Rattler Diction Essay Example

were like a bullet. His hiding in the bushes was not an intention of cowardice but was later shown in the sentence almost as if a desperate call for peace when the snake repeatedly “shook and shook” his “fair but furious” rattler.

Repeating the word “shook” puts an emphasis to indicate its desperation while the rattler was calling for a “fair” warning with its rattler, but once again shows to be desperate as it shakes “furiously”. At the same time, the speaker uses diction to show the equality he had with the snake. The snake had “quite sportingly [warned]” the speaker not to attack, but when the speaker had attacked and dragged the snake out with its broken back, “he struck passionately once more at the hoe”.

The speaker had used the word “sportingly” to characterize the sportsmanship between the two. This word is a light word used in this essay but it indicates in this situation that the snake and the man are playing at a game, the snake represented as an equal in this competition. The speaker also uses the word “passion” to give the snake equality to man as passion is usually a human emotion. This shows that the rattlesnake has the ability to feel the same emotions and pain, leveling out the mentality between the two to show honor.

The speaker also illustrates the rattlesnake to be “rigid”, “suddenly arrested”, and “undulate” when it had first spotted the speaker, a potential threat, to show that the snake was not predatory, but cautiously watching to see what intentions the man had. These choices of words balance the snake because even though the snake already possessed

deadly weapons of its own, it did not feel the need to attack unless provoked. Which shown here through the words the speaker chose to describe the snake’s first appearance, strips the rattler of its danger and emphasizes humanity in the snake.