For Thursday, December 3, read and annotate Civil Disobedience by Thoreau (pp 1-18 in Civil Disobedience and Other Essays) and complete numbers 1-4 in the handout below. Numbers 1-3 can be completed on the chart, and #4 should be completed in your notebook.

AP Language/Comp

Rhetorical Analysis of Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience”

Directions: Read “Civil Disobedience.”  As you read, underline examples of Thoreau using rhetorical devices and identify and explain the devices via annotation.  Answer questions 1-4 to prepare for further work with a small group.  The group will work together on questions 5 through 8.  Be ready to explain your answers to the whole class.  Even when you’re working as a group you should be writing the answers.

1. Based on your reading of “Civil Disobedience,” what kind of person does Henry David Thoreau seem to be?  How would you characterize his state of mind and emotion as he composed this essay?  Cite specific examples from the text to support your claims about Thoreau’s voice and persona.

Voice = textual features such as diction and syntax, that contribute to a writer’s persona

Persona – the character that a writer/speaker conveys to the audience

2. What does Thoreau do in “Civil Disobedience” to urge his readers to believe in him as a trustworthy, credible person?  Point out specific passages where you felt Thoreau was (or was not) particularly believable (this gets at the ethos of the piece). Other examples of logos or pathos?

3. One device a writer can use to get a point across is metaphor.  Thoreau uses metaphor extensively in “Civil Disobedience.”  Notice, for example, what he compares machinery to or how he uses gaming metaphorically.  Select two metaphors and explain, citing specific examples from the text, how they help Thoreau’s central idea become more vivid for his readers.

4. How do you think Thoreau wanted his readers to react to the essay?  What did he want them to feel? think? believe? do?  How do you know?  Identify specific places in the essay that help you determine Thoreau’s purpose.

5. Using the questions below, divide the essay into functional parts (a part of text classified according to its function—for example, introduction, example, or counterargument).  Label the parts and be prepared to support your answers.

1. Is there some section that clearly lets the reader know what subject the composition is about and what the writer’s purpose is?  If so, where does this section begin and end?  In this section, can you find an answer to the central question that the text has been written in response to, or can you find an indication of the text’s central argument?

2. Is there a part that explains any background information that the reader needs to know in order to be able to understand the answer to the central question or argument that the composition offers?  If so, where does this section begin and end?

3. Is there some sentence or paragraph that focuses the reader’s attention on some particular issues, aspect, or theme that the paper examines as opposed to others that it could examine?

4. Is there some section that purposefully sets out material in support of the paper’s answer to the central question of its argument?  If so, where does this section begin and end?

5. Is there a part that examines possible objections to the answer, argument, or supporting material?  If so, where does this section begin and end?

6. Is there a sentence or section where the writer specifically answers the “So what?” question?  In other words, is there a section where the writer hints at what he or she hopes readers will think and do on the basis of what they have read in the text?

6. Using a functional part where Thoreau is supporting his argument, see how many of the following rhetorical methods you can identify.  Cite the paragraph number and a few identifying phrases or sentences of specific text to identify the method:
1. Relating anecdotes
2. Describing scenes and evoking sensory images
3. Defining terms and concepts
4. Dividing the whole into parts
5. Classifying the parts according to some principle or order
6. Providing cause-and-effect reasoning

 Rhetorical Analysis of Civil Disobedience:  Use this graphic organizer to answer questions 1-3 on the handout.  You may use this on the final exam.

Direct Quote and/or summary of passage Always include page and paragraph number!	Rhetorical device/strategy  including….the appeals; diction (fig lang, formal and informal, archaic); syntax (sentence types, sentence and phrasing structures)  See pg’s 78,79!	Effect of strategy on the reader and on the piece:  What is the effect of the strategy on the reader?  How does the effect add to the piece as a whole?  Tone and persona comments go here as well.	Purpose of the strategy:  How does the effect help Thoreau achieve his overall purpose?