RHETORICAL TOOLBOX

RHETORICAL ANALYSIS THINKING

•SEPARATE WHAT IS BEING SAID (CONTENT) WITH HOW IT’S BEING SAID (RHETORICAL ANALYSIS)

•WHAT THE TEXT IS ABOUT + HOW IT IS ABOUT WHAT IT IS ABOUT.

ARTICLE OF CLOTHING ANALOGY

IF WE WERE EXAMINING AND ANALYZING AN ARTICLE OF CLOTHING…

…WE'D BE TURNING THE GARMENT INSIDE OUT, EXAMINING ITS SEAMS AND STITCHING TO SEE HOW IT WAS PUT TOGETHER SO THAT IT WILL STAY PUT TOGETHER. WE'D BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND AND EXPLAIN WHY THE EYE IS DRAWN TO PARTICULAR DETAILS OR DECORATIONS ON THE GARMENT. AND, IMPORTANTLY, WE'D BE USING THE LANGUAGE OF THE TAILORING CRAFT TO DO THIS ANALYSIS, TO HAVE THIS CONVERSATION. WE'D KNOW THE PARTS AND PROCESSES THAT GO INTO MAKING A GARMENT, AND WE'D HAVE THE TECHNICAL LANGUAGE TO SPEAK TO EACH OTHER AS PROFESSIONALS.

ARRANGEMENT (AS A WHOLE, FOR EFFECTIVENESS)

CLASSICAL MODEL:

INTRO

NARRATION

CONFIRMATION

REFUTATION

CONCLUSION

COMPARTMENT 1:RHETORICAL FORMS (PATTERNS OF

DEVELOPMENT)

FORMS:

NARRATION, DESCRIPTION, PROCESS ANALYSIS, EXEMPLIFICATION, COMPARISON/CONTRAST, CLASSIFICATION/DIVISION, DEFINITION, CAUSE AND EFFECT, ASSERTION/JUSTIFICATION

ASSERTION/JUSTIFICATION: MAKING A CLAIM AND SUPPORTING IT WITH REASONING (LOGOS) THAT DEMONSTRATES THE CLAIM’S TRUTH

COMPARTMENT 1:RHETORICAL FORMS

BROAD FORMS THAT THE SPEAKER OR WRITER CAN TAKE TO SHAPE THE MESSAGE. WRITERS DECIDE TO HANG THEIR MESSAGE UPON ONE OR MORE OF THESE FORMS. THE FIRST STEP TOWARD RHETORICAL ANALYSIS IS TO IDENTIFY THE DOMINANT AND SUBORDINATING FORMS THAT THE WRITER HAS CHOSEN.

JUST AS A SWEATSHIRT GOES NICELY WITH JEANS, AND A SPORT SHIRT GOES WELL WITH A PAIR OF KHAKIS, SOME OF OUR RHETORICAL FORMS TEND TO PAIR OFF COMFORTABLY:

• NARRATIVE AND DESCRIPTION

• DEFINITION, CLASSIFICATION, AND EXAMPLE

• CAUSE-AND-EFFECT

• COMPARISON AND CONTRAST

• ASSERTION/JUSTIFICATION.

PAIRINGS HAVE CUES TO HELP IDENTIFY DOMINANT AND SUBORDINATE FORMS.

COMPARTMENT 1:RHETORICAL FORMS

EVERYTHING HAS FEATURES - JEANS HAVE ZIPPERS; BLOUSES HAVE BUTTONS; TENNIS SHOES HAVE RUBBER SOLES = LANGUAGE OF FEATURES. RHETORICAL FORMS HAVE FEATURES, AND THE FEATURES ARE MADE OF LANGUAGE:

• TEMPORAL LANGUAGE = FEATURE OF PROCESS ANALYSIS AND NARRATIVE

• SPATIAL LANGUAGE = FEATURE OF DESCRIPTION

• WORDS EXPRESSING CAUSAL RELATIONSHIPS (THUS, THEREFORE, HENCE...) = FEATURES OF CAUSE-AND-EFFECT FORMS.

LEARN TO RECOGNIZE THE LANGUAGE FEATURES OF THE NINE RHETORICAL FORMS IMPROVE READING COMPREHENSION AND WRITING SKILLS.

