Rhetorical Strategies Mr. Balla /Caughey
AP English Language
Every discipline employs a special vocabulary; rhetorical analysis is no exception. Rhetorical analysis is based in part on the assumption that writing is a purposeful activity and that excellent writing resulting in works of literary merit is not merely a happy accident. During the year you will familiarize yourself with some of the terminology that is used in rhetorical analysis. To that end, you will be creating a glossary of rhetorical strategies that you encounter in your reading.
The specific devices you will need to use for your entries over the course of the year are discussed in a separate handout. To summarize: you must complete entries for the five principle aspects of rhetorical analysis:
?Pathos ?Ethos ?Logos ?Repetition ?Description
You must also select devices from the list below for your remaining entries. Any device that you wish to use that is not included this list will need to be cleared by me first.
Alliteration
Antithesis
Climax
Epizeuxis
Metanoia
Polysyndeton
Allusion
Apophasis
Conduplicatio
Epanalepsis
Hypotaxis
Parenthesis
Synecdoche
Antimetabole
Litotes
Personification
Understatement
Antiphrasis
Chiasmus
Epithet
Eponym
Metaphor
Procatalepsis
Amplification
Aporia
Diacope
Exemplum
Metonymy
Rhetorical Question
Catachresis
Epistrophe
Anacoluthon
Aposiopesis
Dirimens Copulatio
Expletive
Onomatopoeia
Scesis Onomaton
Anadiplosis
Apostrophe
Distinctio
Hyperbaton
Oxymoron
Enthymeme
Hyperbole
Parallelism
Simile
Anaphora
Assonance
Enumeratio
Hypophora
Parataxis
Symploce
Antanagoge
Asyndeton
Metabasis
Sententia
Analogy
Appositive
Pleonasm
Zeugma
Over the course of the semester you’ll be asked to complete a number of rhetorical strategy entries. Any time you encounter a device from the above list, whether it is in your outside reading or it is in a text we are studying as a class, you can use that device for a glossary entry. You will eventually accumulate a varying number of points each grading period.
Guidelines
· You may only submit two (2) entries per week
· Entries are due every Monday or the first day of the week
· You are responsible for keeping all of your lit devices once they have been graded
· Devices with more than three (3) grammatical errors will result in a zero (0)
· You will turn all of your graded devices before the end of each grading period
· All entries must be typed, edited, and in the correct format in order to be graded
· Devices “discovered” on websites such as americanrhetoric.com will be scored a zero (0)
· Plagiarized entries will result in a zero (0) for the entire semester of the rhetorical device assignment
The FUNCTION discussion is the most important part of your rhetorical strategy. Unfortunately, it is also the most difficult (isn’t that just typical?). However, if you are certain to include the Three C’s in your function discussion, you will always find success.
Every rhetorical strategy function discussion needs to include:
1. Context: This sets up the text portion you are about to discuss. In other words, you need to BRIEFLY introduce the general circumstances in your example. This does not mean you need to summarize the entire plot of a novel. For example, if you were using an example from the third chapter of All the Pretty Horses you would not need to explain the John Grady had left his home in Texas and had found work in Mexico as a rancher, etc., etc. You would merely need to say “When John Grady Cole hears the short pop of a gun, and Belvins fails to get back on the truck…”
2. Concept: What is the specific strategy that you are addressing? Use it in the present tense and use the active voice (i.e. “This symbolizes the...) when referring to the rhetorical strategy. Make certain you discuss it directly and are specific rather than general. Also make sure you have correctly identified the device.
3. Connection: Discuss in clear and specific terms exactly how the rhetorical strategy contributes to the passage/poem/novel as a whole. In other words, how does the rhetorical strategy reinforce and contribute to what is occurring in the larger context? Make sure you address the artistic effect when appropriate. When discussing the connection, artistic or otherwise, make certain that you address how this language device operates within the passage.
