John Downe Letter Timed Writing Postmortem

What went well:

  • Almost everyone found good strategies to write about! Great job!
  • Everyone wrote about the correct purpose! Wahoo!
  • Almost everyone was on the right track. The only misinterpretations were fairly minor. Bravo!

Good work, guys!

What we still need to be careful about:

Thesis Statements:

  • Please talk about HOW the rhetorical strategies help the author accomplish his purpose. For example, if you say “John Downe tries to convince his wife to join him in America by using comparisons and polysyndeton,” it is really difficult to tell how these strategies could convince his wife. (Oh, darling, you said “and” a lot—now I just HAVE to move to America!) There are many different ways to get the HOW across. For example, in the thesis above, you might say what kind of comparisons he makes (John Downe tries to convince his wife to join him in America by comparing the great abundance available in the U.S. to their impoverished lives back in England). That gives us some idea of how comparisons could help persuade his wife.
  • Make sure the order of your thesis matches the order of your body paragraphs.
  • Some people bit off more than they could chew. If you say you’ll talk about four different strategies in your thesis, but then only make it through two, please go back and adjust your thesis so it matches what you actually wrote—not what you were planning to write. And don’t freak out if you only have two rhetorical strategies. It is better to do an in-depth analysis of two than a weak analysis of four.

Evidence/Analysis:

  • Many people were using very lengthy quotations in their body paragraphs, often far more of a quotation than they needed. If you only need a small part, only quote a small part. A good rule of thumb is you need at least as much analysis as quotation, and ideally two or three times as much analysis. A lot of people fell into the trap of QUOTE QUOTEQUOTEQUOTEtiny bit of analysis QUOTE QUOTEQUOTEQUOTEtiny bit of analysis. Try to avoid this backwards ratio in the future.
  • Some people slipped into summary or restatement of the quotations instead of analysis. Remember, you are never trying to explain WHAT he said—but rather HOW he said it.
  • Often the analysis got rather repetitive. Remember, you don’t want to say the same thing over and over again after each quotation in a paragraph. Each quotation should be accompanied by slightly different analysis. This is all about nuance. How is each example a bit different? How is the author doing something new each time?
  • Watch out for generalizations that aren’t supported by adequate evidence. Especially towards the end, some people got a little sloppy and started claiming things without backing them up.

Little things to avoid:

  • Claiming facts not in evidence. Don’t say he “convinced” his wife to move to America. Unless you have a magic 8 ball or a TARDIS, you have no way of knowing if she was persuaded or not.
  • Don’t say he “uses pathos.” I’d even stay away from saying he “appeals to pathos.” That is so broad that it has almost no meaning. Be specific. Does he play on her fears? Hope to elicit sympathy? Loathing? What KIND of emotion are we talking about?
  • Watch your word choice. To avoid accidentally contradicting yourself or undercutting your argument, please only words you are sure about!