Rhetoric Semester1
Symbol Extended patterns of imagery is when an image repeats itself many times in a text. It becomes a symbol and it forms a motif which in turn effects the atmosphere. It can also underscore the theme. An object, action, or event that represents something, or creates a range of associations, beyond itself. Leaves the subject open to a wide range of possible interpretations.
Public symbols
U.S. Symbols
Political symbols
Pop Culture Symbols
What about these roses?
What about this rose?
What do these crowns symbolize?
Black and white v. color
Winter v. Summer
Symbols Complete the activities for recognizing and analyzing symbols and creating symbolic events. Read “The Lottery”
Personification When a human trait or quality is given to an inanimate object. When a human quality is given to an animal it is called anthropomorphism, which is not personification. Poets often use personification to help the reader relate to the concept being presented, and to give a more complete understanding of a difficult concept to comprehend.
Oreo: Milk’s favorite Cookie
Personification in Poetry “Moon and the Yew Tree” by Sylvia Plath The moon is a face in its own right/ White as a knuckle and terribly upset/ It drags the sea after it like a dark crime.
Personification in poetry “Ode on Melancholy” “She [Melancholy] dwells with Beauty—Beauty that must die;/And Joy, whose hand is ever at his lips/Bidding adieu.”
Personification! Romeo and Juliet “Death is my son-in-law, Death is my heir;/My daughter he has wedded.”
Personification! From Jane Eyre “Conscience and Reason turned traitors against me and charged me with crime in resisting him.”
Atmosphere Taken from metrology, it means the predominant mood of all or a piece of a literary work. May be suggested by setting, dialogue, diction, and selection of details in a narrative, usually foreshadows expectations about the outcome of events.
Atmosphere Thunder and lightning. Enter three WITCHES. What would you think of the following stage directions? Thunder and lightning. Enter three WITCHES.
Read “The Monkey’s Paw”
The Atmosphere can hide the truth. Sometimes an author will begin a story setting a very different mood from the one that will end the story. This creates an ironic reversal of expectations. This is the basis for the term “pathetic fallacy.”
Pathetic Fallacy: A special type of personification Inanimate aspects of nature, such as the landscape or the weather, are represented as having human qualities or feelings. The term is derived during Victorian time as the logical absurdity (fallacy) of supposing that nature can sympathize with human moods and concerns. Usually it will reflect or foreshadow some aspect of the poem or story intensifying the tone.
Pathetic Fallacy For example: a mild, sunny day would promise a tranquil, happy scene. So, what is the promise of a cold wintry night, when ghosts appear?
Pathetic Fallacy What happens when the pathetic fallacy is misleading? What happens when a bloody battle happens on a lovely summer day?
Pathetic Fallacy A change in the mood of the weather or the look of the landscape is a favorite means for authors to signal a shift in the fortunes of characters. Can you think of any examples from stories that you have read? What about movies?
Can you put it all together? Read “The Monkey’s Paw”. What is the mood at the beginning of the story? How do we know this? When does the mood change? What does the mood change to? What is the mood at the end of the story? How do we know? Why do you think the author wrote this? What is the author’s message or purpose?