Transcript ap language essays

AP LANGUAGE ESSAYS
RHETORIC
ANALYSIS
--------------Analyze the
way a piece
of writing is
written
ARGUMENT
ANALYSIS
SYNTHESIS
---------------- ANALYSIS
Analyze
--------------several
whether or Analyze
sources about a
topic and choose
not you
a position and
agree with
argue it.
a concept or
belief.
What is rhetoric?
Rhetoric is the art of language
• The art of analyzing all the language choices
that writer, speaker, reader, or listener might
make in a given situation so that the text
becomes meaningful, purposeful, and
effective.
• The specific features of texts, written or
spoken, that cause them to be meaningful,
purposeful, and effective for readers or
listeners in a given situation.
RW Activity #1 8/15/11
• What comes to your mind about the excerpt as it relates to rhetoric
“An eight-year-old boy had a younger sister who was dying of
leukemia, and he was told that without a blood transfusion she
would die. His parents explained to him that his blood was
probably compatible with hers, and if so, he could be the blood
donor. They asked if he would give his sister a pint of blood, that it
could be her only chance of living. He said he would have to think
about it overnight.
The next day he went to his parents and said he was willing to
donate the blood. So they took him to the hospital where he was
put on the gurney beside his six-year-old sister. Both of them
were hooked up to IV’s. A nurse withdrew a pint of blood from the
boy, which was then put in the girl’s IV. The boy lay on his gurney
in silence while the blood dripped into his sister, until the doctor
came over to see how he was doing. Then the boy opened his eyes
and asked, “How soon until I start to die?”
To“TAG”
“TAG” it!
When referencing a reading of any
kind in your writing, please “TAG”
it.
Title Author Genre –
The memoir, Bird by Bird by Anne
Lamott
“CEL” it!
CLAIM (STATEMENT) or (say)
• The claim is the position you are taking in your
writing.
EVIDENCE (Quote) or (mean)
• Evidence is the proof that supports your claim
LINK (Commentary) or (matter)
• The link explains how or why the evidence
supports the claim.
Most
important
CEL paragraph practice for the Rhetoric
essay
• What is meaningful or
purposeful about they way the
excerpt is written? (CLAIM)
• EVIDENCE (Quote)
• LINK (how or why does the
evidence supports the claim.)
RHETORICAL FORMULA
• Author + adjective +
rhetorical device + verb to
describe device + purpose or
effect.
(CLAIM)
Rhetorical Formula + CEL P
• CLAIM (TOPIC SENTENCE): Rhetorical
formula: author + adjective + device +
verb to describe device + purpose/effect.
• EVIDENCE: a quote from the essay which
shows the use of this device.
• LINK/COMMENTARY: how or why does
the evidence supports the claim.
Specifically, what is the purpose and
effect.
AGENDA 8- 8 -12
• Introduction to
Rhetorical
Devices
• Flashcards:
Rhetorical
devices
• Book distribution
DO NOW: Please
hand in your 3
CEL paragraphs
of Bird by Bird,
And write down
your homework
TODAY’S
MATERIALS:
A pen/pencil
and
highlighter
Objective: Understand a number of rhetorical devices and practice identifying them
Homework: Create Flashcards for Rhetorical Devices:
Front side: Device Back Side: definition, memory technique,
example(s)
Aristotle’s elements of persuasion
• ETHOS
• LOGOS
• PATHOS
Logos
Reason- logos – the logic of the argument
An argument that appeals to mostly reason and
intellect. Argument deals with issues that are
debatable with opposing views.
EX: percentages, facts, research states, evidence
which proves claim
Logos examples
-Inductive reasoning
-Allude to history,
religious texts, great
literature or
mythology
-Use deductive
reasoning
-Cite commonly held
beliefs
-Provide testimony
-Draw analogies
-Order chronologically
-Provide evidence
-Cite authorities
-Quote research
-Use facts
-Theorize about cause
and effect
Create syllogism
-Cite traditional culture
Ethos
Ethics- ethos- credibility
Cultivate a sincere, honest tone that will establish
your reputation as a reliable, qualified,
experience, well-informed, and knowledgeable
person whose arguments are ethically sound.
