In the first four sections of the Routes of Man, Conover argues that the road being traveled upon may have many obstacles and rough spots, but once that particular goal is achieved the entire journey turns out to be completely worth it in the end.
Conover uses many rhetorical modes in the first four sections of The Routes of Man.
•Description: Description is used throughout these four sections when Conover describes, in great detail, what the people around him are wearing or doing and what his surroundings appear to be.
•Compare/contrast: The author uses compare and contrast when he explains how different things are in the West than in Zanskar or Puerto Maldonado. Such as the wardrobe, the emotions family members have towards one another, and the geographical land marks.
•Process of analysis: Conover uses process of analysis when he is explaining the procedure for a teenager; from one of the less fortunate towns he has visited, to become a doctor.
•Narration: Ted Conover is always making use of the rhetorical mode of narration when he’s telling the stories about his experiences he has had on his trip to Peru and the Middle East.
•Exemplification: Conover uses exemplification when he is making something clearer and easier for the reader to understand what he is seeing as in the part of the book where he uses the Rocky Mountains as an example to give the reader a mind picture of how large the mountains are in Peru.
•Definition: The author uses definition throughout the sections to explain the meaning of a foreign word in a different language that the citizens of that area use.
•Argument: Conover continuously uses his argument in his writing because he is always explaining how treacherous and dangerous his journeys are, but when he finally gets to the point of where he wants to be, he writes about how great of an experience it was even with the many obstacles he and his fellow travelers came across.
