AP Language and Composition Unit 8: Rhetorical Choices, Style, and Analysis
The Rhetorical Triangle and Foundational Interactions
The fundamental components of any rhetorical situation include the Audience, Speaker, Text, and Purpose.
The relationships between these components determine the rhetorical choices made by a writer: * The Writer considers the Audience, which determines the Choices they make. * The Choices reveal information about the writer and shape the Text. * The Reader/Audience examines the Text, which in turn reveals information about the audience's response and impacts the writer's future choices.
Audience Considerations and Rhetorical Choices
Criteria for Considering Audience: * Demographics: Age, gender, race, religion, etc. * Values: The core beliefs and ethics Held by the audience. * Education/Intelligence: The level of cognitive complexity the audience can handle. * Knowledge/Profession: Specialized background information the audience may already possess.
Categories of Rhetorical Choices: * Diction: The level and type of language used. * Style: The unique voice and tone established by the author. * Rhetorical Appeals: The use of Logos (logic), Ethos (credibility/ethics), and Pathos (emotion). * Methods of Development: The organizational structure used to build the argument.
Case Study: Comparative Rhetorical Assumptions in Legal Arguments
The Scenario: A lawyer delivering a closing argument must choose different primary appeals depending on the audience: * When addressing a Judge, the focus is typically on Logos (legal logic) and Ethos (ethical standards). * When addressing a Jury, the focus often shifts toward Pathos (emotional resonance).
Marcia Clark's Rhetorical Profile: * Assumptions: She assumed the jury lacked intelligence and an understanding of nuance. * Strategic Choices: She used simplistic syntax and lowered her level of diction. She explicitly defined basic terminology, assuming the jury needed guidance through simple distinctions. * Primary Appeal: Relied heavily on Logos, believing the jury would be moved by facts and evidence alone.
Johnnie Cochran's Rhetorical Profile: * Assumptions: He treated the jury as "smart" and "empowered," trusting them to define the facts for themselves. * Strategic Choices: He appealed to patriotic ideals and the shared value of striving for national "equality." * Primary Appeal: Relied heavily on Pathos, assuming the jury possessed empathy and understood the gravity of miscarried justice.
Representing Abstract Concepts through Concrete Language
Abstract concepts (feelings, emotions, themes, ideas) are difficult to convey. Writers use concrete language to make these ideas accessible.
Methods of Representation: * Simile: A direct comparison using "like" or "as" (e.g., "Happiness is an ice cream cone melting in the sun"). * Metaphor: An implied comparison without using "like" or "as." * Analogy: A logical comparison showing how two different things are similar in specific ways. * Anecdote: A short, illustrative story.
Example of Efficient Simile Usage: Katy Perry’s lyrics use metaphors and similes to describe abstract feelings of worthlessness or lack of direction by asking, "Do you ever feel like a plastic bag?"
Literary and Historical Examples of Figurative Language
Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Self-Reliance": * Emerson uses powerful imagery to describe the impact of independent thought: opinions "sink like darts into the ear of men, and put them in fear." * Metaphor for Society: He describes society as a "joint-stock company" where members agree to give up "liberty and culture" in exchange for the security of "bread." * Core Assertion: "Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist."
Ronald Reagan's "Challenger" Address: * Analogy: Reagan draws a parallel between the Challenger crew and the explorer Sir Francis Drake, who died 390 years prior off the coast of Panama. * Comparison Point: Just as Drake lived and died by the sea (the frontier of his time), the Challenger crew exhibited the same "complete" dedication to the frontier of space.
Levels of Diction and Syntax
Diction Registers: * Formal/Traditional: Ceremonial, government, church, business, and school communication. * Informal/Social: Colloquial language, slang, and emojis often found in everyday life and on social media. * Code-Switching: The ability to seamlessly transition between these registers depending on the context.
Syntax (The Starbucks Example): * Syntax is defined by the speaker, audience, and purpose. In specific contexts like ordering at Starbucks, there is a rigid syntactical order for descriptors: 1. Temperature (iced/hot) 2. Size (tall/grande/venti) 3. Caffeination (half-caff) 4. Espresso shots 5. Syrup types/quantity 6. Milk type (soy/almond) 7. Extras (whip/foam) 8. Name of drink (latte)
The Causality of Rhetorical Analysis: Cause and Effect
The Cause (The Choice): These are the methods of development, word choices (diction), syntax/order, and figurative devices used by the writer.
The Effect (The Meaning): The results of those choices, including the established Tone, the Purpose/Message, and the Rhetorical Appeal (Ethos, Pathos, or Logos).
Analyzing with DIDLS: * D: Diction (connotations and denotations). * I: Imagery (vivid sensory appeals). * D: Details (facts and evidence included or omitted). * L: Language (overall quality/level). * S: Syntax (structure and flow). * Result: The combination of DIDLS creates a specific Tone.
Tone Classifications
Neutral: Matter-of-fact, informative, clinical, conventional, candid, disinterested, ambivalent.
Negative: Pessimistic, brash, cynical, condescending, accusatory, flippant, derisive, scornful, critical, contemptuous.
Positive: Sincere, straightforward, forthright, earnest, upbeat, optimistic, vibrant, witty, playful, whimsical, passionate, complimentary, exuberant, reverent.
Advanced Analysis and Style
Identifying Perspectives: Look for major shifts in stylistic choices or clashes between writer/audience expectations and the actual content (irony).
The Sophistication Point: To earn this in AP writing, one must employ a style that is "consistently vivid and persuasive." * Instructions: "Read like a writer, write like a reader."
Style Tips: * Use Charged Language and develop vocabulary naturally. * Avoid clichés and maintain focus on the topic. * Vary sentence structure and length. * Focus on identifying and analyzing 1-2 key choices rather than listing everything.
Function and Usage of Modifiers
Steps for Modifier Analysis: 1. Identify the independent clause (the primary subject and verb). 2. Identify the modifiers (phrases/clauses that limit or qualify the main clause). 3. Consider the function of those modifiers: Emphasis, Specificity, Description, Clarification, or Qualification.
Comparison of Sentences: * Simple: "AP Language and Composition is a course taught by Mr. Havenstein." * Modified: "Instead of being literature-based, AP Language and Composition, my favorite class, is a rhetoric course taught by Mr. Havenstein, who has taught English for the last 19 years."
Modifier Analysis in The Gettysburg Address: * Lincoln uses a series of "that-clauses" to build rhetorical momentum and emphasize the core purpose of the gathering. * Emphasis on: "that these dead shall not have died in vain," and "that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
Analysis of Fear and Authenticity (Sample Passage)
The passage argues that fear is a restrictive force that "tamps down our authentic selves."
Metaphorical Imagery: Fear turns individuals into a "patchwork collection of affectations" and a "treadmill set to the prevailing speed of universal acceptability."
Themes: This addresses the "tyranny of homogeny" found in both the corporate "world of the suits" and the "spiky world of the avant-garde."