Transcript Rhetorical Strategies - Mrs. Lenkey's Write Spot

Rhetorical Strategies
Chapter 3
What is Rhetorical
Strategy?
 Rhetoric is the method a writer or
speaker uses to communicate their ideas
to an audience.
 A strategy is the plan or a course of
action taken to reach a goal.
 A rhetorical strategy is the specific
approach a writer uses to achieve a
purpose.
There’s that purpose thing
again…
 Remember that purpose is the reason
why a person chooses to communicate
with an audience – the goal, the intended
effect.
Purposes usually include:
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To inform
To entertain
To question
To argue
To elicit an emotional response
So where does Rhetoric come in?
 HOW the author accomplishes their
purpose is called rhetorical strategy.
Types of Rhetoric:
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Cause/Effect
Classification/Division
Contrast/Comparison
Definition
Description
Exemplification
Narration
Process/Analysis
So how do you choose what to use?
 It never matters how long or short the
piece of writing is, an author uses one or
more rhetorical strategies in order to
achieve their purpose.
 First step is to know who your audience
is and to always write to that group.
Exemplification (Example)
 Most frequently used rhetorical strategy.
 The fundamental ways a writer can
illustrate, support and clarify ideas
include referring to a:
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Sample
Detail
Person
Typical event
Example of
Exemplification in Action
 The new bread-and-circuses approach to mall
building was ventured in 1985 by the four
Ghermezian brothers…builders of Canada’s
$750 million West Edmonton Mall, which
included a water slide, an artificial lake, a
miniature golf course, a hockey rink, and fortyseven rides in an amusement park known as
Fantasyland.
-David Guterson, “Enclosed, Encyclopedic,
Endured. The Mall of America,” Harper’s Magazine
How to use
Exemplification
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Choose your subject.
Choose your purpose.
Identify your audience.
Choose possible examples.
Look at list of possible examples. Limit
your choices to the best two or three.
Then decide how to present your
examples to your audience.
Choosing an
organizational pattern:
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Spatial (where it fits in a physical area)
Chronological (time sequence)
Most important to least important
The one that needs greatest emphasis
(either goes first or last)
 Least important to most important
Now what?
 Write your thesis statement.
 Thesis statements should tell the reader
the subject and purpose of the paper
without giving away the entire discussion.
Contrast/Comparison
 Second most widely used rhetorical
strategy.
 Contrast is interested in differences.
 Comparison is interested in similarities,
but is used alone when referred to both
types of analysis.
Hang on… isn’t analysis a
type of rhetorical strategy
too?
 Yes, but comparison is also a form of
analysis because you are taking
something apart.
Example of
Contrast/Comparison
 As different as [Grant and Lee] were – in
background, in personality, in underlying
aspiration – these two great soldiers had
much in common. Under everything
else, they were marvelous fighters.
Furthermore, their fighting qualities were
really very much alike.
-Bruce Catton, “Grant and Lee: A Study in
Contrasts,” The American Story
Forming a clear
comparison:
 Dependent on choosing two things that
can be compared, being aware of your
purpose and audience, and using a
balanced organization strategy.
 Three primary forms of organizing a
Compare and Contrast paper:
 Subject-by-subject
 Point-by-point
 The combination approach
Subject-by-Subject
 Presents the details about the first item
and then the details about the second.
 So… all points of the first item being
compared are presented and then all
points about the second.
Point-by-Point
Organization
 The writer discusses one point at a time, going
back and forth between the two items.
 In longer texts, a writer may choose to employ
a combination of these two approaches. This
is rare in shorter pieces of writing because it
becomes too confusing to the reader.
Cause and Effect
 At the risk of sounding like math class as a result of A, B occurs.
 The linkage of topic a and b occur along
a timeline.
 When considering causes, consider:
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Primary causes
Contributing causes
Immediate causes
Remote causes
Examples of Causes
 If someone asks why you are applying to
college:
 Primary Cause: I want to have a successful
career in ______________.
 Contributing Cause: I like the sound of
“college graduate”.
 Immediate Cause: My parents want me to
apply.
 Remote Cause: My grandmother went to
college.
Effects
 There are also primary, contributing,
immediate and remote effects as well.
For example:
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Primary Effect: I will be the head of a new ________.
Contributing Effect: People will respect me.
Immediate Effect: My parents will be happy.
Remote Effect: My kids will go to college.
Example of Cause and
Effect
 Some of this shift away from words –
toward images – can be attributed to our
ever-growing multilingual population. But
for many people, reading is passe or
impractical or, like, so totally
unnecessary in this day and age.
-Linton Weeks, “The No-Book Report: Skim It and
Weep,” The Washington Post, May 14, 2001
Classification and Division
 The true “work horses” of rhetoric.
 Could use these for almost any purpose and
subject.
 Classification is the process of grouping items
together that share important characteristics.
Moves from specific to general.
 Division goes form the whole (general) to the
parts (specific).
Example of Classification
and Divison
 I spend a great deal of my time thinking
about the power of language – the way it
can evoke emotion, a visual image, a
complex idea, or a simple truth.
