Landon's RA plan of Wal-Martian Invasion

For my Rhetorical Analysis I chose Barbara Ehrenreich’s article entitled Wal-Martian Invasion. Ehrenreich attempts to reach her American audience with the use of many rhetorical devices. These devices include extended analogy, multiple metaphors and comparative hyperboles that will make you laugh and cringe at the same time. Ehrenreich effectively uses these devices as she makes her stance clear but not overbearing. Her use of an extended analogy, comparing Wal-Mart to alien invaders, is true genius. While at first the analogy comes off a bit childish and immature it quickly becomes the perfect way for Ehrenreich to express her opinions on the disconnect between Wal-Mart and the rest of the world. From her title Wal-Martian Invasion to the concluding sentence “Earth to Wal-Mars, or wherever you come from: Live with us or go back to the mother ship” (Ehrenreich 90) she develops a well formulated idea on the image that Wal-Mart is not your friendly neighborhood grocer. Ehrenreich also uses a variety of metaphors in order to drive her point home. For example, in the body of her article Ehrenreich compares Wal-Mart to a starving hyena. This puts a comical and disturbing image in the head of the reader. By using this metaphor she is able to paint this greedy thoughtless beast in the readers heads and evoke a certain fear that merely saying that Wal-Mart is greedy just wouldn’t do. The last rhetorical device that I chose to analyze was Ehrenreich’s use of comparative hyperboles. While this device was far less evident than the others, the effectiveness of it is just as strong. One of her strongest comparisons is seen in the fourth paragraph. Ehrenreich compares the prices of health insurance to the prices of faded glory jeans. This is comical, given that faded glory is already a knock off brand and is considered cheap, and health insurance is always a daunting bill. Her use of this comparison effectively evokes fear in the heart of the reader. While it makes one laugh in the moment, it then makes one think shortly after. Thoughts like “if they can’t even afford cheap pants then how could they possibly afford insurance?” flood the mind of the reader. Ehrenreich is very effective in her writing. Her style is enjoyable and stimulating as well as informative. Her uses of rhetoric very effectively draws the reader in and makes the reader care about the issue conveyed before them. All in all, Wal-Martian Invasion is a very enjoyable and convincing read.