WRITING ESSAYS What You Need to Know About

WRITING ESSAYS: What You Need to Know About Language and Rhetoric Barron’s AP Prep Book (P. 64 -78)

Her mighty lakes, like oceans of liquid silver; her mountains, with their bright aerial tints; her valleys, teeming with wild fertility; her tremendous cataracts, thundering in their solitudes; her boundless plains, waving with spontaneous verdure; her broad deep rivers, rolling in the solemn silence to the ocean; her trackless forests, where vegetation puts forth all its magnificence; her skies, kindling with the magic of summer clouds and glorious sunshine; --no, never need an American look beyond his own country for the sublime and beautiful of natural scenery. Washington Irving

Notice that the paragraph—except for the clause after the dash—consists of a single sentence composed of a series of nouns and modifiers, most followed by a participle phrase. The effect of this pattern is accumulative. It creates an image of the vastness of America, an idea aided not only by the piling up of visual images but by the repeated use of adjectives such as “tremendous, ” “boundless, ” and “broad. ”

Rhetoric of Sentences l The sentence is the basic unit of communication. l Only sentences can convey complex relationships between ideas, and the ability to use clear, forceful and well-constructed sentences is a measure of one’s ability to think. l Type, structure and length of sentences provide significant clues to the thought processes of the writer or speaker.

Sentence Length l Usually, the complexity of the idea determines the length of the sentence. l Material in a subordinate clause receives less emphasis than the material in an independent clause. l Short sentences are easier to grasp, makes its point quickly, and often with considerable force.

Example – A person who pries into the actions of others, with no other desire but to discover their faults and publish them to the world deserves the title of slanderer of the reputations of men just as a critic who reads with the same malevolence should be deemed a slanderer of the reputations of books. Both are odious vermin.

Sentence Structure l Periodic Sentence – modifiers precede the basic SVC pattern l Loose Sentence – modifers follow basic SVC pattern l Most writing is comprised of loose sentences, but that can become boring

l. A false, unnatural, and destructive economic system develops when the poor worker is allowed to work at half price and the good worker is forced to work for an inadequate wage, hardly sufficient to support a family. l When the poor worker is allowed to work at half price and the good worker is forced to work for an inadequate wage, hardly sufficient to decently support a family, a false, unnatural, and destructive economic system develops.

Variety He had been away from home for five years. He hadn’t heard from his family in all that time. His heart started to quicken when he drove into town. He was five minutes from home. The town hadn’t changed much since he left. He pressed the accelerator harder, thinking of how surprised his mother would be to see him standing at the front door. Then, suddenly, as he steered his Honda into the driveway, instead of the familiar white house, he saw an empty, garbage-strewn lot.

Simple Sentence l Berkeley admitted Sarah. l Situated on the eastern side of San Francisco Bay, Berkeley, the University of California’s flagship institution, admitted Sarah as a freshman in the class of 2006, to the delight not only of Sarah herself but to the satisfaction of her family, teachers, and friends.

Compound Sentence l Berkeley admitted Sarah, and she was delighted.

Complex Sentence l Sarah was delighted when she received her admittance letter from Berkeley.

Compound-Complex Sentence l When Sarah received her admittance letter to Berkeley, she was delighted, and her parents were thrilled.

Intellectual vs. Emotional l What you are to think vs. what you are to feel l Scientific treatise focuses on the intellectual l An ad for Nike focuses on the emotional

Tone l Narrator’s or speaker’s attitude is different from the author’s attitude l Psychological quality of the words l Tones may shift or be complex

Negative Tones Bitter, condescending, contemptuous, disdainful, disgusted, facetious, flippant, indignant, irreverent, mocking, patronizing, pedantic, petty, sarcastic, satiric, scornful, teasing, threatening

Positive Tones Benevolent, compassionate, determined, ecstatic, effusive, elegiac, enthusiastic, hopeful, laudatory, learned, supportive, sympathetic

Neutral Tones Bantering, colloquial, confident, detached, didactic, factual, informal, objective, restrained, scholarly

Sentence Forms l One way an author reveals tone is by the form of sentences. l Exclamatory sentence – a wish, a desire, a command l Interrogatory – a challenge, a denial, disbelief, hesitation, etc. l Imperative – a command

l Declarative – makes a statement; does not blatantly reveal its tone; usually neutral and matter-of-fact l BUT l It can also be highly charged with emotion

Diction l In large measure, tone is created by diction. l Diction is an element of style that gives a person’s writing its unique quality.

You need the power to: l Judge aspects of the character and personality of the writer that are reflected in the way he/she fuses the many elements of the work; l Arrive inferentially and logically at conclusions related to the work and supported by evidence within the work.

Connotation & Denotation l Connotation may change over time and our personal experience often adds value to words that may at first mean nothing beyond their definition. l Why did the author choose a particular word; what meaning, tone or image does it convey?

Metaphorical Language l l l l Simile Metaphor Metonymy – the name of one thing represents something else with which it is associated Synecdoche – a part is substituted for the whole or vice versa Personification Allusion Analogy

l Economical l Evoke mental images l Emotional content l Sways readers because of the connotation

l As you grow older, your memory of childhood is obliterated like Hiroshima after a bomb. l As you grow older, memories of childhood vanish like sand dunes at the edge of the sea.