EX: The more believable we are as human beings
or experienced, the better chance we will have of
convincing readers.
Ethos examples
-Make the audience
believe the audience
that the writer is
trustworthy.
-Demonstrate that the
writer put in research
time
-Support reasons with
appropriate, logical
evidence
-Convince the audience
that the writer is
reliable and
knowledgeable
-Present a carefully
crafted and edited
argument
-Demonstrate that the
writer knows the
audience and
respects them
-Show concern about
communicating with
the audience
Pathos
Emotion- pathos- the emotion of an argument
Attempt to arouse reader’s feelings, instincts,
senses and biases.
EX: engages the emotion of the audience– use
figurative language.
-
Pathos examples
Use language that -Explore
involves the
euphemisms
senses
-Use description
Include a bias or
-Develop tone
prejudice
-Experiment with
Include an
informal
anecdote
language
Include
connotative
language
Litotes
• What are litotes? (lie – tuh– tease)
Similar to an understatement – uses a word that is
the opposite to the condition, often (but not
always) by using a “double negative” – the
construction of the sentence is where the litotes
effect takes place.
PURPOSE: (When are Litotes used?)
Litotes are used for emphasis, usually along side an
understatement.
Litotes are also used to weaken a claim
For example: “a cup of coffee would not be
unwelcome.”
Hypophora
• What is Hypophora?
A technique in which you ask a question and
then proceed to answer it.
PURPOSE: Reasons why it is used?
• Guide your readers
• Anticipate questions
• Introduce information
For example: “How do we know this to be
true? We have observed it in the lab”
Procatalepsis
• What is a Procatalepsis?
An objection – think counter argument.
How can it be used?
Counter the initial objection
Create the objections to set yourself up for
argument?
Create an objector and objection – but make it
believable.
PURPOSE: powerful argumentative writing
technique.
For Example: “There are some who say…well they
are wrong…”
Eponym
What is an eponym?
• Similar to an allusion it references someone
(usually historical) – however it is usually
someone real, someone famous and your
linking their attributes to someone else’s.
For example: “A modern day Shakespeare, he
wooed the ladies with his poetry.”
Sententia
• What is a sententia?
A quotation, a wise saying, an idiom – which
usually doesn’t quote a single source.
• To be successful, a sententia must be familiar
and witty.
For example: “We would do well to remember,
that ‘all if fair in love and war.’”
Possible synonyms: Aphorism or maxim
Parallelism/Chiasmus
What is parallelism?
• Uses the same general structure in writing for
balance and cohesion.
• Matching syntax
• Matching tone & feeling of clauses
For example: He smiled happily and laughed
joyfully.
What is Chiasmus?
• Form of parallelism that FLIPS the original form
around
For example: He smiled happily and joyfully
laughed.
Anadiplosis/Conduplicatio #14/15
• What are Anadiplosis’ and Conduplicatio’s?
Two forms of repetition that can help add structure to your essays
– the repeated word takes on power and force, if used well.
• What are the purposes? What are the effects?
When done well this form can create a beautiful sound and can be
used as an effective focus on a word.
• The difference between Anadiplosis and Conduplicatio is…
Anadiplosis takes the last word of a sentence and repeats it near
the beginning of the next sentence or phrase.
For example: “In education we find the measure of our own
ignorance; in ignorance we find the beginning of wisdom.”
Conduplicatio takes an important word from anywhere in one
sentence or phrase and repeats it at the beginning of the next
sentence or phrase.
For example: “This law destroys the fruits of thirty years of
struggle, bringing us back to a less enlightened time. Law should
be evolutionary…”
Parenthesis
• Parenthesis is a device that is used to insert an
aside or additional information into the main flow
of your writing.
It comes in various forms: actual (parenthesis)
commas, or even – dashesEXAMPLE: “The governor - the fool that he isvetoed the bill…”
“On Christmas Day, 1492, the ship,70 feet long, ran
aground on the coast of Haiti.”
{in this form they are often called appositives as
well.}
Apostrophe
• Apostrophe is a rhetorical device in which the
writer breaks out of the flow of the writing to
directly address a person or personified object.
