In his novel The Demon in the Freezer, Richard Preston addresses the American public's growing concern about the threat of terrorism following the events of 11 September . As the anthrax scare began to spread across the country, people became more afraid of what might come next. This novel seeks to alert the public to the looming threat that such a biological terrorist attack could pose. Preston uses uncertain diction and short, startling sentences to create an apprehension in the reader that impresses the threat of biological weapons. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Preston begins by using numerous words that indicate uncertainty, phrasing many of his sentences to reflect the fact that he is uncertain about some details regarding smallpox. The choice of words directly affects the reader as Preston's uncertainty translates into uncertainty in the reader. For example, when Preston describes the smallpox cache in the CDC warehouse, his description is full of assumptions and conjectures: The smallpox cache... may be masked. You may be looking straight into the vault and not know that your eyes are resting on the place where half of the world's known smallpox is hidden. There may be variola more than once. There could be a decoy vault... it could be disguised to look like a janitor's closet, ... it could be kept in mirror form: there could be two freezers, designated freezer A and freezer B. Freezers A and B (if they exist, which is unclear) would each contain identical sets of vials. (Preston 80) The words “may,” “could,” and “could” are repeated here over and over, emphasized over all other words and dominant in the passage to form a growing feeling of uncertainty. This doubt is therefore related to an apprehension in the reader. The author knows he has written a book for non-experts, for a non-scientist who does not have great knowledge of diseases. Preston can therefore present himself as an expert on this topic, although he still chooses words to indicate that even he is not entirely sure of the details surrounding the CDC's smallpox filing. These specific diction choices are therefore doubly frightening to the reader: even an experienced researcher is not sure exactly where and the status of smallpox in the United States, let alone the rest of the world. For the reader still new to the topic of biological terror, Preston's language indicates that no one in the world knows the true location of all these pathogens; the reader is noticeably frightened by this realization. Even experts, as Preston says, are concerned about “chemical and biological weapons that some countries may or may not have” (83). Preston here takes advantage of the moment he published the book, shortly after the two planes had crashed into the World Trade Center. It captures the reader's fear of other nations' biological weapons, fears formed by the anthrax scare that swept through America after 9/11. Noting (always in words that indicate uncertainty) that some countries “may or may not” host these types of weapons creates a climate of apprehension. The word "might" signifies to the reader the ambiguity of the situation; he or she is again unsure about the exact nature of the lethal threat. Through such words Preston forms a sense of uneasiness, and therefore is able to arouse a feeling of fear in the reader. Preston goes even further and indicates with hesitant diction not only the doubt about man's control of smallpox, but alsoon the pathogen itself. For example, Preston notes that smallpox “may simply have a small, unobserved reservoir somewhere in rodents” (59). Once again words like “might” are used, indicating vagueness of thought. This insecurity is disturbing to the reader, who would like to think that experts have a firm grasp of such a deadly disease as smallpox. Knowing that this information is unknown is unsettling. The word “might” also forces the reader to think about the issue critically themselves. If the author does not take an authoritative position on an issue, but uses diction that suggests the answer is unknown, the reader must decide for himself what to believe. However, since the intended audience is the layman, the reader is forced to realize that he himself is not sufficiently informed to know the true answer. As such, uncertain words serve a dual function: not only to generate uncertainty, but also to force the reader to appreciate how little they actually know. Both of these features allow the author to generate a greater assessment of the extent of the danger posed by biological weapons. Similarly, in describing possible creations of Russian smallpox, Preston quotes a scientist who states that “'our vaccines may not protect us'” against a bioengineered virus. As before, the word “could” forces the reader into despair and trepidation. Preston's overall goal in this novel is to alert the populace to the possibly imminent threat of biological weapons, and an effective way to attract attention and generate interest in a topic is through fear. Therefore, one of his most effective tools for educating people is to create a sense of fear that draws the reader in through the continuous use of uncertain diction. Another powerful force that Preston uses to scare and unnerve the reader is short, abrupt sentences. Often these fall on the last sentence of a paragraph, sometimes on the last sentence of the chapter, not only to emphasize the sentence, but also to upset the reader because it is so different from the surrounding words. An example of this tactic occurs when Lisa Hensley is working with Ebola in a laboratory and accidentally cuts her safety suit. In the description of his accident there is a simple sentence at the end: “A single particle of the Ebola virus introduced into the bloodstream is believed to be fatal” (Preston 118). By distinguishing this phrase from all the others, Preston emphasizes the solemnity of the statement. The reader is surprised by the sudden deadly statement forced upon him, a statement in stark contrast to the previous tame and ordinary description. Furthermore, the change in sentence length parallels the general idea of ​​uncertainty. Just as syntax can be varied and unpredictable, so can smallpox. This idea is further reinforced by the passive verbal configuration at the beginning: it makes the sentence not a statement of certain fact, but rather nuances it as an idea believed by some scientists. Therefore, the short sentence initially surprises the reader and then indirectly suggests ambiguity and apprehension. Similarly, after a description of Jahrling's experiment punctuated by long, composed sentences, Preston drops a literary bomb: "Then, out of nowhere, came a discovery that profoundly shocked the smallpox experts" (126). Placed last in a chapter, this sentence represents a total change of ideas compared to the previous text. Such a short sentence has no room to explain, but simply states. The explanation of what happened comes later, in this case in a completely new chapter. This initial disparity between the statement and the explanation serves not only to create, 2002.