Born To Punctuate

"CABALLO BLANCO! That's YOU, RIGHT?" Before I could make my way off the bus in Creel, I could hear a voice outside booming away like a siege gun. "YOU'RE Caballo! THAT IS SO COOL! You can call me MONO! THE MONKEY! That's ME, the MONKEY. That's my spirit animal-"
This is a passage from Born To Run which demonstrates Christopher McDougall's powerful use of punctuation. McDougall based his story on the legendary Caballo Blanco, who keeps appearing and disappearing throughout the story. McDougall tries to maintain Blanco's image of an unknown superhuman runner throughout the book and in this passage he does it through the use of punctuation. He tries to describe an encounter of an random passer-by and presents us with a very excited tone of the dialogue. It is filled with exclamation points to add the feeling of euphoria related to the meeting. McDougall also capitalizes some words to increase the emotion to truly present Caballo as a legend among the people.    

Ugly visit

Christopher McDougall in his national best seller Born To Run describes his first encounter with a Tarahumaran. Their encounter does not go too well as McDougall does not know the proper etiquette. The Tarahumaran, Arnulfo Quimare fulfills his social obligation and provides the passer-by with refreshments and finds them a shady spot for recovery. However, Arnulfo did not wish to entertain his guests. McDougall was excited to meet a person for the legendary tribe and he started to interview Arnulfo. He was rewarded with silence. Arnulfo instead of joining the interview peacefully continues eating his limes. This awkward encounter closely reminds me of my aunts visit. During that visit I felt exactly like Arnulfo with my aunt being McDougall. First we sat down at the table with some snacks and refreshments. The beginning was quite nice, however soon my aunts excitement took over and she started bombarding me with questions. At that point I felt as I have fulfilled my social obligation and spent some quality time with my aunt. However, I have never signed up for an interview about my life, which I do not want to discuss. The two events are really closely related and I am surprised that I have found such close connection to my life in this book.   

Myriad secrets in a Willy Wonka world

Christopher McDougall wrote his book Born to Run in order to entertain his audience as well as convey his argument in a joyful and persuasive way. Parts of his writing closely refect the ones described in the book They say/I say written by Gerald Graff. Here is a great example extracted form the heart of the book. McDougall uses a quote sandwich in order to clearly present Krakauer's opinion.  
"Even Jon Krakauer, the adventure uberexpert and author of Into Thin Air,was impressed. "Rick Fisher can fairly lay claim to being the world's leading authority on the Mogollon canyons and the myriad secrets they contain," Krakauer concluded early in Fisher's career, after Fisher had led him to "an utterly spellbinding slice of earth, like no place I'd even seen"- A Willy Wonka world of lime-green pools and pink crystal towers and subterranean waterfalls."
Due to the use of the quote sandwich McDougall creates a fully organized introduction as well as explanation for the quote introduced by him. McDougall begins by introducing the author of his quote and building his credibility. Following the origins he proceeds to present the quote itself. Lastly McDougall explains the relevance of the quote used to support his argument. The introduction of such famous writer and his opinion on the newcomer truly increases McDougall's argument strength due to addition of strong Ethos to his arsenal of rhetorical devices described in my previous blog.  

Six murders a week, I was thinking.

In the book Born To Run, Christopher McDougall uses a number of different rhetoric devices. The one most commonly used is pathos combined with manipulation of the climax through uncertainty and excitement. In  his book McDougall writes,
The truck stopped (Part of the Mexican drug cartel). I cut my eyes hard left and saw Salvador was straight ahead, his hands frozen on the steering wheel. I darted my eyes forward again and didn't move a muscle. We sat. They sat. We were silent. They were silent. Six murders a week, I was thinking. Burned his balls off. I could see my head rolling between panicky stilettos on a Chihuahua dance floor. Suddenly, a roar split the air. My eyes slashed left again. The big red Dodge was spitting back to life and growling on past.
In this passage McDougall describes his encounter with the Mexican drug cartel on his adventure to the Copper Canyon. The passage is only the tip of the climax, McDougall has been building up for this during the previous couple of pages. His display of the events exposes the reader to a very exciting chain of events leading towards some thing greater, which as well is enhanced by the events through out the book. Although some events may be overrun with hyperbole, the author makes sure to keep your attention at all times. The second rhetoric device used in this passage is pathos. He attempts to connect with the reader emotionally by placing himself among the images of the people killed and tortured by the cartel. His explanation of the situation is very visual as well helping the reader imagine the emotional buildup during that encounter. The pathos combined with the well supported climax make a splendid combination. They complement each other making the book easier and more joyful to read.
In this book Christopher McDougall creates argument that shows up in multiple ways throughout the book. Both the presentation of the running world today versus the Tarahumarans and his incredible journey that according to him defeated many set stage for the argument.  In my perspective McDougall argues that there are no impossible tasks. As long as you set you mind straight and aim for the goals, you will complete what you have set out to do.            

