Kotlowitz begins his book The Other Side of the River by using massive amounts of similes to get his point across to the reader. The first comparison was, “Like rambunctious school children, they playfully circled the mouth of the St. Joseph river…(1).” Another example would be, “Like a swollen snake, the St. Joseph river lazily winds its way north…(3).”

Later on in the book, Kotlowitz utilizes alliteration to draw the reader’s attention. Such as, “…providing sustenance for spawning salmon and seasoned sailors, that this story begins (5).” And again later on, “…clumsily, cowardly, and sometimes cruelly (10).”

And the final piece of evidence would be Kotlowitz’s use of allusions to compare what he’s writing to something that has happened in the past. An example would be. “A quarter of a century after race was part of everyday public discourse, it haunts us quietly, though on occasion- as in the Rodney King beating or the O.J. Simpson trial or Eric McGinnis’s death- it erupts with jarring urgency (11).”

This piece of evidence involving allusions is very important to what Kotlowitz is trying to convey to the readers. By comparing the difficulties in these towns to a couple of infamous racial problems and trials, it demonstrates to the reader the kind of problems that these towns are having and how they are similar to ones that have occurred in the past. History is very easily repeating its self and old problems have yet to be solved in Benton Harbor and St. Joseph. 

Introductory Paragraph: Writer of the Wall Street Journal, Alex Kotlowitz, focuses in on the idea of the death of a young, black boy in a river separating two cities of varying races.  Directly speaking to the reader with a first-person perspective, he arranges an effective call for change in the history of prominent racism with somber and touching tones.  Including examples of analogy, pathos, and irony, the author takes it upon himself to encourage an alteration of life between these groups of people who have had a tumultuous and wounding history amongst themselves.   

Analogy: “So I would tell them that, while the contrasts between St. Joseph and Benton Harbor seem unusually stark, they are, I believe, typical of how most of us live: physically and spiritually isolated from one another” (10).  

Pathos: “The events surrounding Eric’s death should ring familiar to all of us, both black and white: the confusion and the understanding, the despair and the hope, the disconnections and indeed, the connections” (11). 

Commentary: To resonate with the reader, the author uses a combination of abstract ideas to push Eric’s death in the open while touching on the appeal to emotion.  The contrasting words contradict each other in ways to emphasize these opposing feelings one would feel upon experiencing a tragedy and occurrences following it.  By subtly implying that those who have lived during a time of segregation or ideals passed down from generation to generation should be aware of these underlying problems of inequality between two groups of people, he instills feelings of unrest and sadness amongst the readers in that this is only the tip of the iceberg in relation to ideas revolving around racism.  

Irony: “So seductive is the setting that in recent years there have been a number of suicides in and around these waters, which seem to offer a gentle exit from an otherwise burdensome world” (14). 

First piece of evidence: The author’s use of figurative language, especially imagery and similes, is very helpful to help the reader visualize. “Like rambunctious schoolchildren, they playfully circled above the mouth of the St. Joseph River here in southwestern Michigan” (11).

“the third officer circled the corpse like a buzzard over its prey” (13).

 

Second piece of evidence: The author’s tone is rather detached and informative. “Drownings are common occurrences around here, sometimes as many as three to four in a year. The area, after all, is surrounded by water. ” (14).

 

Third piece of evidence: The author’s syntax consists of long, descriptive sentences with many commas. He also includes mixtures of hyphens and colons. “Vacationers on their way from Chicago—it’s a two-hour drive—to the northern woods of Michigan stop here to browse the downtown mall, shopping at the antique stores, art galleries, and clothing boutiques.” (16). “It incites us to act as we wouldn’t in other arenas: clumsily, cowardly, and sometimes cruelly” (24).

 

The author uses various forms of figurative language, but the most important form of figurative language is his use of imagery and similies. He uses imagery to create a vivid image in the reader’s mind, and to appeal to their senses so that the writing can feel much more realistic. He uses strong, descriptive words in combination with comparisons (similies) to achieve a really graphic form of writing. “Like a swollen snake, the St. Joseph River lazily winds its way north from Indiana through the hilly cropland of southwestern Michigan, eventually spilling into the clear waters of Lake Michigan, where it is 450 feet across at its widest” (15). In this example, Kotlowitz is using imagery to describe a river while including a similie to help the reader further visualize the setting. Similies help us because they compare what most of us know in real life, giving us a greater understanding of what’s going on. 

 

Evidence one:  Kotlowitz uses many different types of figurative languages for example similes and hyperboles as a way to make his points more relatable. For example, a simile that was used was “like rambunctious school children, they playfully circled about the mouth of the St. Joseph river” (1) The use of the comparison is to set the scene of how the town was with a relatable comparison of school children playing around. Kotlowitz use of hyperbole also is used to make his point easier to understand. Kotlowitz says that the “black community exploded” (9). 

            

Evidence two: Kotlowitz use of diction is very prominent in his writing using long sentences separated by commas and or colons. An example is when he describes how hard it was to find the information saying, “at times, as I approached what I think are facts, thy bulls’’-eye multiplies, each taking on a different shape and hue, so that, as my vision darts from one to the other, I don’t know where to land” (9)

 

Commentary: Kotlowtiz use of diction is very important to the story of the book because as a reporter and journalist he can use long sentences and separate complicated though and or ideas with this style of diction. The use of many commas in his writing is to make his writing a little like a conversation having multiple thoughts separated by pauses or by commas. This type of diction becomes very important later in the story when he gathers opinions from other and tries to incorporate the opinions of others in the writing while keeping the integrity of the story.  

 

Evidence three:  Kotlowitz use of ethos as a call to action for unity. Kotlowitz says “the events surrounding Eric’s death should ring familiar to all of us, both black and white: the confusion and the understanding, the despair and the hope, the disconnections and, indeed, the connections” (11).