Language is the tool of my trade. And I
use them all – all the Englishes I grew up
with.
-Amy Tan, “Mother Tongue”,
Threepenny Review, 1990
Groups for
Classification/Division
 All groups must be:
 Uniform – This is the principle on which the groups
were created. All categories should fit under one
topic.
 Consistent – All categories fit into the principle
you’ve created.
 Exclusive – No category overlaps another.
 Complete – All of the examples included are
grouped into appropriate categories based on
purpose.
Process Analysis
 Process Analysis is the method of
describing how to perform a task or
explaining how something works by
breaking it down into the chronologically
ordered steps that lead to the goal.
Two forms of Process
Analysis:
 Directive: provides step-by-step
instructions.
 Informative: explains how something
works.
 No matter if it is directive or informative,
the process analysis should be in
sequential, chronological order.
Example of Process
Analysis:
 In personal situations, complaints may come
the way of vague statements… While there
may be more serious relationship issues at
hand, there is a specific way to help the
situation. What you want to do is to have him
get as specific as possible about what is
bothering him.
-David Lieberman, Get Anyone to Do Anything: Never Feel
Powerless Again – With Psychological Secrets to Control
and Influence Every Situation
Definition
 A definition is the meaning of a word.
 Authors can be:
 Denotative/objective: acting like a dictionary
 Connotative/subjective: giving you her personal
meaning and relationship with the word.
Example of Connotative
 Being a hippie is not about putting a
flower in your hair and dancing around in
your bare feet. Being a hippie means
approaching life’s obstacles in a way that
promotes freedom, peace, love and
respect for our earth and all of mankind.
-Katherine Marie DiFillippo, “Love or Haight”,
Making Sense, A New Rhtorical Reader
Example of Denotative:
 …in a very real sense, crime is a legal concept:
what makes some conduct criminal, and other
conduct not, is the fact that some, but not
others, are “against the law”.
Crimes, then, are forbidden acts. But they are
forbidden in a special way.
-Lawrence M. Friedman, Crime and
Punishment in American History
Descriptive
 A writer uses description to recreate a
person, place, thing, or idea in ways that
appeal to the senses.
 Description can be either informative or
impressionistic/evocative.
Two Types of Description
 Informative description is the one that is
factual, practical and to the point.
 The impressionistic/ evocative
description appeals to the reader’s
senses, intellect and emotions.
Organizational Pattern for
Descriptive Rhetoric
 Chronological (time sequence)
 Spatial (positions from a particular point
of view)
 Most noticeable feature (details in
relation to this feature)
 Importance (details used to reinforce the
most important feature)
Descriptive Tools
 A description can use both objective and
subjective language. If subjective
language is used, this can include
figurative language.
 Figurative language includes:
 Metaphor (direct comparison)
 Simile (indirect comparison)
 Concrete words
 Imagery
 Onomatopoeia
Narration
 In narration, a writer tells or retells a
sequence of events within a particular
time frame for a specific purpose.
 A narrative can be of any length when used as a
rhetorical strategy. This ranges from a simple
anecdote to the complete presentation.
Organization in Narrative
 No matter what the purpose, time frame,
or sequence, a narration needs a point of
view. Choices include:
 First person (I, we, us)
 Stream-of-consciousness, an off-shoot of first
person, allows the reader to enter the mind of the
narrator and be privy to the workings of his mind.
 Third person (he, she, they, them)
 With third person objective, the narrator acts as a
reporter;
 With third person omniscient, the narrator knows
all.
Example of Narration
 My guardian angel was a light sleeper. He
saved me from speeding cars, playground
fights, and mercury splashing on my face.
That was in fifth grade when we stole balls of
mercury from the science teacher to shine
coins and belt buckles. Finished, we closed
one eye and flung the mercury at each other
and giggled all the way to lunch.
-Gary Soto, “The Guardian Angel”, A Summer Life
Narrative Prewriting
 Narratives demand their own special
prewriting routines. Before composing,
you should consider the following:
 The point to be made (theme)
 The point of view
 The temporal basis for the story (setting)
 The time
 The place, major plot
 Major sequence of events
 Characters
 Conflict
 Major details for the story
Argument/Persuasion
 ALL writing is argument because all
writers attempt to have their readers
believe and accept the point being made
by their presentations.
 Argument: employs logical reasoning
 Persuasion: a combination of logic and
emotion.
Example of Argument
 Institutions stop teaching and set aside entire
weeks for [comprehensive final] tests. Some
even give students extra days without classes
before exam week to prepare. Legends of allnighters…abound. Clearly, many alumni have
fond memories of these academic hell weeks –
of having survived and proved themselves.
Yet maybe this great tradition is dysfunctional.
-Karl L. Schilling and Karen Maitland Schilling,
“Final Exams Discourage True Learning,” Chronical
of Higher Learning, February 2, 1994
Organization in the
Argumentative Essay
 See pages 69-70 to avoid logical
fallacies.
Sample Statements
 For further comprehension, look at the
sample statements found on page 72.
These are samples of each form of
Rhetoric we just discussed.