Shipshape at the Wharf in Trondheim-Verlyn Klinkenborg

The style exhibited in the article, "Shipshape at the Wharf in Trondheim," is rather out of character for the author, Verlyn Klinkenborg. He uses more rhetorical devices and comes to even less of a conclusion than is typical for him. The article's tone is rather surreal and abstract, with no clear resolution or path. The article, in general, is about the author watching dock workers and experiencing a sense of fascination and pleasure at the ordering and stacking of packages. He investigates what in himself, and in human nature, causes this obsession with order.
This post is written in a narrative format. It is one, single event that the author describes. An overlying rhetorical device he uses is his description and detailing. About some things (the exact number and arrangement of workers, the clothing of the workers, and other seemingly insignificant details) he is tediously specific. About others (why he was in Trondheim, where specifically he was going, and other major parts of the story) he is incredibly vague. Klinkenborg may have described the incident in this way to emphasize what he believes is truly important in the story, over the broader picture. Like in "We Who Are Left When A Generation Passes," the first paragraph contains an alliteration ("...hull has hinged..."). That is where the similarity ends, "We Who Are Left...," contains very few rhetorical devices while "Shipshape..." contains many. In the second paragraph, a hyperbolic expression is used when he states that "Nothing could be more ordinary than forklifts loading and unloading cargo stacked on pallets." Repetition in sentence structure is used in this paragraph when describing the work of each laborer. He uses hyperbole again in the third paragraph by saying, "This driver could tweeze a woman's eyebrows with the blades of his forklift." Soon after, Klinkenborg utilizes the concept of the antithesis when he says, "I'd say it appeals to something visceral in me, but just how visceral can the desire to stack objects with a forklift really be?" This rhetorical device highlights the confusion he feels on his path to discovering what inside himself creates the reaction he describes. The fourth paragraph is primarily composed of a series of rhetorical questions, demonstrating that the author himself is not sure what he thinks. The fifth and final paragraph contains a simile, comparing the forklift to the ferry as it moves out into the water.
The impression Klinkenborg desires to make is that it is universal human nature to desire order, even in small or insignificant details. Throughout the article, he doesn't seem quite sure of this point himself. Like a majority of his articles, "Shipshape at the Wharf in Trondheim," gives readers intimate details about Klinkenborg's life and the workings of his mind. His point is persuasive to those who have experienced the phenomenon he describes. However, to those who have never experienced that pleasure in finding order, this article is abstract and somewhat senseless. In general, this article is less effective than average at convincing readers to change their opinions but exhibits interesting stylistic qualities not shown in Klinkenborg's other work.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/07/opinion/shipshape-at-the-wharf-in-trondheim.html