AP LANGUAGE ESSAYS

RHETORIC ANALYSIS

---------------Analyze the way a piece of writing is written

ARGUMENT ANALYSIS----------------Analyzewhether ornot you agree with a concept or belief.

SYNTHESIS ANALYSIS---------------Analyze several sources about a topic and choose a position and argue it.

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 claimLINK (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.

• Introduction to Rhetorical Devices

• Flashcards: Rhetorical devices

• Book distribution

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)

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

AGENDA 8- 8 -12

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 effectCreate syllogism-Cite traditional culture

Ethos

Ethics- ethos- credibilityCultivate 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 involves the senses

- Include a bias or prejudice

- Include an anecdote

- Include connotative language

-Explore euphemisms

-Use description-Develop tone-Experiment with

informal 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 claimFor 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 informationFor 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 objectionCreate 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…”

EponymWhat 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 clausesFor example: He smiled happily and laughed joyfully.What is Chiasmus?• Form of parallelism that FLIPS the original form

aroundFor 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 – dashes-EXAMPLE: “The governor - the fool that he is- vetoed 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/SymploceEPISTROPHE: (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 & 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.”

Parallelism

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.”