AP Lang Free Response #2: Rhetorical Analysis
allusion
A reference, explicit or implicit, to something in previous literature or history "I Have a Dream" by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963) Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. King begins his speech with both an indirect and direct allusion to Abraham Lincoln's "Emancipation Proclamation." The first phrase of King's speech, "Five score years ago," directly mirrors Lincoln's historic speech, which opens with "four score and seven years ago." By associating himself with a prominent figure in the fight against injustice, King implies that he shares Lincoln's values and establishes a sympathetic relationship with his audience.
Thesis Structure
In [his] passage from [Unweaving the Rainbow], [Richard Dawkins] uses [awe-inspiring diction], [contrasting imagery], and [parallel structure] to persuade his audience of [romantics and the religious faithful to believe that his atheistic worldview provides an appreciation of life], challenging his audience's position that [atheism restrict a person's sense of wonder.]
time
You have 40 minutes to complete the rhetorical analysis essay for AP Lang: 12 minutes: Read the text and plan out your essay. (TOBI) 6 minutes: Write your introduction paragraph. 18 minutes: Write 2-3 body paragraphs. 2 minutes: Write a quick conclusion. 2 minutes: Proofread and revise your essay.
parallelism (parallel structure)
a repetition of sentences using the same grammatical structure emphasizing all aspects of the sentence equally "Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth" by Lou Gherig (1939) When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa, sends you a gift — that's something. When everybody down to the groundskeepers and those boys in white coats remembers you with trophies — that's something. When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides with you in squabbles with her own daughter — that's something. When you have a father and a mother who work all their lives so you can have an education and build your body — it's a blessing. When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed — that's the finest I know. Gherig presents a series of parallel sentences to emphasize his gratitude for the life he has lived. Because each sentence follows the same structure, Gherig's list builds to a climax, which Gherig uses to enumerate his priorities and to emphasize his love for his family. Gherig further emphasizes his appreciation for his family even above his career by shifting from the phrase "that's something" to describe his wife's courage as "the finest" he knows. By breaking the pattern in his parallel sentences, Gherig focuses the attention on his family and loved ones, humbly placing his own successes on the back burner.
anecdote
a usually short narrative of an interesting, amusing, or biographical incident "Gender Equality is Your Issue Too" by Emma Watson (2014) I started questioning gender-based assumptions when at eight I was confused at being called "bossy," because I wanted to direct the plays we would put on for our parents—but the boys were not. When at 14 I started being sexualized by certain elements of the press. When at 15 my girlfriends started dropping out of their sports teams because they didn't want to appear "muscly." When at 18 my male friends were unable to express their feelings. I decided I was a feminist and this seemed uncomplicated to me. By sharing a short anecdote about being "sexualized" and called "bossy," while acknowledging her male friends being "unable to express their feelings," Watson establishes her authority to speak on gender-related issues, and she appeals to her audience's sense of emotion and empathy as she aims to establish a common experience between both men and women in the United Nations.
ambiguity
a word, phrase, or sentence whose meaning can be interpreted in more than one way Exhaustion was pressing upon and overpowering her. "Good-by— because I love you." He did not know; he did not understand. He would never understand. Perhaps Doctor Mandelet would have understood if she had seen him — but it was too late; the shore was far behind her. And her strength was gone. At the end of Kate Chopin's The Awakening, Edna lends herself to the tide with the vague last words, "good-by— because I love you," leaving Victor to question whether her death was intentional. Chopin's use of ambiguity to depict Enda's death illustrates Victor's lack of closure and his feeling of utter helplessness and confusion as he watches his loved one, both physically and metaphorically, swept away by the current.
diction
a writer's choice of words, phrases, sentence structures, and figurative language, which combine to help create meaning "On Dumpster Diving" by Lars Eighner (1992) Canned goods are among the safest foods to be found in Dumpsters but are not utterly foolproof. Although very rare with modern canning methods, botulism is a possibility. Most other forms of food poisoning seldom do lasting harm to a healthy person, but botulism is almost certainly fatal and often the first symptom is death. Except for carbonated beverages, all canned goods should contain a slight vacuum and suck air when first punctured. Bulging, rusty, and dented cans and cans that spew when punctured should be avoided, especially when the contents are not very acidic or syrupy. Eighner employs empirical diction to describe the process of dumpster diving, which is generally considered a dishonorable and crude practice. Eighner details the "fatal" effects of "botulism," and provides a practical assessment of "modern canning methods," instructing readers to avoid "bulging, rusty, and dented cans" and to look for a "slight vacuum" in canned goods. By analyzing the process of dumpster diving through a scientific lens, Eighner emphasizes that those who dumpster dive are not inferior to their store going counterparts, and he suggests that dumpster diving can be a practical hobby for anyone, even if it is not done out of necessity.
