Honors English

 Aristotle’s definition: “rhetoric is the art of finding all available means of persuasion in a given case.”  An AP College Board definition: “rhetoric is the texture of choices a writer makes to achieve meaning, purpose, and effect for readers.”

 Goal 1: Students will analyze texts (verbal and visual), explaining how parts of the text flesh out and substantiate the main idea, purpose, or effect. (ANALYSIS)  Goal 2: Students will create effective arguments, drawing on their own reading, experiences, and on secondary sources. (WRITING)  Goal 3: Students will master the methods for standard edited English. (WRITING)

1. Understanding and use of rhetoric greatly enhances your writing. 2. Rhetoric is in all of your class readings, choice reading books, songs on your IPOD, movies on Netflix, television shows, etc. RHETORIC IS EVERYWHERE

 What is a main “take-home idea” of the text?  What does the author want the readers to construct as the text’s meaning?  How does the text appeal to the character and credibility of the writer? (ETHOS)  How does the text appeal to the emotions and stages of life of the readers? (PATHOS)  How does the text appeal to the logic and reasoning skills of the readers? (LOGOS)  How does the text reveal the writer’s attitude toward the subject matter? (TONE)  How does the text reveal the writer’s attitude toward the readers?  What hypothetical questions are posed by the text?

 How many parts can you divide the text in to? How are you justifying each part as a part? What is the purpose of each part?  What kinds of details does the text employ? Descriptions, analogies, examples, etc.  What type of diction does the text employ?  How do the parts, details, and diction support the claims and hypothetical questions?

 What was sticking in the writer’s craw that led him or her to say “I really need to write about this topic?” Also known as context…  What was the writer’s purpose? Explain the purpose.  To + Verb…  Who is the immediate primary audience?  Who might the secondary audience be?

But, Ms. Engelbrecht, if we are just making guesses about a text, how do we know if we are right? YOU HAVE TO HYPOTHESIZE AND TRUST YOURSELF. “We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.” - Ernest Hemingway