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Language of promptRhetorical devices
Are more than just rhetorical appeals like pathos, logos and ethos
Look for repetition, rhetorical questions, parallelism, paradox or analogy (to start!)
ToneIs the author or speaker’s attitudeIs the author’s feelings about the topicYou must analyze language in order to
determine toneLook at word choice: connotations, loaded
languageLook for irony, hyperbole, repetition
Point of viewUsually 1st person (narrator is part of story)
or 3rd person (narrator is outside of story).3rd person can be omniscient (knows
everything about what everyone is thinking) or limited (knows everything about what some people are thinking)
Can be free indirect speech: third person narration that takes on some of the characteristics of 1st person narration (Austen employs this)
POVIf a prompt asks you to focus on POV, it is
usually because POV is interesting and important.
Look for shifts in POV.Consider why the author chose this POV.
What is gained? What is lost? How does it achieve author’s purpose?
“Theme for English B” promptWrite an essay in which you analyze how the
poem’s tone, point of view and rhetorical devices reveal the speaker’s changing attitude towards the assignment. Develop your essay with specific references to the poem’s text.
ExampleLangston Hughes expresses a changing
attitude in thepoem as it progresses from one of simple
observation toone that expresses how what he writes will be
looked atdifferently. He expresses that he is still
American andlives a normal life despite being labeled black.
(46)What’s wrong?WordyBuries prompt’s language in verbiageNot specific
Fixed it!In his poem “Theme for English B,” Langston
Hughes’stone changes from dubious to assertive as he
reflectsupon his writing assignment. (21)1. Concise!2. Includes title of poem!3. Specific (describes the tone)!4. Arguable!5. Uses prompt’s language (change, tone,
assignment)!
ExampleIn “Theme for English B,” Hughes employs
rhetoricaldevices, first person point of view, and tonal
shifts toenhance the speaker’s progress from
dubiousness of thevalue of his instructor’s homework to
realization of thereciprocity of such an assignment. (40)What’s wrong?1. Wordy!!2. “employs” is almost as bad as “uses”
Fixed itIn “Theme for English B,” Hughes’s rhetorical
questions, first person point of view, and tonal shifts
revealthe speaker’s attitude as it changes from
playfuldubiousness to wry acceptance. (29)
Song of Solomon promptRead the passage carefully. Then write an
essay in whichyou analyze Michael-Mary Graham’s
character asMorrison develops it through such literary
techniquesas tone, point of view, and language.
ExampleMorrison uses bombastic language, interjected
by briefmoments of practicality, to use Michael-Mary
Graham’sown perspective to depict her as an artistic
phonydeluded within the world. (27)What’s wrong?1. OMG! “Use” is in there twice!2. Wordy and unclear3. Could better reflect prompt
Fixed itMorrison’s bombastic language contrasts with
her morereasoned narration, and the resulting irony
makes itclear that Michael-Mary Graham is an artistic
phony. (23)1. Much more clear!2. Less wordy!
ExampleToni Morrison incorporates irony and
hyperbole as wellas free indirect point of view to satirize thepretentiousness of certain writers. (21)What’s wrong?1. It’s not wordy!2. It uses prompt’s language!3. But why say “certain writers” when, in fact,
it is Michael-Mary Graham she is satirizing?
ExampleIn Toni Morrison’s passage from Song of Solomon, shedisplays Michael-Mary Graham’s character in a
negative,self-centered, and inconsiderate light in order to furthercommunicate the overarching theme of the primevalstrength of spoken language. (35)What’s wrong?1. Does not answer prompt! It’s a good idea usually to
relate part to whole, but for this prompt you have only the passage.
2. Too wordy
Fixed itIn Toni Morrison’s passage from Song of
Solomon, theironic tone and loaded language reveal
Michael-MaryGraham’s character to be self-centered andinconsiderate. (23)
ExampleMichael-Mary Graham is a socialite who poses as a poet.Her concerns include appearances and her ownimportance, not her art. She is published, whichprovides her with followers to impress. Her own highopinion of herself fuels her need to appear importantand impress everyone, but does not accept competition.
(51)What’s wrong?1. Quite wordy2. So what? Where’s the argument?3. Does not address the prompt4. Would make good topic sentences for body paragraphs!
You fix itMichael-Mary Graham is a socialite who poses as apoet. Her concerns include appearances and her
ownimportance, not her art. She is published, whichprovides her with followers to impress. Her own
highopinion of herself fuels her need to appear
importantand impress everyone, but does not accept
competition. (51)
For compare/contrastWhen asked to compare and contrast,
remember that because one text uses devices x, y and z does not mean that the second text uses the same devices.
Look at the poem’s overall meaning and how the author achieves that meaning regardless of the devices involved.
Answer the prompt! What, specifically, is it asking for?
Compare/contrastDO NOT bounce back and forth between
poems/prose in your analysis.DO NOT write paragraphs about poem A’s
diction/syntax/tone and then write paragraphs about poem B’s diction/syntax/tone.
DO analyze one poem organically, and then Analyze the other poem organically with
reference to the first
Compare/contrastYour thesis and conclusion should bring the poem’s
together.Example of introduction:Both Poem A and Poem B present autumn as atransitional moment , but they differ in theirappreciation of this time. (short and to the point)Example of conclusion:While both poems discuss autumn, their interpretations
are different. The first speaker sees autumn as a positive time for change, while the second sees it as the melancholy
harbinger of death. (short and to the point again)
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