Rhetorical Strategies for Writing An Introduction
? Rhetoric In reading, speaking, and writing Rhetoric is a tool that enhances composition Formal study of rhetoric allows one to carefully construct writing instead of haphazardly casting words. Make sure you are helping rather that hindering yourselves!!!
Style The Decoration of writing Style does the following: reveals personality reveals attitude towards a subject your choice = effect
Four Aims of Rhetoric Persuade Inform Express Entertain
Persuasion Arouses emotional appeal Provoking powerful imagery Calling upon reputable authorities All of the above give you power to communicate a message!!!!!!!
Who uses this most???????? Politicians Lawyers DNC Speech – San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro Says the “right” things – appeals to audience Precise, conducts audience, confident
Inform and Express Teaching Ex. Metaphor Less formal than informing Ex. College essay (personal thoughts) Ex. Writing proficiency No need to convince, just persuade that your ideas are worth reading Style is muy importante!!!!!!!!!! Structure is muy importante!!!!!!!!!
Entertain Diction and syntax Pull your readers in with word choice and order Take readers where YOU want them to go You can take a topic that is dark (war) and provide a humorous look, move back and forth between happiness and sadness, make a reader outraged, etc!
Some Common Stuff Hyperbole – NOT a video game!!!!!!!!! Most popular and commonly used rhetorical device! DO NOT have your reader mistake hyperbole as fact!! Aim is to exaggerate the truth, not make a fact out of exaggeration!
Ex. Fact – “What is causing the biggest problem is that there are over three billion people on the planet!” Hyperbole – “The planet is getting so crowded that we may have to take turns sitting down!”
3 Main Uses When YOU want to make a point strongly “There are more reasons for NASA to fund a trip to Jupiter than there are miles in the journey.” Get the reader to snap to attention and focus on what you are writing (a tap on the shoulder) “At these words people became so silent you could hear a beating heart from across the room!”
Showing a difference “Compared to the world during the last Ice Age, a Minnesota winter feels like spring in Hawaii.”
Understatement The force of a descriptive statement is less than one would expect Sometimes the best way to demonstrate the how powerful an idea or event actually is! Can be used for humor Be careful – over simplifying something in an essay can weaken your case while properly using understatement will strengthen your point(s).
Ex. “Whatever his faults, Sir Isaac Newton did have a fairly good mind for science.” Ex. “The Middle East is currently having some political squabbles.” Ex. “To the uninitiated, neuropsychology can be a bit of a challenge.”
Litotes Similar to understatement, litotes use a word opposite to the condition to emphasize a point. Instead of “The trip across the mountain was no easy journey” on might choose “The trip was no easy journey” Understatement = “The trip was easy.” Combine with understatement to further emphasize a point “It was not a bad deal” emphasizing the Louisiana Purchase
A way to describe one’s own achievements without seeming arrogant “My daughter’s graduation from Harvard as magna cum laude was no small accomplishment.” Used to weaken a claim Instead of “It was a good day” one may say “It wasn’t a bad day.”
Examples “A cup of coffee would not be unwelcome” “It’s not the smartest idea I have ever heard” “That store is not in the most convenient location”
Practice