Sunday, March 10, 2013

Money, Humans' Necessity


One of the timed writing responses this week asked writers to analyze the rhetorical strategies Hazlitt emphasizes during “On the Want of Money.”  While I had fun quickly churning out a response to this timed writing, upon receiving the essay back, I discovered I had misread several of the strategies Hazlitt implements to convey his ideas.

Such as how I ended up discovering of the two sentences the essay is composed of, the longer sentence symbolizes a stream of oppression.  Through the first read, I had the belief money was being personified by all the actions separated by commas during the second sentence.  Another misread included how I believed the author was trying to convey to readers the literal want of money can lead to a person’s downfall.  Instead, William wishes to reveal to readers that the lack of money can lead to misfortune!  With a second and third read, I discovered Hazlitt is a true proponent of the necessity of money.  He truly believes, “…one cannot get on well in the world without money,” and therefore goes on in the essay to describe what a life without money would be like/look like.

I agree with Hazlitt.  Without money, people will have troubles in life.  Money is what makes the world go round.  It is a sign of status and good fortune throughout the world.  While reading the piece more carefully, I found more minute details that assisted me in appreciating the piece increasingly more than I did through the first read.

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