TOW #12 (IRB) Bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America by Yossef Bodansky

Through the first part of "Bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America" author Yossef Bodansky discusses Bin Laden's early life and how he rose to becoming a terrorist. Essentially Bodansky writes the book as though it is a chronological story of Bin Laden's life, taking the reader through each aspect of his life. Bodansky starts the book by talking about how Bin Laden was originally a promising young engineer, and how he was affluent, but then Bodansky starts to gradually show Bin Laden's change. One of the better things Bodansky does is he doesn't make things seem very cause and effect-like. Since in the real world many things are due to multiple causation as opposed to cause and effect, Bodansky makes sure to paint the whole picture for the reader instead of making the book seem bland and fake. In this first section, Bodansky's purpose is to simply introduce Bin Laden and give background information to the reader while not boring them with sequential writing. One way Bodansky is effective at achieving this purpose is by writing the book as a narrative. Instead of boring the reader with a list of facts about Bin Laden, Bodansky takes the reader through the events as though they are actually happening. This effect makes the reader more engaged in the book and provides for a much deeper understanding than just raw fact. In addition to using a narrative style of writing, Bodansky poses rhetorical questions such as, "What makes these individuals commit themselves to this kind of war?"(Bodansky, 1) These rhetorical, "check-up" questions set the reader up for what is going to come up in the next section. So again, in order to capture the audience's attention, Bodansky alerts them through questions to say that new information is coming up. Personally I think these two strategies make "Bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America" a much more connectable and interesting non-fiction piece. As opposed to being a boring non-fiction book, Bodanksy's rhetorical devices engage the reader and make them feel like they are in the time period instead of reading a list of facts.