Section: Pgs 99-154 (Ending after the epilogue)
The ending chapters of the book "Heaven is for real" are about the main character Colton, and the different facts he claims God gave him to tell humans on earth. For example, Colton's father, Todd who is also the author of the story, brings Colton to a home where a Christian man is old and dying of sickness. As Todd finishes praying with the man's family, Colton walks back to the man and says "The first person you'll see is Jesus". After this accusation Colton's family becomes even more intrigued with his words. As well as these random acts of God, Colton begins telling things AGAIN that he could have never known before. Such as what the throne room of God is like. Something that really sparked in my mind was that Colton revealed facts that are even unknown to the writers of the bible. Within the bible it states that Jesus will sit at the right hand of God, which is exactly what Colton described but then Colton said who sat at the left side of God... Something that is not stated in the bible. He tells his father that it is the angel Gabriele, which completely makes sense to his pastoral father.
From an objective standpoint, this book and with its concluding pages brings me to realize that even the most outstanding disbelievers in God and faith could be swayed into these words. A simple toddler who has the most innocent faith from God. To him, religion was not brought to him through a priest or through the words of the bible. God came to him himself (as so the book says) and showed Colton what the afterlife will be like. The concluding words in the book explain that as the years wore on, Colton continues to give facts to his parents about what he saw, he continues to explain in simple terms and at the most random moments. But everything he does say is backed up by child-like ignorance that could not be faked
The context of the last few chapters is when the family begins to openly tell people of their son and what he has seen and has expressed. This brings the book full circle and explains how the book got here and what it has done for the family. The purpose of the author in this section would be to fully give credibility to his son, and to his family for their purpose in writing a book... which was not for fame but to spread Christianity to the world. There were also many more rhetorical devices that were clearly evident in this section then any other section.
Author's purpose was achieved because the book is now nationally famous!
R. Devices:
Imagery: Each chapter is something new Colton has revealed about heaven and/or Jesus and God. To efficiently explain the different things Colton has said, Todd uses extreme imagery and detail to try and give the audience just a small glimpse of what he has seen through his son.
Bible Passages/Ethos (Yes, combined in this case):Bible passages are majorly used towards the end of the book to give credibility to Colton on his expressions of God and things he has "seen" when he went to heaven and back. The bible passages are shown frequently.... for example, Colton claims that Jesus sits at the right hand of God. Now as a four year old, he would not know this fact because in a preschool sunday school kids learn that Jesus loves them and that's basically it. Showing a bible passage to back up that what he is saying is true makes the ethos of Colton that much more effective.
Appositives: Appositives are used to explain the different people who are continually coming up in the story, and the new ones. For example of this, the author uses an appositive to explain his wife "I left Sonja, now seven months pregnant, with Cassie.." (Pg 117). This is effective in this way because it keeps the reader focused and made it easy to figure out the context of each part of the book.
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