As I Lay Dying

As I Lay Dying

Rhetorical Journals

You will be keeping a rhetorical journal to track the rhetorical devices William Faulkner uses throughout the novel. You will find specific rhetorical strategies from the novel, discuss what the strategies are and what purpose they serve for Faulkner, and for half of your entries you will also create your own original sample of the rhetorical strategy.

Find at least one entry for each 20 - 25 pages of the novel and

• properly cite the text
• label the rhetorical technique, explain how it works, and explain Faulkner's purpose
• for 1/2 of the entries, imitate Faulkner's rhetorical strategy.

EXAMPLE:

Properly Cited Text:

"I go on to the house, followed by the

Chuck. Chuck. Chuck.

of the adze" (Faulkner 5).

Rhetorical Technique:

Syntax & Onomatopoeia

Explanation and Purpose:

Faulkner creates a specific syntactical emphasis through placement, punctuation, and repetition of Chuck, Chuck, Chuck. By intentionally creating a space between each repetition of the word, Faulkner creates the SOUND of the adze as it works the wood. The word chuck also has onomatopoeia as when one says/reads Chuck, the word SOUNDS like the instrument hitting the wood.

Imitation:

My favorite thing to eat is an ultra-thick mocha chocolate shake. I simply love the

Slurp. Slurp. Slurp

of the shake gliding up the straw into my mouth!

EXAMPLE:

Properly Cited Text:

"a good carpenter, Cash is" (Faulkner 6)

Rhetorical Technique:

Inversion

Explanation and Purpose:

Faulkner employs inversion to emphasize the fact that Cash's carpentry skills are excellent. By placing the main idea at the beginning of the sentence, Faulkner lets the reader know the strong point of his sentence.

Imitation:

My favorite artist, Jim Morrison is.

Rhetorical Device List

Alliteration

Allusion

Biblical

Literary

Historical

Anaphora

Antithesis

Apostrophe

Assonance

Cacophony

Chiasmus

Consonance

Diction

Euphemism

Hyperbole

Imagery

Irony

Verbal

Situational

Dramatic

Juxtaposition

LitotesMetaphor

Mood

Narration

Onomatopoeia

Oxymoron

Paradox

Parallelism

Personification

Point of view

1st person

2nd person

3rd person

Limited Omniscient

Omniscient

Polysyndeton/

Asyndeton

Prosody

Protagonist

Pun

Repetition

Rhyme

Sarcasm

Setting

Simile

Sound devices

Structure

Style

Suspense

Symbol

Synecdoche

Metonymy

Syntax

Theme

Tone

Understatement

Meiosis

Litotes

______

1. Diction

2. slang

3. colloquial expressions

4. jargon

5. dialect

5. concrete diction

7. abstract diction

8. denotation

9. connotation

10. Zeugma