Rhetorical Analysis of River Teeth

River Teeth

I chose River Teeth: A Journal of Nonfiction Narrative as the publication I wanted to analyze. It comes out twice annually in Spring and Fall in both e-form and in print and is based out of Ashland University in Ohio.

A definition of river teeth from the editors: There are parts of every drowned tree that refuse to be broken down. There is in every log a series of cross-grained, pitch-hardened masses where branches once joined the tree's trunk. "Knots," they're called in a piece of lumber. But in the bed of a river, where the rest of the tree has been stripped and washed away, these knots take on a very different appearance, and so deserve a different name. "River teeth," we called them as kids, because that's what they look like.

In other words, the magazine seeks stories about the parts of our lives that refuse to be stripped or washed away.

The journal bills itself as "seeking creative nonfiction, including narrative reporting, essays and memoirs as well as critical essays that examine the emerging genre".

Upon investigation, it is clear that personal narratives and memoirs are the dominant form of writing in River Teeth. The voice, generally, is starkly personal and I was surprised at the directness and candor of the writing. The vast majority of essays were reflections on family and every day life. The focus tends to be personal relationships, specifically with family or some other loved one, probing the intricacies and oddities of different types of relationships through different personal lenses. Many of the situations explored are familiar. In the most recent issue, themes of childhood (Someone Else), parental relationships (Falling, The Oar), and divorce (Koi) were explored. In the spring issue, essay topics included young love (Sarah Wills), domestic violence (The Bruise) and parenting (Night Crawlers). The writing tends to be straightforward, relying mostly on simple straightforward narrative description without a lot of metaphors. The focus is less on conversation and leans more heavily on description to set the scenes and establish emotion. The sentences are not overly flowery and instead are typically straightforward and sometimes rather pointed. Some examples of that style can be seen in The Things Our Fathers Loved by Leslie Stainton: "The things my father loved: Mommy and Daddy. Big sister Betty. Stuffed dog, toy gun. Baseball bat and ball. Beach outings in a wicker stroller..". In Teeth on Bone, Amy Whitcomb observes "I was raised in a suburb of Boston. My grandpa kept accounting books, my grandma reared one child, my mother, and ordered delivery pizza on all major holidays..". Some of the essays were reminiscent of "Silent Dancing" in the way they conveyed childhood memories. The settings are varied but not exotic (home, work, a train, a restaurant) and seem to be based mostly in American neighborhoods - the scenes are more often in rural or suburban settings opposed to urban cities. This is straightforward, serious writing - not snarky or "hip". While I don't believe all of them cross into creative nonfiction, I believe that the use of descriptive language to explore a deeper personal reflection through snapshots of everyday life is exemplary of what we have been doing in class.

The journal seems to prefer paragraph, essay forms. Not a lot of experimental writing - a handful were broken into segmented forms. Traditional sentence structure as well as simple paragraph and essay structures were used in the bulk of the essays. The authors seem to be young adults, perhaps in their 30's and 40's, old enough to have their own families, but young enough to reflect on their parents' and grandparents' lives. I believe the intended audience is similar - young adults who are mining their personal experiences and relationships for meaning. In examining the list of authors, I can see that this publication does print first-time/amateur authors - at least one or two per issue. Other featured writers include published authors, journalists, teachers, etc. There are 10-12 works in each publication - all but 1 or 2 are typically narrative essays. Each issue of the magazine includes at least one alternate form of an essay. Twice in the past 2 years, it's been on writing technique (Fall 2013: an exploration of character formation, Fall 2012: defining the essay). Last spring, it was an interview, while the spring before it was a discussion of an annual writer's conference. The length of the essays can be as short as 4-5 pages to as long as 20 or 30, although I'd say the average is around 10.

An overview of the journal is here:

Muse link to fall issue

Submission guidelines are here:

The trick with River Teeth is you have to submit your essay using Submittable - it does not accept any submissions by mail.
To set up a submittable account, go here:

Submissions are accepted between September 1 - December 1 and January 1 - May 1 and the editors claim to respond within 3 to 6 months. If you are accepted you get 2 complimentary issues, one year subscription and chance to buy issues with your piece in it at a discounted rate. River Teeth will consider simultaneous submissions as long as you indicate it on a cover letter or in notes submitted with your work. If you allow River Teeth to publish your piece, they will receive first North American serial rights.