Subjects in “The Man at the River”

Part 1:

The title of the article is “The man at the river” and the author’s name is Dave Eggers. In this reading passage, the subject which the author discussed is wading the shallow river. And in my opinion, I think the reasons the author write the passage is to show the different cultures will have different habit. Besides, the author also showed the friendship in this passage. More deeply, it shows the accept and the refuse, comprehend and the insist. Then, the people who really need to know the different culture should read this reading seriously. Because nowadays, the world becomes smaller and smaller, and more and more people will contact a new culture they never know, so people should learn how to accept the different cultures.

Part 2:

In this person biography, the author used the pattern of third person in this whole passage. There is no a subject was named and so many dialogues were used. It is a good way to tell a story clearly. For example, “Well, you see, in our culture,’ he says, and the American winces, for these words usually precede an unpleasant request, ‘we must help our guests. It’s my duty to help you get to the other side.’” During this part of the reading, using by the third person and the dialogues, these conversations refer to the key conception of the passage, which is the different cultures. By the Sudanese guy said, we know that inviting the American to their village is not only his duty, but a custom for him to do so. And the American cannot understand why the Sudanese have to bring him to the village. To voice my idea again, by the third person and the dialogues, the readers can understand the reading and the different cultures it showed more thoroughly.

Otherwise, by seeing the language features, the readers will know the purposes of the passage. Take this part for instance, “The second friend continues to look pained, and the American begins to realize that the friend will be in trouble – with their mutual friend, and the mutual friend’s family, and with everyone else in the town – if the second friend does not accomplish this one task of getting the American across the river. ” Without names, readers can pay more attentions at the plots and the situations. So if we read this part more than once, we may understand the purpose which Dave Eggers want to tell us, which is to show the different cultures have different habits. Also, during this part, not only first point was showed, but also the integrity. The Sudanese friend promised the another Sudanese to take the American to their village, even though they are having a small conflict there, the Sudanese still tries his best to find a way to solve the problem.

Part 3:

Comparing the Underwater Welder and the Man at the river, I think there is a similar rhetorical element in the both text, which is Water. In the both of the two genre, the authors use metaphor by water to infer something else. In the text1, Jeff Lemire uses the water to infer the memory, Jack in that book not only always likes to dive in the ocean and lost himself, but also he likes to suck in his memory and lost himself. On the other side, Dave Eggers uses the water to infer a wall between the two different cultures. In the beginning, the Sudanese and the American were standing the different sides of the river, and then the Sudanese across the river and invites the American to across the river. It means that something happens and wants the American to accept a new culture such as Sudanese culture. Because both of the two texts are fiction, fictions always will use something to be a metaphor. By reading and comparing this two articles, I find that the water is a similar metaphor of the two readings.