October 23, 2014 Into the Wild

Wesley's Thoughts on the Art of Rhetoric...notes from October 22, 2014

Rhetoric is, in part, the art of choosing and highlighting content to achieve a specific purpose

Question: So, what do you think "content" is in a written piece?

How about in a TV political ad?

How about in a TV documentary about illegal whaling in the North Atlantic?

• Some example of written content: examples, anecdotes, people, ideas, theories, facts, events, people, places, things, bunnies, cotton candy, rainbows, unicorns, hand grenades, etc.

Another question:  So, assuming most things are an argument, how do authors influence the way readers receive and perceive their content? 

In other words what rhetorical strategies might they employ to influence how their readers interpret and react to certain content?

Possible answers: selection of detail - their choice to include certain content (and leave out other content); the order and arrangement of that content in the text (e.g., juxtaposition, chronological, comparison contrast, etc.); the way they describe the content (e.g. diction, figurative language); their attitude towards the content (tone); the mood or atmosphere of the larger portion of the text in which the content appears. 

Rhetorical Awareness: Imagine that you were given the following assignment: 

Write a mini-essay describing Krakauer's primary purpose(s) in Chptrs 8 & 9 and what you see as the most important rhetorical strategies he employs to achieve his purpose(s). 

Okay, I'm not going to have you write the essay (not now, anyway), but I do want you to write the thesis.  Please take the time to write, review, and then  revise it so that you can make it sharp and focused. Choose your words carefully and make sure it says exactly what you want it to say. 

Due at the end of class: As you leave class, hand the paper in which contains your initial draft thesis, edits or additional draft theses, and than your final thesis (underline the final thesis).  Also, write a brief paragraph describing which resources below you found to be most helpful and why.

• My notes about rhetoric as the art of featuring content
• Read Bullet Points 1, 2 and 4 in Essential Questions in the Acts of Reading.
• Also, review pp 3- 4 (How To Do a Close Reading) in the green AP Writing Sourcebook.  
• Pay particular attention to those items (like perhaps #6, textual context, which might directly address questions of the purpose of smaller chunks (e.g., details, content, illustrative examples, chapters) in relation to the text as a whole.
• Also refer to the green AP Writing Source Book for reminders about detailed thesis statements. 

HW: Read and annotate 117-144

Time permitting

Find two passages in Chapter 11 that really caught your attention.

On the left-hand side of the two-column notebook, write the page and paragraph of the quote.  On the right-hand side write your reaction, comment, insight, coneection.