong argument in this article because her tone, which is part of the structure of her article, is strong, memorable, and strengthens her argument alongside her writing style.

Duff-Brown’s choice of words reflects her writing style, and the argument itself. Examples of Duff-Brown’s strong use of diction reflect when she says, “the city is awash with tech billboards and knapsack-laden geeks in a hurry,” where her choice of words build a mental image for the reader, while still keeping her professionalism and slight seriousness in her article. Because she writes in such a flowing manner, her diction is what makes reading this article smooth, and makes the audience or the reader feel that she is speaking personally to them. She builds this “relationship” with her audience, but keeps it professional at the same time. Her diction supports her argument because with the use of words and phrases like “intellectuals,” “work conditions,” “deregulation,” and “globalization,” she builds her argument in terms of the meanings of these words and how they support it. A perfect example of this correlation between diction and the strength of her argument is when Duff-Brown says, “Website designers here have left for overseas companies or work in Bangalore for them, filling the technology vacuum in the United States, Britain and other European countries.”

Using  rhetorical devices of ethos and pathos, Duff-Brown successfully applies these to her article which ultimately strengthens it by drawing in the audience, and maintaining their attention. Throughout her article, Duff-Brown strengthens her ethos by building a connection with her audience. She qualifies her argument by using quotes from other sources such as Arhundati Roy, and showing knowledge in the topic of globalization and outsourcing/offshoring. She introduces the story of “Betty,” as if she were speaking directly through the audience instead of this being text. This builds her ethos and her connection to the audience overall. Duff-Brown’s use of statistics and quotes from other sources also builds her ethos by showing her outside knowledge and strengthens her argument by providing actual data and proof of claims she makes. Duff-Brown’s use of slight humor throughout the article also strengthens her argument. When she says, “they bone up on sports terms and slang and a good dose of Baywatch and Friends to bridge the cultural divide between Boston and Bombay,” one can note the slight use of humor she uses in her article. This humor is the use of the rhetorical device of pathos, which is one of the strongest in strengthening an argument through audience connection.

 Duff- Brown’s combination of a precise and strong tone, professional yet personal diction, and use of rhetorical devices, works to strongly support the arguments she makes in her article. Her audience is captivated by her tone through her writing style, her diction, and her use of pathos and ethos. As the audience is pulled in by these devices, her argument is qualified and strengthened, making her article successful in serving its purpose.