STYLE/RHETORICAL ANALYSIS Analysis of Imagery/Specific Detail

RECALL We are working with concepts related to an author’s style and building to an essay that analyzes and author’s rhetorical style in order to come to a conclusion about their tone and purpose. We first looked at diction/fig.lang. and built to a paragraph analyzing diction.

STYLE CONCEPT: IMAGERY/DETAIL When we look at an author’s style, it is also helpful to examine literal descriptions, known interchangeably as IMAGERY and SPECIFIC DETAIL. Imagery: literal language referring to the experiences of one of the five senses Specific Detail: Literal descriptions of something

HOW IS IMAGERY DIFFERENT FROM DICTION? I mean…isn’t all this stuff related to “word choice”?

WATCH OUT!! IMAGERY IS NOT WORDS THAT PAINT A PICTURE IN YOUR MIND. Rentz wonders: “What the heck does that even mean??”

IDENTIFY THE IMAGERY “No Man is an Island.” “Her hand felt cold and clammy.” “Her hand felt like a wet fish.” “It tastes like burning!” “This food is spicy and salty.” “The sun’s yellow rays streamed through the clouds, turning the sky on like a streetlamp on a foggy evening.”

TWO CONTRASTING NATURE PASSAGES On your own, read these two passages written by Native American authors. Both are descriptive. As you read, consider/annotate: 1.Subject/purpose/tone 2.Mark examples of imagery 3.In a sentence, explain how these passages are similar/different.

DISCUSSION OF PASSAGE Subject? Tone? Purposes? What examples of connotative imagery do you notice?

WRITING AN IMAGERY PARAGRAPH This is the second style paragraph we will write. Eventually, it will be a body paragraph in a larger essay. Remember, a 2-chunk paragraph contains 8 sentences: TS, CD, CM, CM, CD, CM, CM, CS. Examples in this lecture are taken from the 1986 AP Lang Exam Question 1, which deals with two descriptive passages.

TOPIC SENTENCE Topic sentence: This sentence should include the word detail/imagery and give a focus for the paragraph. This focus will be determined by the question that you are asked. You will mention things like tone, subject, and purpose. Example: In this case the prompt is… “Explain how the passages reveal the differences in the author’s purposes/attitudes.”

TS EXAMPLE  TS: The literal descriptions of the two landscapes make clear that the author of passage one views Rainy Mountain with a sort of reflective passion as he ponders the idea that despite the mountain’s harsh weather it is still a place of peace and inspiration; on the other hand, the author of passage two appears almost elegaic toward the plains, considering the fact that they were full of life in the past, but are no longer so.

CONCRETE DETAILS Here, like in diction, you will pull out very small quotes, or “lil quotelets” (examples of IMAGES) and weave them into your own language. However, because detail passages contain more words than do the single words associated with diction, we only pick two details, and weave them together. Also, images are DESCRIPTIONS…so each detail will be a series of words that describe, not individual words, and not figurative language.

CD EXAMPLES… The author of passage one uses harsh images of, for instance, grass that “turns brittle and brown…crack[ing] beneath your feet” but also provides contrasting peaceful descriptions of “green belts along the rivers” and the peace of being there “in the early morning, with the sun at your back” (Passage 1).

COMMENTARY This should comment specifically on the images conveyed by the detail, and what they imply or connote in terms of tone or attitude and purpose. Commentary does not mean paraphrasing the quotation sentence.

CM EXAMPLES… This is commentary written for the above CD… By describing the unpleasant parts of Rainy Mountain, such as the brittle grass, the reader gets the sense that this area is barren and deserted, a place where no one would want to live. However, there is also a sense of balance and peace communicated through the lush descriptions of the rivers and the morning time; its as if Momaday is trying to explain that despite the harshness of this land, there is also beauty and inspiration.

CONCLUDING SENTENCE This last sentence will bring closure to your paragraph with a final commentary, and also revisit the ideas from your topic sentence. In a larger essay, your CS will also provide a transition to the next body paragraph.

CS EXAMPLE  Example: The contrasting imagery in these two passages indicate just how differently two people can view a similar situation—in passage one a calmness and happiness exude, while in passage two a depression over the changes time has wrought pervades the writing.

OVERALL STRUCTURE TS: imagery; subject(s); attitude(s); purpose(s) CD#1: imagery related to attitude #1 CM: connotations/implications of CD #1 quotes/purpose CD#2: imagery related to attitude #2 CM: connotations/implications of CD #2 quotes/purpose CS: revisit TS ideas…finished feel to paragraph

HW: DRAFT PARAGRAPH Now that we’ve walked through the parts of this paragraph, and seen examples, your hw is to write a draft paragraph in response to the prompt at the top of the passage. You may use computers to draft your work. The printed draft is due Friday.