Calvino's "Why Read the Classics?" Rhetorical Devices

After reading Italo Calvino's, "Why Read the Classics?" the first time, I reread it a second time to find the rhetorical devices used. The main rhetorical device used was simile, but a little bit of personification was used. A simile is a comparison between two things using like or as. Personification is giving human like characteristics to an inanimate object. I found a total of three different examples of similes and one example of personification. The first simile is, "which means that the introduction, critical apparatus, and bibliography are used like a smokescreen to conceal what the text has to say." (Calvino 5) Calvino is comparing the different parts of writing to a smokescreen, which causes you to not see. Another simile is, "the ideal would be to hear the present as a noise outside our window." (Calvino 8) He is comparing the present time to a noise outside using as. The last simile is, "hear the classics as a distant echo." Again Calvino is comparing classics to a sound using as. The one example of personification I saw was, "it establishes a personal relationship with the reader." Calvino is saying that the writing is having a relationship with the reader which is not possible for an inanimate object.

Calvino, Italo. "Why Read the Classics." Lecture.