AP English
Comparative Syntax Assignment
Craft a 1-2 paragraph response in which you compare and contrast the differing styles of Ralph Waldo Emerson in “Education” and James Baldwin in “A Talk to Teachers.” Your claims should discuss the style and purpose it serves. Your evidence should focus on elements of syntax. Your analysis should show how those elements of syntax create the meaning in the passage.
As an additional challenge, below you will find the names of several syntax devices that are identified in the syntax packet. You must incorporate at least three of the items into your response. Identify those elements by annotating them in the margins.
Appositive phrasesImperative SentencePeriodic Sentence
Balanced SentenceAntithesisParallel Structure
RepetitionRhetorical QuestionAppositive Phrase
Juxtaposition of Long/ShortInverted SentenceAdverb Clause Opener
Example:
(Using Orwell’s “Shooting and Elephant” and White’s “Once More to the Lake”)
In “Shooting an Elephant,” Orwell uses a variety of syntactical techniques to highlight his confusion and ambivalence in regard to imperialism in Burma. In the opening paragraph, Orwell, an English officer in Burma[JMB1],juxtaposes long and short sentences to create the impression that Burmese abuse is rampant, punctuating a number of details with the short “This happened more than once.” After telling the tale of the elephant rampaging the town presents, after he grabs the gun and hits the streets, Orwell must face the ultimate question[JMB2]: Will he shoot the elephant? [JMB3]He ultimately presents his ambivalence in the paradox that shows he is powerless to act though he is ostensibly in charge. Later, he again uses the long/short juxtapositionwith the realization “I had got to shoot the elephant” to highlight his powerless confusion. He wishes to spite Burmese, yet he acquiesces to obey them.[JMB4]
By contrast, “Once More to the Lake” uses its syntactical techniques to represent the loose association of memory that creates a nostalgic tone for the past created by the narrator. Frequently throughout the essay, White uses sentences where phrase builds on phrase to represent this association. In paragraph seven, he uses a compound sentence to contrast the natural details against the man-made details, building phrase on phrase to build this category. After he creates the impression that time has not passed followed by the notice of subtle changes, he uses this loose sentence structure to lament the change he notices. [JMB5]For example, in paragraph 9, he uses a simple, loose sentence to list at great length all the wonderful things that arriving on a train entailed. That sentence is juxtaposed with a short sentence and a parenthetical sentence to highlight his opinion that the new methods are somehow lacking. Near the end of the essay, White builds the extended metaphor of the melodrama. Built with a number of examples of polysyndeton that seem to run on and on, he conveys the impression of being overwhelmed by the magic of the scene, even to be rendered incoherent with the sentence fragment, “And the young man with the umbrella.” Through this structure, White, who wrote the essay after his father’s recent passing[JMB6], builds the impression that he is overwhelmed with flooding memories and a nostalgia for his childlike past.
[JMB1]Appositive phrase
[JMB2]Periodic Sentence
[JMB3]Rhetorical question
[JMB4]Balanced sentence/antithesis
[JMB5]Periodic sentence
[JMB6]Interrupting adjective clause