COMPARTMENT 1:RHETORICAL FORMS

1. CUT 3 INDEX CARDS INTO 3 STRIPS

2. ON ONE SIDE OF EACH STRIP, WRITE NAME OF RHETORICAL FORM

3. ON THE REVERSE SIDE, WRITE A FEW WORDS OR PHRASES THAT ARE LIKELY TO BE FOUND IN THIS FORM

COMPARTMENT 2: STYLESTYLE INFUSES RHETORIC AS DYE INFUSES FABRIC. STYLE IS TO BE FOUND EVERYWHERE, BUT IT HAS DISCRETE ELEMENTS: DICTION AND SYNTAX. VIA DICTION AND SYNTAX, THE WRITER EXPRESSES TONE, CONNOTATION, AND FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE. BEGIN TRAINING TO ANALYZE STYLE BY ASKING BROAD QUESTIONS:

1.IS THE DICTION MOSTLY FORMAL OR MOSTLY INFORMAL? MOSTLY POLYSYLLABIC (LATINATE AND GREEK) WORDS OR MOSTLY SHORT (ANGLO-SAXON) WORDS? IS THE DICTION SCIENTIFIC, SCHOLARLY, OR CONVERSATIONAL? IF IT'S CONVERSATIONAL, IS IT COLLOQUIAL? SLANG?

2.ARE THE SENTENCES MOSTLY LONG OR MOSTLY SHORT? ARE MOST OF THE SENTENCES MEANDERING, OR ARE THEY TERSE? WHAT KINDS OF PUNCTUATION DO WE SEE? HOW DOES THIS PUNCTUATION ESTABLISH RELATIONSHIPS AMONG IDEAS WITHIN THE SENTENCES? IS THERE CATALOGING OF INFORMATION?

3.IS THE TONE MOSTLY SERIOUS OR MOSTLY PLAYFUL? WHAT EMOTIONS DO YOU SENSE FROM THE WRITER?

4.IS THE LANGUAGE MOSTLY LITERAL OR MOSTLY METAPHORICAL? DO THE METAPHORS BRING TO MIND SOMETHING POSITIVE OR SOMETHING NEGATIVE?

COMPARTMENT 2: STYLE1. 4 WHOLE INDEX CARDS LABELED: DICTION, SYNTAX, TONE, FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

2. ON THE BACK OF THE CARDS WRITE THE FOLLOWING CORRESPONDING QUESTIONS:

IS THE DICTION MOSTLY FORMAL OR MOSTLY INFORMAL? MOSTLY POLYSYLLABIC WORDS OR MOSTLY SHORT WORDS? IS THE DICTION SCIENTIFIC, SCHOLARLY, OR CONVERSATIONAL? IF IT'S CONVERSATIONAL, IS IT COLLOQUIAL? SLANG?

ARE THE SENTENCES MOSTLY LONG OR MOSTLY SHORT? ARE MOST OF THE SENTENCES MEANDERING, OR ARE THEY TERSE? WHAT KINDS OF PUNCTUATION DO WE SEE? HOW DOES THIS PUNCTUATION ESTABLISH RELATIONSHIPS AMONG IDEAS WITHIN THE SENTENCES? IS THERE CATALOGING OF INFORMATION?

IS THE TONE MOSTLY SERIOUS OR MOSTLY PLAYFUL? WHAT EMOTIONS DO YOU SENSE FROM THE WRITER?

IS THE LANGUAGE MOSTLY LITERAL OR MOSTLY METAPHORICAL? DO THE METAPHORS BRING TO MIND SOMETHING POSITIVE OR SOMETHING NEGATIVE?

COMPARTMENT 3: RHETORICAL DEVICES

• RHETORICAL DEVICES ARE THE JEWELRY OF RHETORIC; THEY CREATE SPARKLES AND INTERESTING LITTLE GEMS OF WRITER'S CRAFTSMANSHIP.

• LIKE JEWELRY, RHETORICAL DEVICES SHOULD NOT BE USED TO EXCESS LEST THEY BECOME GARISH (MANY RHETORICAL DEVICES HAVE GREEK NAMES BUT TOTES NOT ALL): METONYMY, SYNECDOCHE, ANAPHORA, POLYSYNDETON, ASYNDETON, LITOTES, ANTIMETABOLE, ALLUSION, PARALLEL STRUCTURE, REPETITION, ANTITHESIS, EUPHEMISM, IRONY, HYPERBOLE, ETC.

COMPARTMENT 3: RHETORICAL DEVICES

1.CUT AS MANY AS TEN STRIPS FROM THE INDEX CARDS

2.ON EACH STRIP, ONE RHETORICAL DEVICE ALONG WITH A BRIEF DEFINITION

3.ON REVERSE SIDE, AN EXAMPLE (PICK ONES YOU KNOW AND UNDERSTAND)