Rhetoric Study 1

The phrase ‘stream of consciousness’ refers to an uninterrupted and unhindered collection and occurrence of thoughts and ideas in the conscious mind. In literature, the phrase refers to the flow of these thoughts, with reference to a particular character’s thinking process. As I've stated before, this is the rhetoric device that Ellis uses throughout this entire novel, and many of his other novels as well. Another device he uses often is called Amplification, which is where the writer embellishes the sentence by adding more information to it in order to increase its worth and understandability. "But she's not listening, because some English guy wearing a three-button wool houndstooth suit, a tattered wool vest, a spread-collar cotton oxford shirt, suede shoes and a silk tie, all by Garrick Anderson, whom Evelyn pointed out once after we'd had a fight at Au Bar and called 'gorgeous,' and whom I had called 'a dwarf,' walks over to our table, openly flirting with her, and it pisses me off to think that she feels I'm jealous about this guy but i eventually get the last laugh when he asks if she still has the job at 'that art gallery on First Avenue' and Evelyn, clearly stressed, her face falling, answers no, corrects him, and after a few awkward nods he moves on." (pg. 331) This is a great example of both of those rhetoric devices, all used in one prolonged sentence.