Sexual Trauma in Egypt
Truly prosperous writers have the ability to communicate their view of a place without actually saying it, to portray an object in a certain way just by describing it. In the provided article taken from the opening paragraphs of “Egypt: Impunity Fuels Sexual Violence”, the author does just this. Through her use of stylistic elements such as selection of figurative language, detail, and imagery, the writer reveals her own solemn perspective of Egypt’s sexual violence conflict while setting the stage for an amazing battle with words.
Beginning in the first line of the article, the author selects the most attention-grabbing words and details of this dishonor in order to grasp the reader’s undivided attention and to portray the article’s solemnity. She draws attention to the physical isolation and attacks on the women in Egypt by referring to it as the place that "women are attacked alone or separated from friends by a group of men that quickly escalates in number." The author makes readers very aware that no effective actions are being made, but more dangerous ones actions are taking place instead, with lines such as, “In 2005, groups of men were reportedly hired by the government to attack women journalists”. One gets the feelings from the author's selection of detail that she wishes there was something more positive, less deep, to share with her audience, and is disappointed by the cursory nature in which she must approach the description of a beautiful place like Egypt.
In addition to including the most vulgar of details, this author uses a great deal of imagery to describe the country, its residents, and the sexual harassment. Focusing mostly on visual appeal, she describes the "mob-led sexual assaults" and "reported physical and sexual assaults" to reveal the country's weakening appearance. Portraying the area as one that has seen better days, the author writes about the "male and female activist" that are trying their best to bring justice to this case. Combining visual imagery with hints of despair and obsoleteness, the author attempts to reveal the dark and dangerous nature of the country’s sexual assaults and violence through its appearance and news.
She does not, however, rely only on visual details; in describing the local accent as "impartial, through investigations," she uses both auditory and visual appeal to make one imagine a sexual assault victim's tone of voice, appearance, damaged self-esteem, and pattern of speech as she describes the numerous events of sexual harassment experiences. The phrase "the women attacked alone"