For example, it is typical for students to say that a device gives a passage “flow.” This is not a helpful comment unless that “flow” is connected to something specific in terms of the effect. All writing should “flow” to some extent -- addressing what there is about the “flow” that the shapes the text is the key.
Remember that merely pointing out a rhetorical does not mean that you understand its effect on the passage as a whole. You have to be specific about its function. If you are certain to include the Three C’s, then you will be successful.
Term: Definition of the rhetorical strategy selected
Example: Quotation, followed by source, including title, page/line number
Function: Author’s purpose in employing this language resource at this point in the work. How does this particular device enhance what the writer is conveying? You may comment on theme, character, setting, or whatever else is important in explaining how this device functions in this particular instance.
Parody: A parody is a literary work which imitates the style, plot, or characters of another literary work with the purpose of ridiculing either that work or another subject.
Example: A Great Poem
by Gavin Ewart
This is a great poem.
How I suffer!
How I suffer!
How I suffer!
This is a great poem.
Full of true emotion.
Function: Gavin Ewart was a famous British 20th century poet. In this poem, Ewart parodies a "typical" poem both to poke fun at popular poetry and demonstrate that true human emotion doesn't require flowery language and elegant rhyme to convey. The poem is a clear parody of poetry in general, rather than any specific work (as far as I know). The title - "A Great Poem" - already sets the comic tone of the parody by pretending that the words that follow will be truly spectacular, and in a broad sense it names the source of the parody - great poems. The subject of the poem - suffering - is a stab at the "typical" subject of great poetry - or great literary works in general. After all, just about all great works - from the classical tragedies, to love poems, to comedies - involve human conflict, and thus human suffering. Of course, the bland and unembellished style of the poem is completely contrary to its title - unlike what one would expect from a "great" poem, it does not evoke vivid imagery or strive to use a slew of rhetorical techniques to convey this emotion of suffering (it does use repetition, however). Thus, it is clear that the poem is meant to parody the "typical" emotional poem. Through this ridicule of the typical poem, Ewart reveals that human emotion exists regardless of how effectively or beautifully it is conveyed. The last line - "full of true emotion" - is undoubtedly true. This poem is full of the true emotion of suffering - it dedicates a full half of its six lines to it - and yet it is nothing like what one would expect. Through parody, Ewart reveals the often neglected difference between true emotion and the vivid expression of true emotion.
Symbol: In the simplest sense, a symbol is anything that stands for or represents something else beyond it—often an idea conventionally associated with it. The term symbolism refers to the use of symbols, or to a set of related symbols.
Example: “Like him she was lefthanded or she played chess with her left hand . . . He leaned forward and moved his bishop and mated her in four moves” (133-137).
Function: This chess game between John Grady and Alejandra’s godmother symbolizes the competition that they are in for Alejandra herself. This game of chess, which takes place between these two characters as John is trying to ascertain what his chances are of his relationship with Alejandra receiving approval from the family, represents the greater chess game between these two competing characters. Although John Grady wins the first couple of games and seems to be well on his way to achieving his goal, in the end it is the godmother who triumphs. This directly mirrors John Grady’s and the godmother’s lives: although John Grady wins Alejandra’s affections initially, in the end he loses her. When he takes “her queen” (133) he is literally winning the chess match by taking the queen, but he is also on a symbolic level attempting to take the godmother’s true “queen,” Alejandra, whom the godmother is determined to keep from suffering the same misfortunes she endured. The lack of dialogue between the characters during the match further reinforces the quiet competition they are engaging in; one that is not violent but is indeed fierce. The intellectual nature of the chess match also enhances the choice that Alejandra ultimately makes near the end of the novel: leaving John and opting instead for the security and wealth of her family. This choice reflects the cool and calculating logic of a chess match rather than the passions of the heart.
[Please note that the author first provides context for the discussion (context), discusses the term itself (concept) then carefully discusses how the literary device specifically functions both in the passage and within the context of the novel as a whole (connection). The author is also careful to use the term in the active voice within the function discussion.]