tip
add that sing such rhetorical device creates a disturbance and ends with bringing the speaker and audience to the same level
ethos
appealing to credibility "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963) I think I should indicate why I am here in Birmingham since you have been influenced by the view which argues against "outsiders coming in." I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We have some eighty-five affiliated organizations across the South, and one of them is the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. Frequently we share staff, educational and financial resources with our affiliates. Several months ago the affiliate here in Birmingham asked us to be on call to engage in a nonviolent direct action program if such were deemed necessary. We readily consented, and when the hour came we lived up to our promise. So I, along with several members of my staff, am here because I was invited here. I am here because I have organizational ties here. King mentions that he is the "president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference" that operates in "every southern state" and has "eighty-five affiliated organizations across the South." He also emphasizes that he is in Birmingham because he was "invited" due to "organizational ties." King spends a significant amount of time describing his credentials and his affiliation with the Church, which not only creates a common experience among the clergymen and himself but also establishes King as a respectable man with significant accomplishments. Because many white southerners believed that African Americans were inferior to themselves, King takes the time to appeal to his own credibility and authority in hopes that the clergymen will view him as their equal and will respect his message. Note: please don't write "appeals to ethos/pathos/logos." Instead, try "appeals to credibility/emotion/logic," or go further to describe specifically which emotion or credentials the author appeals to.
pathos
appealing to emotion Viola Davis's Women's March Speech (2018) I am speaking today not just for the 'Me Toos,' because I was a 'Me Too,' but when I raise my hand, I am aware of all the women who are still in silence. The women who are faceless. The women who don't have the money and don't have the constitution and who don't have the confidence and who don't have the images in our media that gives them a sense of self-worth enough to break their silence that is rooted in the shame of assault and rooted in the stigma of assault. In her speech at the 2018 Women's March, Viola Davis recognizes the millions of women who have been silently affected by sexual violence. She describes the women "don't have the money," "constitution," or "confidence," and those who still struggle with the "shame" and "stigma of assault." Davis employs anaphora, repeating the phrase "don't have" to evoke a sense of empathy for these women among the audience. By emphasizing that these victims "don't have" the resources that many take for granted, Davis sheds light on the cruel reality that many victims still face due to the stigma surrounding sexual assault and women's rights.
logos
appealing to logic Greta Thunberg's speech at the National Assembly in Paris (2019) A lot of people, a lot of politicians, business leaders, journalists say they don't agree with what we are saying. They say we children are exaggerating, that we are alarmists. To answer this I would like to refer to page 108, chapter 2 in the latest IPCC report. There you will find all our "opinions" summarized because there you find a remaining carbon dioxide budget. Right there it says that if we are to have a sixty-seven percent chance of limiting the global temperature rise to below 1.5 degrees, we had on January 1st, 2018, 420 gigatons of carbon dioxide left in our CO2 budget. And of course, that number is much lower today. We emit about 42 gigatons of CO2 every year. In her address to the National Assembly in Paris, Thunberg cites the 2018 "IPCC report" that outlines a total "remaining carbon dioxide budget" of "420 gigatons" in order to "have a sixty-seven percent chance of limiting the global temperature rise to below 1.5 degrees," while "we emit about 42 gigatons of CO2 each year." By citing specific data from a reputable scientific journal, Thunberg appeals to her audience's logic; the data proves that the only viable option is to limit carbon dioxide emissions.
allegory
definition: expression by means of symbolic fictional figures and actions of truths or generalizations about human existence examples: Animal Farm by George Orwell (1945) All that year the animals worked like slaves. But they were happy in their work; they grudged no effort or sacrifice, well aware that everything they did was for the benefit of themselves and those of their kind who would come after them, and not for a pack of idle, thieving human beings. analysis: In George Orwell's allegorical novel Animal Farm, overworked farm animals rise up against their owner and subscribe to the concepts of Animalism, which proclaims that "all men are enemies" and "all animals are comrades."
alliteration
definition: repetition of the same sound at the beginning of successive words example: Ronald Reagan's Address at the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial (1988) Our liberties, our values — all for which America stands — is safe today because brave men and women have been ready to face the fire at freedom's front. And we thank God for them. analysis: Reagan acknowledges that the veterans of the Vietnam War were prepared to "face the fire at freedom's front." Through his use of alliteration, Reagan emphasizes the soldiers' willingness to sacrifice themselves for freedom, focusing the audience's attention on the value of the veterans' deeds.
