John M. Barry writes about the 1918 flu outbreak in his novel The Great Influenza, in it he talks about scientists and their research. In his account he tries to motivate the scientific community to have the courage to find a cures. By using rhetorical questions, juxtaposition, parallel structure and metaphors to persuade scientists. In the passage from The Great Influenza author John M. Barry characterizes good scientific research as having the ability to be courageous and certain in order to convince scientists “that a single step can take them through the looking glass” to find the answers to the unknown.

In his novel John M. Barry uses rhetorical questions and juxtaposition in his attempt to persuade scientists to have confidence in his work. By asking rhetorical questions like “If the rock is impenetrable, if dynamite would destroy what one is looking for, is there another way of getting information about what the rock holds?”, makes scientist think of what they would do in that position. Would they have the confidence to do what is needed? Barry also uses juxtaposition to persuade scientists to be confident. He compares successful …show more content…
Barry also uses metaphors and parallel structure to persuade scientists to have confidence and certainty in their work. He says “Ultimately, if the researcher succeeds, a flood of colleagues will pave roads over the path laid, and those roads will be orderly and straight.”, he is telling the scientists if they are successful in their work they will also lead the way for other people to be successful in their work. You can not be successful in your work if you are not confident. By using parallel structure he emphasizes his point, “Certainty creates strength, Certainty gives one something upon which to lean. Uncertainty creates weakness.”. He emphasizes that certainty is how you will succeed. By using parallel structure and metaphors he is able to show the readers how to succeed, and persuade them to have