Did you know that 95% of teens have felt inferior at some point in their lives? (stageoflife.com) Sam Lansky, an avid writer, was one of the many individuals that have felt this way before. Growing up, he was always a step ahead of the others, whether it be planning to go to a prestigious college or trying to get out of vital work so that he could feed his addiction. At the time, the 17-year-old from Manhattan found himself before drugs more often than school work. As he journeyed through the states, he began to face his true self and shy away from his past.

Sam begins his anecdote by opening up about his family’s divorce and how he would assure himself that what he thought wasn’t real. “As I watched him, I convinced myself that I could see a trace of a tan line on his ring finger, a thin band of flesh paler than the natural olive of his skin--- but then I blinked, and it was only a trick of the light.” (Lansky 5) Lansky used a lot of imagery throughout the story to demonstrate how he felt and to deliver that feeling to the audience using pathos. Many of the rhetorical devices he used, played a great role in conveying inspirational messages throughout his novel. Another device he commonly used are similes which compare his infatuated obsession to an unpleasing collection of words. …show more content…
“The drugs were hitting in exactly the right way. My heart was a hummingbird, its wings vibrating in my chest.” (Lansky 38) The words he chose made the exquisite agony feel true to one while reading. “I was given clean sheets for a lumpy twin bed; on the top bunk was a dark-haired boy with a sparse mustache that belied his age.” (Lansky 156) The superior words Sam uses brings the story to life and creates a bond with the book making you never want to lose grasp of