A summer's life

Soto's narration of his childhood experience of sin and guilt utilizes many rhetorical strategies. Every aspect of his prose including his pacing, repetition of phrases, imagery, and use of contrasting elements gives the reader a deeper understanding of what he felt during the pie raid. He clearly portrays how a child would react to the situation.

Although throughout the essay, pacing is most clearly used as a literary device in paragraph two. Soto uses a quick pace to convey a sense of nervous anxiety and panic such as "He looked at me, and I got up and headed for home. I raced on skinny legs to my block." This is a drastic change from the preceding paragraph when the pace was slower and the sentences flowed smoothly. The same quick pace was used to describe the stealing of the pie and the getaway afterwards. This type of pace implies that the author is afraid of being caught and is being extra vigilant. It also gives the story a lively twist...