Calvino's Essay: Question 3

What rhetorical devices were used in the essay? The most prominent by far was personification. Calvino talks about classics as if they were a person that we should befriend and get to know. Two of his reasons that I thought were good examples are 9. Classics are books which, the more we think we know them through hearsay, the more original, unexpected, and innovative we find them when we actually read them. and 11. 'Your' classic is a book to which you cannot remain indifferent, and which helps you define yourself in relation or even in opposition to. In reason nine, Calvino talks about classics as if they are friends of ours that can change over time. They get more original, unexpected, and innovative every time we see them and strike up a conversation, which I think is true. A really good book will always show you something new upon rereading it. Harry Potter for instance. Every time I reread one of the installments, I always find there is something I missed. In reason eleven, classics are described like a person that 'helps us define ourselves.' Classics are shown as people that help mold us into the people we are going to be, whether it is like to themselves or in opposition.

Calvino, Italo. "Why Read the Classics?" Why Read the Classics? London: Vintage, 2000. Print.