Quiz Monday (½ AA)
● Define each element of rhetorical situation○ Rhetorical situation○ Rhetorical analysis○ Context○ Audience○ Persona○ Purpose
● Write an effective CAPP statement for a passage that will be new to you on Monday○ You’ll read it and write the CAPP statement Monday
KWL
● This is a particularly effective type of note-taking guide because it builds in active thought
● K = you are retrieving prior knowledge● W = you are participating in setting learning goals● L = you are in charge of writing down what is new to you
Note: It only works if you do it.
Today’s learning goals
● Students will be able to:○ Write a CAPP statement that captures the rhetorical situation of
a piece we’ve already read
Define
● What is rhetoric?● Is “rhetoric” related to “rhetorical question”?
Discuss at your table; then we’ll compare answers.
Define: What is rhetoric?
● According to our textbook, rhetoric is “the study of effective, persuasive language use; according to Aristotle, use of the ‘available means of persuasion.’”
● So it’s nonfiction● It’s persuasive in nature
○ NOT expository (tells, explains, shows, reveals)● It’s what the AP Language and Composition exam is all about
Is “rhetoric” related to rhetorical question?
Kind of.
A rhetorical question is one asked only to make some kind of point, not one designed to elicit an answer.
So, a rhetorical question is a rhetorical choice instead of a real question.
However, there’s lots of rhetoric with no rhetorical questions.
Ok. We’ve defined rhetoric. How about analysis?
Discuss at your table, and then we’ll compare.
Define: Analysis (dictionary.com)
So, analysis:
1. Separates something into its elements2. Determines the relationships of these elements3. Discusses these relationships
Therefore, rhetorical analysis
1. Separates rhetoric (persuasion) into its elements2. Determines the relationships of these elements3. Discusses these relationships
What should you ALWAYS discuss when doing rhetorical analysis? Every time?
Discuss at your table. Then we’ll compare thoughts.
What should you ALWAYS discuss when doing rhetorical analysis? Every time?
Ethos
Pathos
Logos
Diction
Syntax
Rhetorical situation
What is the rhetorical situation?
Discuss at your table.
If rhetoric = persuasion or argumentation, what might the rhetorical situation be?
Define: Rhetorical Situation
The rhetorical situation is the interplay between context, audience, persona, and purpose that results the creation of a work of rhetoric
Or… what motivates an author as he or she produces an argument
So… what might an author think about as he or she composes an argument?
Discuss, and then we’ll compare thoughts
Define: Rhetorical Situation
Why they decided to write
To whom they’re writing
How they want to come across
What their point / goal is
Context
Audience (immediate and mediated)
Persona
Purpose
Put them together along with TAG (title author genre) for a “CAPP” statement
How does this relate to a rhetorical analysis paper?
TAG + CAPP statement = introduction for RA
● Everything an author does in a work of rhetoric is based on the rhetorical situation. If you don’t get this right, your analysis can’t be right. We’ll talk about body paragraphs later.
Always end with purpose presented as thesis statement
Let’s try it!
Express the rhetorical situation for Dr. Wellmann’s letter to SI in the form of a CAPP statement.
Hint: Mine is two sentences long.
Here’s mine
After noticing that the number two basketball team was not given the honor of a Sports Illustrated cover (while lower-ranked teams were), Courtney Wellmann decided to write a letter to the editor. With a fair and balanced tone, Wellmann questions the decision of the editors to feature lower-ranked teams in place of the Longhorns.
Let’s try it!
After noticing that the number two basketball team was not given the honor of a Sports Illustrated cover (while lower-ranked teams were), Courtney Wellmann decided to write a letter to the editor. With a fair and balanced tone, Wellmann questions the decision of the editors to feature lower-ranked teams in place of the Longhorns.
Context
Audience
Author / genre
Persona
Purpose
A note on being wrong
You can give a wrong answer on these things.
● Wellmann’s immediate audience was sports fans.○ Wrong; it’s the editors of SI (I mean, “letter to the editor.”)
● Vonnegut’s immediate audience was the school board.○ Wrong; it’s Mr. McCarthy alone. He even says so.
● Any of the passages were written to “raise awareness.” (Or tell, show, explain, reveal, etc.)○ Wrong; these are not expository passages.
A note on being generic, basic, and vague
Your answer can be so general that it’s basically wrong.
● They want to sound “educated.”○ What’s the alternative? We won’t really see any passages where the
author would want to seem uneducated...
● The audience is “the general public” or “whoever reads it”○ Meaningless unless the author specifically mentions the general public
(not likely)
● Purpose is “to convince”○ Yep, because it’s rhetoric! Be more specific to the passage.
… in other words
● Rhetorical analysis is not a subjective exercise where all answers can work
● You really need to pay attention to and scrutinize the passage at hand for your analysis to be accurate and meaningful
Work time!
Complete the CAPP notes on the back of today’s notes.
This should be finished when you come to class tomorrow.