imagery
descriptive language that provides vivid images that evoke the senses In our useful boredom, we used our fingers to draw pictures on fogged glass as we watched telephone poles tick by. We saw birds on the wires and combines in the fields. We were fascinated with roadkill, and we counted cows and horses and coyotes and shaving-cream signs. We stared with a kind of reverence at the horizon, as thunderheads and dancing rain moved with us. We held our little plastic cars against the glass and pretended that they, too, were racing toward some unknown destination. We considered the past and dreamed of the future, and watched it all go by in the blink of an eye. Louv recounts his experience staring out of the car window as a child with vivid imagery, describing watching "telephone poles tick by," "birds on the wires," "cows and horses and coyotes," and "shaving-cream signs." Louv jots seemingly disconnected images in short snippets, mimicking a car whizzing past an ever-changing landscape. The sharp images appeal to the reader's sense of nostalgia as Louv allows them to witness their own youth "go by in the blink of an eye."
analogy
extended comparison between two things/instances/people etc. that share some similarity to make a point "What True Education Should Do" by Sydney J. Harris (1994) Pupils are more like oysters than sausages. The job of teaching is not to stuff them and then seal them up, but to help them open and reveal the riches within. There are pearls in each of us, if only we knew how to cultivate them with ardor and persistence. Harris compares students to oysters whom we should help "open and reveal the riches within." Through her analogy, Harris establishes a basis on which readers can shift their perspective. Rather than simply listing specific traits of students, Harris helps her readers change their perception of how students should be treated, and gives readers a concrete and memorable lense through which readers should view the classroom.
deductive reasoning
reasoning that works from the more general to the more specific, beginning with a theory that becomes a hypothesis, and using observations to confirm the original theory (top-down approach) Mahatma Gandhi's letter to British Viceroy Lord Irwin (1930) If I have equal love for your people with mine, it will not long remain hidden. It will be acknowledged by them, even as the members of my family acknowledged after they had tried me for several years. If the people join me, as I expect they will, the sufferings they will undergo, unless the British nation sooner retraces its steps, will be enough to melt the stoniest hearts. The plan through civil disobedience will be to combat such evils as I have sampled out. If we want to sever the British connection it is because of such evils. When they are removed, the path becomes easy. Then the way to friendly negotiation will be open. If the British commerce with India is purified of greed, you will have no difficulty in recognizing our independence. In his letter to Lord Irwin, Gandhi uses a series of if-then statements to defend India's call for independence through civil disobedience. Gandhi begins by establishing his "equal love" for the British people and mentioning that if they join him in his protests, it will "melt the stoniest of hearts" in the British government, forcing the British to "retrace their steps" and remove the "evils" in the current British regime. If the evils are removed, Gandhi promises, the "way to friendly negotiation will be open." By articulating his position with deductive reasoning, Gandhi appeals to Lord Irwin's logic and maintains that the Indian people are not acting irrationally. Gandhi provides Lord Irwin with only one logical option: purify the British commerce system of greed and open the table to negotiate with India.
anaphora
repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses, sentences, or lines "I Have a Dream" by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963) I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today. King repeats the phrase, "I have a dream" to emphasize his vision for racial equality in the United States. By employing anaphora to underscore his beliefs, King connects his ideas with a common motif, helping his audience follow his speech and make it more memorable. King thus invites his audience to share in his "dream," as he reminds them that it is their dreams for a more equal future that unite their movement.
antithesis
the rhetorical contrast of ideas by means of parallel arrangements of words, clauses, or sentences Neil Armstrong's moon landing (1969) "That's one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind" Armstrong's antithesis serves to highlight the monumental impact that the moon landing will have on the human race. By contrasting his "small step" with the "giant" effect that this step will have, he emphasizes its significance.
syntax
the structure of sentences and/or phrases "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963) We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward gaining political independence, but we still creep at horse and buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, "Wait." But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son who is asking: "Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?"; when you take a cross-country drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading "white" and "colored"; when your first name becomes "******," your middle name becomes "boy" (however old you are) and your last name becomes "John," and your wife and mother are never given the respected title "Mrs."; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of "nobodiness" — then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. In his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," King addresses those who instruct him to "wait" for racial equality by describing the "stinging pain of segregation" as seeing "vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers," seeing "hate-filled policemen curse, kick, and even kill your brothers and sisters," and seeing the "tears welling up" in your six-year-old daughter's eyes when "she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children," among a host of other horrific images. Rather than using several shorter sentences to describe segregation, King uses a single sentence, separated by numerous semicolons. King's choice of syntax mirrors the never-ending reach of segregation and racial inequality. While the sentence consists of a string of short images, it pauses on a longer phrase in which King describes finding his "tongue-twisted" as he explains to his "six-year-old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television," and seeing "tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children" while he watches the "ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky" and her "distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people." By making this phrase significantly longer than his other images, King allows the reader to pause and ruminate on the idea of a young girl losing her innocence to an unjust world. King appeals to the reader's emotions as he conveys such a heartbreaking image.
