1. The author’s credibility and background: Do you think this author has the authority or experience to speak about this issue? What are the author's credentials? What might bias the author's argument?
When I read this book I feel as thought. Yes, Jarred Diamond has the authority to speak about this issue! Why you may ask? Well For many reasons but the most part being that all of this is his theory on history and the rise and fall of civilizations! Though he may have no credentials when has there ever been a requirement to write about a theory you mat have about something? There is not much that is biased in his writing so far due to the fact that he never focuses on just one settlement or one race, but Europe does come up a lot mostly likely due to the fact that they were a large race and they were constantly looking for more land.
2. Thesis/Purpose: Identify the author’s purpose and thesis, and add your reactions.
The author Jarred Diamond brings up the idea in history that maybe there was more to history than terrible people taking other peoples land and killing them with guns. Maybe there is a pattern, a pattern which repeats it’s self over and over again no matter the difference in what was used more! The three that made the scale of balance in each world tip when ever new settlers arrived in a new land. They were guns, our technology was far more advanced than theirs, germs, because we were covered in them so when settlers arrived where ever they killed thousands just by giving them influenza, and steel, which is our resources and what we had since most civilizations only knew rock as the hardest thing. I reacted sort of indifferently towards the beginning but became more interested at civilizations I’d never heard of before became mentioned.
3. The author’s persona, tone, and intended audience: Which persona does the author adopt? How does the author manipulate tone to serve his/her purpose? Who is the intended audience for this book? How does the author tailor his/her argument to suit the intended audience?
The author adopts the persona of pointing out that were not always the direct cause of killing thousands, because germs were something that we could not stop. The author will manipulate his tone so that we may understand both sides with out calling him biased for a certain race. The intended audience is just about anyone, though it may focus more on those who look and debate on who is responsible for a races death or endangerment. Diamond tried to make it so that we understand that his theory is inevitable no matter what.
4. The book’s structure & rhetorical strategies/style: How is the book organized? Which primary rhetorical mode does it employ, and does that mode serve the author’s purpose? How would you define the author’s style? Which rhetorical choices does the author use often, and are they effective? Address the author’s point of view (1st, 2nd or 3rd person) as well.
The book is organized so that it is like a time line coming slowly back to the present. It gives of a sense of organized chaos in a way so that while we can understand the timeline slowly going up to present time he never stays with one civilization. The author likes to keep his writing well kept but give it some excitement to avoid boring his audience.
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