John Barry: A Clear View on the Scientific Method

During the 1918 flu epidemic, it became evident that challenging aspects of scientific research required certain traits within scientists. In a passage from The Great Influenza, John M. Barry implements exemplification, diction, and figurative language in order to depict the work of a scientist as challenging and complex and to characterize scientists as those who should possess the traits that are necessary in order to accomplish their goals.

In order to identify the presence of obstacles in the world of experimentation and to describe the characteristics necessary to overcome them, Barry utilizes exemplification by providing specific scenarios. He does so through the examination of a rock as an example to support his claim. He discusses what tools would be the most appropriate to use—“Would a pick be best, or would dynamite be better?” This hypothetical situation is perfect for depicting Barry’s claim that creativity is a common obstacle that scientists encounter in their work. He goes on to use the examination of a rock’s environment as an example of a scientist’s quest of obtaining needed information—“There is a stream passing over the rock.” These examples assist the author in supporting his idea that experimentation provides problems that scientists must overcome through the use of creativity and curiosity. Adding on to this strategy is his clear and concise use of diction.

Barry’s use of sophisticated and descriptive diction allows the audience to further understand his overall purpose of communicating the challenges of experimentation and the attributes that grow from the experience. In describing the decisions that scientists must make, Barry describes work as “grunt” and “tedious.” The reader realizes through this diction that a scientist does experience a complicated workload. He uses poignant words such as “strength” and “courage” in order to portray the characteristics that are needed to overcome the inevitable uncertainty that is so common in science. While describing a scientist’s journey into the “unknown,” Barry uses words such as “wilderness” and “frontier” which further illustrate the previously mentioned uncertainties. In culminating these examples of diction, one can see that Barry is successful in conveying the depths of research.

By using several devices of figurative language, Barry is able to further describe a researcher’s challenges by comparing them to other situations and ideas. While discussing the unknown frontier that scientists must endure, Barry describes a “wilderness region” that is unfamiliar and new. He continues to say that scientists venture “through the looking glass” into a new frontier. These devices help to create familiar ideas that will help the audience understand an unfamiliar situation. Another clever mechanism used was simile that compared research to a “crystal” by explaining that “probing” was to “precipitate an order out of chaos,” much like a crystalline structure that forms an ordered structure that is seemingly complex. Finally, Barry implements metaphor in order to discuss what follows a discovery. He describes “a flood of colleagues” that “pave roads over the path laid.” This metaphor describes how science changes continuously, one discovery after another ultimately communicating the patience and curiosity that a scientist must have.

The culmination of these rhetoric strategies teaches a new way of understanding for an audience that is unfamiliar with this type of material. Author John Barry uses exemplification to paint specific scenarios while using clear diction to give the reader an easy understanding of his thesis. Throughout the passage Barry utilizes his repertoire of figurative language to keep his audience interested in the complicated world of scientific research. This use of exemplification, diction, and figurative language portrays a clear view on the scientific method that is both interesting to explore and entertaining to read.