Purpose: a forceful emotional device which evokes
that the writer has become so caught up in what he
or she is writing that it is no longer possible to
respect the bounds of the narrative.
EXAMPLE: “So the sun set over Paris- Paris, my first
love sultry and secretive, beguiling and shy, how I
wanted to hold you forever as the sun went down
that summer day.”
Asyndeton
• Leaving out conjunctions
between words, phrases or
clauses.
"He was a bag of bones, a floppy
doll, a broken stick, a maniac." (Jack
Kerouac, On the Road, 1957)
Polysyndeton
The deliberate use of a series of
conjunctions.
EX: The runner passed the ten-mile
mark and the fifteen and twenty,
and the finish line loomed in front
of him
Epistrophe/Symploce
EPISTROPHE: (similar to anaphora)
A device in which the same word or phrase is
repeated at the end of multiple clauses or
sentences.
“When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood
as a child, I thought as a child, but when I became a
man, I put away childish things.”
SYMPLOCE: combines BOTH epistrophe & Parallelism
symploce.
“We enjoy life when we know ourselves to be free
of temptation and sin, but we enjoy life also when
we give ourselves completely to temptation and
sin.”
Synecdoche/Metonymy
• VERY similar devices and think if them as
different versions of the same form.
Synecdoche is the use of part of something to
represent a whole (as opposed to a single feature).
“When a beautician opened her own shop, she took
twenty heads with her from the shop where she
used to work.”
Metonymy uses a single feature, as an object,
representing the whole.
“The Throne has issued an order that the troops wil
be paid by Thursday.”
AGENDA 8- 9 -12
• Rhetorical
devices activity
• Rhetorical
Devices cont’d
• Analyze rhetoric
used in
advertisements
DO NOW:
Please place your
FLASHCARDS on
your desk and
write down your
homework.
TODAY’S
MATERIALS:
A
pen/pencil,
highlighter,
Flashcards
Objective: Understand a number of rhetorical devices and
practice identifying them and analyzing them
Homework: 1. Write a 5 paragraph essay analyzing
The Dodge Durango Ad. 2. Bring lyrics to your
favorite song.
DO NOW:
Identify the following rhetorical devices.
1. I have journeyed in the lands of the spirit,
drunk from the fountains of wisdom, rested
beneath the trees of eternity, and, to the
land of my birth, I have returned.
2. “Do we then submit to our oppressor? No.
No. A thousand times, no.”
3. “It’s not the smartest idea I’ve ever heard.”
*If you feel one of these to be a helpful example
add it to your FLASHCARD.
Hyperbole
• What is hyperbole?
• An exaggeration of part of your sentence in
order to give emphasis or focus.
Purpose of hyperbole :
• To make a point strongly.
• To snap your reader to attention
• To make a comparison
For example: “At these words, the students
became so silent you could hear a beating
heart from across the room”
Understatement
What is an understatement?
• Almost the opposite of a hyperbole, an
understatement describes something through a
statement that is less than what is expected.
PURPOSE: (How are three ways you can use an
understatement?)
• To demonstrates the power of an event – prompting
the readers to think how much more could be said.
• To lull a reader into a sense of calm – before revealing
the true extent.
• To be humorous, by contrasting with reality you may be
discussing the absurdity of the comparison.
For example: “The Middle East is currently having some
squabbles”
Antithesis
• What is an antithesis?
Makes a contrast in language
How are the three ways antithesis’s be built?
• Keep structure - use opposing words.
• Change entire clauses to contrast with one
another
• Whole sentences opposing one another, by just
changing one word.
PURPOSE: emphasizing something through contrast
For example: “Life can be kind and cruel, full of
hope and heartache.”
Rhetorical Question
• What is a rhetorical question?
A question whose answer is implied, so no
answer is needed.
PURPOSE: To get the audience to think reflect
about the message
For example: “How can we expect a man to
give more than we ourselves are willing to
give?”
Allusion
• What is an allusion?
• Reference to a well-known place, person,
event. Ex: novels, authors, characters in
novels or movies, etc..
