In her essay, "The Unbearable Whiteness of Skiing," author Annie Gilbert Coleman uses a variety of rhetorical techniques in order to convince the reader of the negative effects of the segregation that pervades ski slopes in the western United States. Irony is one of the strongest devices she employs as she discusses the fact that, although Hispanics and Native Americans are represented in the population of these western states, they are represented only in the kitchens and laundries of the ski resorts. In addition to exposing the irony of the situation, Coleman also uses similes, metaphors, meta discourse, and attention to structure in order to make her point that ski slopes do not fairly or accurately represent the population and that socioeconomic factors have given skiing a whiteness that has nothing to do with snow.

             The author employs a careful structure in her essay so that the reader is driven to understanding her point as if he or she were getting off a ski lift at the beginning and careening downhill toward her purpose. Beginning with a historical approach in order to convey her message, the author discusses the growth and attitude of the sport in the 20th century. She describes the American adoption of the sport and all that it entails from the model of European skiers and resorts. "The whiteness of these places has clear historical roots," she explains. "Scandinavian and European immigrants to the West brought knowledge of skiing and ski making with them and, in doing so, significantly altered western mountain culture." The essay uses a historical approach in structure because it both gives authenticity to the research and also suggests a question. She makes it clear that skiing has jumped continents and evolved, but also says, "This historical context of the sport, however, does not explain why the growing ski industry and its clientele managed to retain such an enthusiasm for white ethnicities even after the influence of European dynamics fell off.