The Caballo Blanco

In the book Born to Run the author Christopher McDougall describes his journey into the middle of a Mexican canyon in search of an ancient supernatural tribe, the Tarahumara. The book starts off with a story about McDougall’s first encounter with the famous Caballo Blanco, the “White Horse”. This guy was a traveling legend; no one really knew where he came from or where he was heading. Two different people that lived hundred miles apart would confess that they saw him on the same day, running. McDougall’s interest in the “White Horse” and the Tarahumara came from his personal passion for running. The passion crushed by constant pain and meetings with doctors. As a sports magazine editor he made it his personal mission to discover the secrets of running hidden among ancient civilizations. After researching ancient world, McDougall claims that people among other wild animals were one of the least lethal species in the jungle. Before any tools were even discovered human populations survived in the wilderness. The only way to capture a creature without the appropriate tools must have been to outrun it. Following his mission McDougall set out across the border form Texas into Mexico where he hired a guide that would take him into the Copper Canyons. They set on in a little four by four on a trail that soon turned into uncharted jungles ruled by the drug cartels. McDougall’s guide was a local musician who provided plenty of entertainment during their adventure. Going through the heart of the marijuana territory the two lonely explorers encountered one of the drug smuggling trucks. Out in the middle of nowhere stopped alongside a huge pickup filled with aggressive drug mafia members was a heart stopping experience for McDougall. After a minute of silence the drug cartel moved along leaving McDougall and his guide unharmed. Finally upon the arrival to the top of the canyon they had to leave the truck behind and hike down into the valley. The scary adventure down the canyon rewarded McDougall with his first face to face meeting with a Tarahumaran. Arnulfo Quimare was offended by McDougall’s surprising approach. However he was obligated to fulfill his duty as a host and he provided them with a place to stay and some limes for refreshment. When McDougall tried to ask a question Quimare would remain silent. The Tarahumarans are very shy and consider such interrogations rude. In their search of the Caballo Blanco they stumble upon a hybrid Tarahumaran who follows the traditional way of life, however slips out into the civilization form time to time. He describes a day when his students came to him claimed they have seen a ghost. McDougall recognized by description of the "ghost" that in fact it is the "White Horse" he has been searching for. They follow his trail and end up in the hotel from the beginning of the book. There Caballo Blanco almost flees form McDougall once again, however he recognized the Tarahumaran names McDougall continued to scream out loud. McDoughall invites the Caballo Blaco for dinner and some beer. The "White Horse" finally opens to McDougall. So far the book is very interesting and easy to read. The story continues to draw my attention making the experience this much better. I cannot wait to find out what happens next.                  

Two Birds With One Stone

Upon release in 2009, Born To Run challenged many beliefs regarding proper runners etiquette. Christopher McDougall, a respected editor for world famous news broadcasters like The New York Times or Men's Health Magazine and the author of Born To Run recorded his amazing adventure into a deep Mexican canyon in search of the hidden superhuman race and the knowledge they acquired over hundreds of years. His observations are contradictory to the modern insight of running distributed by professional trainers and advertisement companies. However, the Raramuri, an ancient South American tribe, outperform the world's top athletes in their primitive sandals and on their preferred diets. According to McDougall the secret to Raramuri's performance lies inside the shoe, or the lack of it. This beautiful sport has been swamped by manufacturers who desire to push their products, mostly running shoes, out through various advertisement. McDougall was one of the pioneers to reveal the truth about running shoes which was, and to a certain degree still is, controversial. This book has sparked interest in me since the first sight, but I could never sit down and read it. Now as the book appeared on the list for an independent reading project in my AP English class I will be able to kill two birds with one stone. Once I scanned the list, there was no other book I considered reading regardless weather it was shorter or written by a famous writer. The subject interests me, especially because the knowledge proposed is quite revolutionary among all the modern advertisement. So far the book is interesting and the author is particularly good at building towards a climax which keeps me on the edge of my chair wanting to find out what happens next.