Aside: an actor’s speech, directed to the audience, that is not supposed to be heard by other actors on stage. An aside is usually used to let the audience know what a character is about to do or what he or she is thinking.
Example: “A little more than kin and less than kind.”
(Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 2, p.25).
Function: This is Hamlet’s reaction to the King when he refers to Hamlet as his cousin, and now his son. In saying this, Hamlet hits on two important aspects by which he views the King. “A little more than kin” refers to marriage between Claudius and Hamlet’s mother, the Queen Gertrude. Hamlet disapproves of the marriage and is reluctant to accept Claudius as a father-figure. He mocks the fact that Claudius is now more than kin, as he is only in the position he is in now by pushing himself unto Gertrude, which Hamlet despises. Also, the matter of Claudius being referred to as “less than kind” emphasize the distaste Hamlet holds for him, as Hamlet sees him as cold-hearted and callous. The combination of these two elements portray Hamlet’s immense dislike for his uncle, and now technically father, Claudius. This statement could also be taken as symbolic for Claudius, by naming two characteristics, using “a little more” and “a little less.” This embodies the two-sides of Claudius that are evident throughout the novel, as Claudius retains his sins of murder, yet struggles to phase these out as he attempts to maintain his possessions he has gained, and mask his face with innocence. The importance of the aside, is that Hamlet does not directly state any of this to Claudius directly. It is almost as if he is muttering under his breath, and this is heard only by the audience. This gives the audience insight to Hamlet’s true feelings and motivations, while keeping them hidden from the other characters in the play, especially that of Claudius himself. By revealing such things to the audience, it helps them to better understand that character’s actions in the play and why they do certain things under certain motives, that the audience otherwise would not understand.
Motif: a motif is a recurring element - a symbol or idea - in a literary work; a recurring motif can be used to show a fundamental idea of a work, and often it is used to illuminate the work's meaning. It also serves to give the work greater unity and aids in creating atmosphere.
Example: "HAMLET, taking the skull
Let me see. Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio--a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy. He hath bore me on his back a thousand times ... Where be your gibes now? your gamblots? your songs? your flashes of merriment that were wont to set the table on a roar? Not one now to mock your own grinning? Quite chapfallen? Now get you to my lady's chamber, and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favor she must come" (Hamlet, Act 5. Scene 1).
Function: Death is a constantly recurring theme in Shakespeare’s Hamlet - it permeates every layer of the play, from subtle suggestions to direct confrontations, such as the one shown in this scene. Hamlet's many musings on death and its spiritual and physical implications allow us to see deeper into his tumultuous soul. On a purely dramatic level, the recurring theme of death serves to focus the audience's attention on the constant pressure Hamlet faces to murder his uncle. It also creates an atmosphere of death - the digging up of skulls shows that death in Denmark is practically seething from the ground - reflecting the importance of a king to his kingdom, and the restlessness of its formed sovereign. It may also reflect more deeply an atmosphere which surrounds malicious acts in general, regardless of where they take place - the comfortable, clean palace may mask the ugliness of the people who inhabit it, but the cemetery shows the kingdom in which Claudius truly resides. That Hamlet pays this cemetery a visit may indicate that, to some degree, he too shares this ugliness.
In the play, death serves the role of final judgment - the evil inevitably die. The trouble with a judgment which has but one punishment is that all those judged evil will receive it - thus Hamlet, for his "noble" sin, dies alongside the unrepentant murderer, Claudius. Ophelia dies following the loss of her innocence at the hands of a brutal society, and Gertrude dies for her complicity, ignorant or not (and the circumstances of her death suggest that it was not entirely ignorant), in Claudius' plans. Laertes, another noble youth, dies for his vengeful schemes, brought on as they may be out of a noble desire to avenge his own father, who dies for his foolish manipulations of his own children. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern die for their shameful betrayal of their friend. Only Horatio and Fortinbras live - Horatio, for his boundless loyalty, and Fortinbras, who is held back from his own revenge and damnation by mere chance.