1. Arrangement of Rhetoric
How a Writer Structures the Argument
Intended Purpose and Effect

2. The Classical Model
Introduction (exordium “beginning a web”) --often where the writer establishes ethos Narration (narratio) --appeals to logos and often to pathos Confirmation (confirmatio) --makes the strongest appeal to logos Refutation (refutatio) --address counterargument --bridges writer’s proof and conclusion --appeals to logos Conclusion (peroratio) --usually appeals to pathos --reminds to reader of the ethos established earlier --answers the question, “So what?” --contains memorable last words Analyze “Not by Math Alone,” a piece written in 2006 by Sandra Day O’Connor, a former Supreme Court justice, and Roy Romer, superintendent of Los Angeles Unified School District. Identify the five parts of the classical model.

3. Patterns of Development
Methods of Organization that Reflect the Author’s Purpose

4. Narration Telling a story or recounting a series of events
Usually chronological
Includes concrete detail, point of view, and sometimes elements of dialogue
Crafts a story that supports the thesis
Often used to enter into topics
Has the advantage of drawing readers in
Read Rebecca Walker’s story about her son that leads to her explanation of why she put together the anthology Putting Down the Gun, p. 412

5. Description Closely allied with narration
Includes many specific details
Emphasizes the senses
Often used to establish a mood or atmosphere
Rarely used as an entire essay
Clear and vivid description can make writing more persuasive
Helps readers empathize with author
Used to prove a point
Read Barbara Ehenreich’s example from “Serving in Florida” and George Orwell’s example from “Shooting an Elephant.” The descriptive language of each serves to prove what two points?

6. Process Analysis
Explains how something works, how to do something, or how something was done
Clarity is key, explaining a subject clearly and logically, with transitions that mark the sequence of major steps, stages, or phases of the process.
Strong verbs emphasize the process.
Can be used to prove a point
Read an excerpt from Elizabeth Royte’s essay “Transsexual Frogs,” investigating the impact of the pesticide atrazine.

7. Exemplification
Provides a series of examples—facts, specific cases, or instances—a type of logical proof Aristotle called induction, leading to a general conclusion
Turns a general idea into a concrete one
Makes argument clearer and more persuasive
May contain one extended example or a series of related ones to illustrate a point
Read Francine Prose’s “I Know Why a Caged Bird Cannot Read.” Analyze the effect of the examples and the point she is trying to make.

8. Comparison and Contrast
Juxtaposes two things to highlight their similarities and differences
Used to analyze information carefully, which often reveals insights into the nature of the information being analyzed
Required on AP exam to discuss the subtle differences or similarities in the method, style, or purpose of two texts
Can be utilized to lead the reader to draw a conclusion— the point the author is trying to make
Can be organized in two ways: subject-by-subject or point by point
Read Lori Arviso Alvord’s excerpt from “Walking the Path Between Worlds.” Which two things are juxtaposed, and which method of organization does she use? What conclusion do you draw? What is her point?

9. Classification and Division
Sorts material or ideas into major categories
Answers the question, “What goes together and why?”
Makes connections between things that might otherwise seem unrelated. (See Bacon’s quote about books.)
Often breaks down a larger idea or concepts into parts
Can explore an idea in a systematic ways that enables the reader to see the problems the author sees and wants to expose. (Read Orwell’s “Politics and the English Language,” p. 529)
Read excerpt from Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue.” How does she classify the “Englishes” she speaks? p. 23

10. Definition
Ensures that writers and their audiences are speaking the same language by laying the foundation to establish common ground or identifying areas of conflict
Often the first step in a debate or disagreement
Often only a paragraph or two that clarify terms
Can be the purpose of an entire essay
Read Jane Howard’s essay “In Search of the Good Family,” in which she analyzes the ten characteristics that define a family. P.283

11. Cause and Effect
Can analyze causes that lead to an effect (Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring—her case for the unintended and unexpected effects of the pesticide DDT) OR
Can analyze the effects that result from a cause (Terry Tempest Williams' “The Clan of One-Breasted Women” proceeds from the effect she sees— the breast cancer that has affected the women in her family—to argue that the cause is environmental)
Causal analysis depends upon crystal clear logic—must recognize possible contributing causes—refraining from jumping to conclusions that there is only one cause or one result or mistaking an effect for an underlying cause. Ex. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King, Jr. points out that his critics had mistaken a cause for an effect: the protests of the civil rights movement were not the cause of violence but the effect of segregation.
Read excerpt from Francine Prose’s “I Know Why a Caged Bird Cannot Read,” in which she explains the positive effects of reading classical literature and the negative effects of ineffectively taught literature.

12. Culminating Assignment
Reread Jody Heyman’s essay “We Can Afford to Give Parents a Break” (p.6), and discuss the patterns of development she uses. Which of these patterns prevails in the overall essay? Which does she use in specific sections or paragraphs?
Shea, Renee et al. The Language of Composition: Reading, Writing, Rhetoric. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008.