• It is a comparison – a shortcut – to explain
something to your reader
For example: “As…
Analogy, Metaphor, Simile
• What is an analogy? What is the difference between
analogies and similes‘ and metaphors?
• An analogy makes a comparison using a simpler
concept to explain a more complex concept. It may
also be used to further elaborate on a point.
• Similes and metaphors are used to compare things for
stylistic reasons, analogies are used to compare for
more pragmatic (realistic) reasons.
• Similes compare things using the words like or as or so
to things that are somewhat related.
• Metaphors are used to state one thing that is actually
another thing by using a form of the verb. Metaphors
speak of things as though it is already the other.
Identify each example as either a
metaphor, simile or analogy
1. “Depression is a bottomless cup that can hold
no liquid.”
2. The night is gentle and quiet; so, too, is my love
for her.”
3. “The desire for wealth, when unchecked, can
lead only to great evil. For though a man may
begin with but a sip of wine, without restraint,
the urge will grow until one day he is drunkard,
blinded to all but his need, taking whatever
steps are needed to find his fix.”
Zeugma
• A device in which unexpected items in a sentence are
linked together by a shared word (subjects linked
together by verbs, pronouns, by nouns, direct objects
by verbs, adjectival phrases by verbs.)
• MOST COMMON: eliminating the common verb. For
example: CHANGE
“The runner lost the race. The school then cancelled his
scholarship.” TO
“The runner lost the race and his scholarship.”
OR
“The man ran a hundred mile, but out of time.”
OR
“The teenage sweethearts, the elderly couple, and the
flickering candles all danced late into the night.”
Anaphora
• The repetition of words at the beginning of
successive clauses.
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to
every purpose under the heaven: A time to be
born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a
time to pluck…; a time to kill, and a time to
heal…”
SATIRE
ironic, sarcastic, or witty composition that
claims to argue for something but actually
argues against it. (it’s usually more subtle
than parody.) EG: The Daily Show, SNL
Satire is usually used to elicit some kind of social
change by illuminating the flaws in the argument
SATIRE
Antecedent
• The noun to which a late pronoun refers.
EX: "A good essay must have this permanent
quality about it; it must draw its curtain round
us, but it must be a curtain that shuts us in not
out."
Antimetabole
• The repetition of words in an inverted order to
sharpen a contrast.
EX: "I can write better than anybody who can
write faster, and I can write faster than anybody
who can write better." (A. J. Liebling)
EX: "We didn't land on Plymouth Rock; Plymouth
Rock landed on us." (Malcolm X)
Aphorism
• A short, astute statement of a general truth,
EX:
• "If you always do what you always
did, you will always get what you
always got.”
• "The first rule of Fight Club is--you do not talk
about Fight Club." (Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden,
Fight Club)
Appositive
• A word or phrase that renames a nearby noun
or pronoun.
• Mrs. Prinn, the AP Language teacher,
encourages us to use the rhetorical formula.
Colloquialism
• An informal or conversational use
of language. Slang.
EX: She was recently dumped by
her fiance.
Cumulative sentence
An independent clause followed by
subordinate (dependent) clauses or
phrases that supply additional detail.
EX: I write this at a wide desk in a pine shed
as I always do these recent years, in this life
I pray will last, while the summer sun closes
the sky to Orion and to all the other winter
stars over my roof.
Periodic Sentence
Periodic Sentence: A sentence in
which the main clause or its
predicate (main verb) is withheld
until the end.
EX: Despite heavy winds and nearly
impenetrable ground fog, the plane
landed safely
OUTLINE for Dodge Durango Analysis
Intro: TAG it and summarize the message of the
advertisement (thesis) and identify the (3) devices
used.
• CEL P #1 w/ rhetorical formula - Device #1 (Don’t
forget to prove purpose and effect in your LINK!)
• CEL P #2 w/ rhetorical formula - Device #2 (Don’t
forget to prove purpose and effect in your LINK!)
• CEL P #3 w/ rhetorical formula - Device #3 (Don’t
forget to prove purpose and effect in your LINK!)
Conclusion: Restate thesis.