English Final Review Notes

Aristotle’s Three Ways of Persuasion

• Rhetoric: Art of persuasion.
• Persuasion: Changing viewpoints or prompting action.
• Ethos: Ethics, image; argument based on character.
  • Presents trustworthiness and honesty.
• Logos: Logic; argument based on facts/statistics.
  • Appeals to reader's logic.
• Pathos: Passion, emotion; argument based on feelings.
  • Appeals to reader’s emotions.

Rhetorical Devices

• Rhetorical Question:
  • A question asked for effect, not requiring an answer.
  • Effect: Engages reader, introduces topics, provokes thought.
  • Example: “Who wouldn’t want to go on vacation?”
• Anecdote:
  • Personal experience to appeal to the reader and creates connection.
  • Example: “I was shocked to know that most students don’t know the national anthem.”
• Sarcasm:
  • Expressing the opposite of what is meant for humor.
  • Example: “What a lovely day’’ when its pouring rain.”
• Hyperbole:
  • Exaggeration to emphasize a point or add humor.
  • Example: “I’ve told you a million times.”
• Irony:
  • Expressing the opposite of what is meant for humor.
  • Example: “What a lovely day’’ when its pouring rain.”
• Parallelism:
  • Using grammatically similar structures to emphasize points.
  • Example: “If there is anyone who still doubts…who still wonders…who still questions..”
• Anaphora:
  • Repetition of a word or phrase at the start of sentences.
  • Example: “I will win. I will fight. I will not give up.”
• Allegory:
  • Story with characters/events representing deeper meanings or moral lessons.
  • Effect: simplifies complex ideas, adds engagement.
  • Example: “a blooming garden” (symbolizes growth, renewal, and hope)
• Antithesis:
  • Contrasting ideas in a balanced structure.
  • Effect: adds rhythm, emphasizes key terms.
  • Example: “To be or not to be, is the real question.”
• Quotations:
  • Referring to expert knowledge.
  • Effect: shows alternative views, builds trust, persuasive.
  • Example: “Dr. martin believes that more needs to be done to improve health.”
• Direct Address:
  • Involving the reader directly with ‘you,’ ‘we,’ ‘us.’
  • Effect: makes readers care, establishes relationships.
  • Example: “We all know how bad school lunches are.”
• Metaphor:
  • Comparing two different things.
  • Example: “Her smile was sunshine.”
• Alliteration:
  • Series of words begin with the same sound.
  • Effect: draws attention, reinforces ideas, humor.
  • Example: “Politics is probably pointless.”
• Pun:
  • A play on words sounding alike.
  • Effect: draws attention, highlights ideas.
  • Example: “Deciding where to bury him was a grave decision.”
• Paradox:
  • Contradictory statement revealing a truth.
  • Effect: reveals deeper truths, enhances engagement.
  • Example: “Less is more”
• Allusion:
  • Indirect reference to a well-known person, event, or work.
  • Effect: adds depth/meaning, engages reader.
  • Example: “so Eden sank to grief” refers to the biblical garden of Eden

The Veldt - Comprehension

• House Function: Fully automated, caters to needs.
• Nursery Significance: Creates realistic environments from children’s thoughts.
• Children’s Reaction: Resist shutdown, manipulate situation.
• Lions Symbolize: Anger, aggression, emotional atmosphere.
• Parents’ Reaction: George is in denial, Lydia is fearful.
• Final Fate: Killed by lions.
• Technology's Role: Replaces emotional connection, isolates family.

A Pair of Silk Gloves - Comprehension

• Protagonist: Mrs. Sommers, faces financial issues.
• Windfall: Finds $15, hesitates to spend on herself.
• Decision: Spends on herself (gloves, entertainment).
• Feelings: Guilt and exhilaration initially, then immersive joy.
• Significance: Luxury, self-care, escape.
• Why Self-Indulgence: Desires personal enjoyment.
• Activities: Shopping, meal, theater.
• Children’s Role: Represent responsibilities; feels guilt and relief when alone.
• Ending: Returns to family, resigned but awakened.
• Societal Struggle: Limited opportunities for women, constrained by roles.

The Veldt - Symbols

• Nursery: Represents power and danger of technology, replaces parental roles.
• Lions: Symbolize children's repressed emotions and violent tendencies.

The Veldt - Quotations

• "Nothing's too good for our children."
  • Context: George's over-indulgence.
  • Significance: Reflects misguided parenting, material comfort replacing care.
• "I don't think we should have let the kids run the house like they do."
  • Context: Lydia's concern about children's control.
  • Significance: Highlights parents' awareness of emotional detachment.
• "The lions were the same as the lions in the nursery. They were the lions that ate the Hadleys."
  • Context: Blurring of reality and illusion.
  • Significance: Emphasizes repressed anger and tragic consequences.
• "You're right. I've been feeling a little crazy lately."
  • Context: Lydia realizing the family is falling apart.
  • Significance: Emotional disintegration, failure to address deeper issues.

A Pair of Silk Gloves - Themes

1. Self-Sacrifice vs. Self-Fulfillment: Mrs. Sommers' conflict between duty and personal desire.
2. Desire for Personal Freedom: Yearning for independence; reflects limited freedoms for women.
3. Guilt vs. Pleasure: Conflict between enjoying luxuries and societal pressure to prioritize family.
4. Power of Small Moments: Brief escape has an emotionally powerful impact.

A Pair of Silk Gloves - Irony

• Spending money on herself instead of her children, defying typical self-sacrificial role.

Vocabulary

• Repression: Holding back feelings. (synonyms: suppression, inhibition, restraint)
• Vivid: Clear, detailed, lifelike. (synonyms: lifelike, vibrant, striking)
• Alienation: Feeling isolated. (synonyms: isolation, detachment, estrangement)
• Obsession: Constant, unwanted focus. (synonyms: fixation, preoccupation, compulsion)
• Manipulation: Controlling unfairly. (synonyms: control, influence, handling)
• Emotional: Showing strong feelings. (synonyms: sentimental, passionate, expressive)