A Discourse Analysis of Two Ways of Seeing a River

LI Yongxian

【Abstract】“Two Ways of Seeing a River”， an excerpt from Life on the Mississippi， written by Mark Twain and published in 1883， is a short but effective comparison essay in which Twain contrasts his then-and-now views of the Mississippi River. The rhetorical strategies and devices that are used by Twain to effectively communicate his messages to the readers will be analyzed from the broad discourse level： the organization of the whole essay and the development of each paragraph.

【Key words】Two Ways of Seeing a River； discourse analysis； cohesion； compare and contrast

“Two Ways of Seeing a River”， is a short but effective compare and contrast essay written by Mark Twain and published in 1883 in Life of Mississippi. In this three-paragraph essay， Mark Twain contrasts his then-and-now views of the Mississippi River， conveying his consideration to readers ─ what might be gained and lost through knowledge and experience. The organization of the whole essay and the development of each paragraph make it effective for Mark Twain to unfold the two ways of his seeing the river， Mississippi.

With regard to the discourse or the organization of a text， cohesion is the key to maintaining the flow or the continuity of the text， which is also true of this comparison essay. In this essay， readers' expectations begin when they read the title. The qualifier “two” in the given title “Two Ways of Seeing a River” tells the readers that the genre of this essay is a comparison essay， and the subject is two ways of seeing the same thing. Knowing the genre and the subject of a comparison essay， readers should expect to see that the author will organize his essay either in “the point-by-point method” or“the block method” （Folse and Pugh 55）.

By skimming the passage， the readers can easily identify that the author discusses the scenery of sunset at the time “then” and “now” in paragraph one and two respectively. The semicolons used many times in each paragraph indicate that the author organizes his points under the same subject in one paragraph， not the other way around， and this format is known as “the block” format. Having this knowledge， the readers should also know that they can count on the writer to find every point in paragraph one and two in the same sequence， and the colons help them to draw the boundaries between different points. For example， in paragraph one， the details described are： 1）“blood river”， 2）“a solitary log”， 3）“slanting mark”， 4）“boiling， tumbling rings”， 5）“a smooth spot… covered with…circles and …lines”， 6）“ruffled [silver] trail”， and 7）“a clean-stemmed dead tree” （“Two Ways” 1）. Similarly， readers can easily find their counterparts in paragraph two： 1）“[t]his sun”， 2）“that floating log”， 3）“that slanting mark”， 4）“those tumbling ‘boils”， 5）“the lines and circles”， 6）“that silver break”， and 7）“that tall dead tree” （“Two Ways” 1）. To repeat particular words can contribute to “coherence” or “continuity”of a text （Martha and Gray 85）. In this essay， the repetition of the key words in a consistent sequence is extremely effective to maintain the coherence of the text as a whole and to draw readers' attention to the key points. In addition， this consistency and coherence displays a sharp contrast between the author's views of the Mississippi River at different times in a highly organized way.

At the paragraph level， the writer does meet the readers' expectations for the familiar pattern of English paragraphs： topic sentence （s） ─ supporting details ─ concluding sentence （s）. Also， readers may expect to find the thesis statement at the beginning of an essay， and this expectation is met in Twain's essay. The thesis resides in the first four sentences of the essay： while Mark Twain obtained the knowledge of being a steamboat pilot， he lost his ability to see the beauty and majesty of the river. The adverb “Now” and the conjunction “But” effectively combine the two-fold meaning of the writer's claim or statement. What follows the sentences showing the thesis statement is the topic sentence of the subsequent content： “I still kept in mind a certain wonderful sunset which I witnessed when steamboating was new to me” （“Two Ways” 1）. The following seven sentences that are separated by semicolons are the supporting facts， through which the writer unfolds to his readers the expressive scenery of sunset with many observable details. Lastly， the writer concludes paragraph one by summarizing the wonderful images of the sunset.

To echo paragraph one， paragraph two begins with three sentences that vary in length： the first two ─ short sentences ─ tell the readers that the writer is completely enchanted by the beauty of the sunset， and the third compound sentence explains the reason. This reiteration of the marvelous natural beauty seems to reassure the readers of the writer's precious memory. Then， the transitional sentences start with the conjunction “But” signaling the shift of the writer's description： the contrastive points of his comparison essay （“Two Ways” 1）. After the topic sentence， the writer uses a colon instead of a period， followed by the supporting details： completely different interpretations of each object he observed and enjoyed before. Unlike paragraph one， this paragraph does not have concluding sentences that either summarize or restate the topic sentences； rather， it ends with a question. This strategy of ending a paragraph confirms that the acquisition of the ability in decoding the meanings behind each signal from nature really helps the writer predict and escape from possible dangers； thus， the decay of the tall tree， the landmark in nature， worries Twain as a steamboat pilot.

At the beginning of paragraph three， the author confirms and restates the thesis statement： he gains the useful knowledge for safely piloting a steamboat but loses the ability to discover “the romance and beauty” of the river （“Two Ways” 2）. This repetition of thesis statement satisfies the readers' expectations for a conclusion of a comparison essay. Besides the reiteration of the thesis， the writer also attempts to interact with his readers by taking the focus from his personal experiences and toward that of doctors'， with which more readers are familiar， and by posing open-ended questions to readers who can then put them in their own contexts. The essay ends， but the readers' thinking just begins ─ what can we gain as well as lost through knowledge and experience？

References：

[1]MARK TWAIN：Two Ways of Seeing a River（1883）.Bcs.Bedfordstmartins.com，n.d.Web.25 Oct.2014.

[2]Folse，Keith，and Tison Pugh.Great Writing 5：Great Essays.2nd ed.Boston：Heinle，Cengage Learning，2010.Print.

[3]Kolln，Martha，and Lorretta Gray.Rhetorical Grammar.7th ed.New Jersey：Pearson Education，2013.Print.