Paper 1 Commentary- The Pleasure of Books by William Lyon Phelps

This text is a speech that was delivered by American educator, literary critic and author, William Lyon Phelps, on April 6 1933- on a radio broadcast. This speech’s main target is to directly persuade the audience to admire and appreciate the books that ‘belong to you’. While reading through the speech, the reader gains an understanding of Phelps’ passion towards books and his urge for the audience to share the same passion; this can be comprehended by his use of multiple persuasive techniques and his tone.As this speech was delivered during a radio broadcast, it can be implied that Phelps is directing this speech out to and for ‘everyone’; he does not have a specific target audience in mind. This is further reinforced when he states that ‘everyone should begin collecting a private library’; the pronoun ‘everyone’ indicates that the target audience is every and any person who is listening to the broadcast. Moreover, the modal verb ‘should’ indicates a sense of obligation, reinforcing the idea of Phelps’ desire to share his passion for reading with the audience. On a deeper scale, the use of the verb ‘should’ suggests that he is indirectly criticizing people who do not ‘own’ a ‘private library’.William Phelps personifies and humanizes books in his speech to highlight how much he values them; this may be his attempt in convincing the audience how important reading is to him and ‘should’ be to them. In his speech, he is informing the audience that books play a pivotal role in our lives and that “the habit of reading is one of the greatest resources of mankind”, the use of hyperbole with the superlative adjective ‘greatest’ indicates that in Phelps’ eyes, nothing can beat the knowledge and information we are able to receive from books that we may not be able to receive from other humans; this could explain why he chooses to humanize them, as he describes them as the “best and most enduring part of personality” and hence one’s knowledge. Moreover, he states that ‘literature is the immortal part of history’, which may mean that books and the information they hold inside of them will never die; once again reinforcing his idea of how valuable books are to him, perhaps suggesting he chooses books over any other human; this is further reinforced when he states that ‘book-friends have this advantage over living friends’. On one hand, this could be his way of confessing his loneliness. On the other hand, he could be referring to how books are ‘immortal’ and are not ‘living’, therefore they are infinite and will not abandon us, unlike ‘living friends’ will. In addition, Phelps uses the literary device of allusion when he states, “...you can at any moment converse with Socrates or Shakespeare or Carlyle or Dumas or Dickens or Shaw or Barrie or Galsworthy”, this adynaton allows Phelps to engage the audience even further, as it hints to them that with reading such absurd situations are possible.It is quite apparent that throughout the speech, Phelps attempts to form a close relationship with the audience to appeal to them and get his point across to them; this is evident due to his gripping and fascinating use of inclusive language using pronouns such as ‘we’ and ‘us’ in addition to direct address with the use of the pronoun ‘you’. Phelps’ direct message immediately becomes more effective mainly down to his influential and encouraging tone, which not only motivates the audience, but also aids them in gaining a wider interest in the topic of reading. Phelps’ language and enlightened choice of diction engages the audience and ultimately encourages them to ‘own books’ and make ‘use’ of them more, which will perhaps help boost their vocabulary and lead to their language possibly emerging and evolving to become as inventive and compelling as his. Phelps uses extremely intellectual vocabulary which results in the reader being inquisitive and compelled in what reading might bring to one’s mind as well as gaining the ability to ‘look into their innermost heart of heart’.Furthermore, Phelps aims to engage the audience by appealing to their sense of ownership and possession of property by listing the disadvantages of borrowing books and the advantages of books ‘that belong to us’. In the first paragraph, he states that a “borrowed book is like a guest in the house”, the use of this certain simile is a technically superb example of persuasive language, this is because Phelps uses a real-life example and reference to grip the audience, as this comparison is somehow relatable and understandable by almost ‘everyone’. In addition, Phelps uses the literary device of accumulation and anaphora to point out all of the limitations and restraints that come alongside borrowing books; this is done by the repetition of the verb “cannot”.At the end of the paragraph, Phelps discloses that “some day, although this is seldom done, you really ought to return it”, the use of emotive language and pathos appeals to the audience, as it takes away from their right to ‘own’ and be responsible for something of their ‘own’.It can be argued that Phelps’ fascination in books and the ‘pleasure’ he receives from them, resulted in them being his sexual release; reinforcing the idea of him being a lonely individual. The idea of sexual release can be comprehended by the diction he chooses to describe books. Firstly, Phelps’ speech is titled ‘The PLEASURE of Books’; the noun ‘pleasure’ can be defined as something that results in one’s sensual gratification. In addition to that, Phelps uses adjectives such as ‘attractive’ and ‘the best’ to describe how he feels about their designs and presence and he states that they are ‘stimulating’ and that one should ‘treat them with that affectionate intimacy’. The language Phelps uses resembles the language of individual who receives not only mental, but physical ‘pleasure’ from reading.This speech is short in length in comparison to typical speeches that we hear; this precision is a smooth and compelling way for Phelps to get his point through to the audience, who are the broadcast listeners, as people tend to lose interest after a specific amount of time. However, in this case, Phelps’ point is able to reach through to them quickly and effectively. In the last line, he calls out the audience to grip their attention back in, in case it was lost. Phelps directly addresses the audience, ‘you are necessary to them as an audience is to an actor’, the flattery in this quote results in the audience feeling important and prominent.Overall, it can be concluded that Phelps himself is an example of ethos, meaning he has the credibility that no average author does, as he is an educator, literary critic and author who has taught at Yale university, therefore the audience is initially better influenced and encouraged, if the speech is summoned by the authority figure himself.