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Leslie D. Hannah Department of English University of Oklahoma
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Unit Two: And Now for a Word From Our Sponsor Students are to find a print advertisement (micro 1) and opinion article (micro 2) from a newspaper or magazine that examples some of the rhetorical elements and fallacies discussed in class. Students are to cut out or make a copy of that advertisement/article and write a 400 - 500 word analysis of that advertisement/article explaining what rhetorical elements and fallacies the advertisement/article displays. In your analysis address the reason(s) why you feel the advertisement/article incorporated the rhetorical elements and/or fallacies that it did. Attempt to answer these questions: Is the argument explicit or implicit? What is the claim? Warrant? Grounds and backing? Is the claim one of value, policy, or fact? Which corner of the Rhetorical Triangle does this advertisement or article most incorporate? Are only two of the corners present? If so, which two, and why? Or are all three corners represented equally? Would the advertisement or article be more effective if it utilized a different corner of the triangle? Is there a fallacy? Was its inclusion deliberate (Propaganda?) or accidental? Who is the target audience (not the victim, if there is one, but who is the article/ad trying to influence)? Is this type of advertisement or article regional or local? (Would it work in a different part of the country?) Or does this advertisement or article have a universal appeal? If so, why? Is the advertisement or article effective? Is it accomplishing its mission with the target audience? What impression does it create in your mind? Unit 2 Macro Essay (1,000 - 1,250 words in length) Students are to choose a side (pro or con) on the policy claim: America should adopt English as its national language. Be aware of fallacies; if you deliberately plan to use a fallacious device (propaganda) do NOT use one that degrades another race, religion, or class of people. Incorporate wisely the corners of the Rhetorical Triangle. Use the rhetorical elements discussed in class; you need not use all of them, but you must use at least ten. These are some of the most common rhetorical elements. Alliteration, Allusion, Anadiplosis, Anaphora, Apostrophe, Asyndeton, Chiasmus, Euphemism, Hysteron-Proteron, Hyperbole, Litotes, Metaphor or Simile, Onomatopoeia, Personification, Polysyndeton, Rhetorical Question, Synecdoche, Tautology, Twisted Cliché. In order to identify properly these elements within your essay, when you use one you must identify it by numbering that element, then on a "Devices used" page properly identify the element by naming it and writing its definition and paste the sentence in which it is contained; bold type the element as it is contained in the sentence. See the example essay below. And Just-us for All: A Blind Look at the American Judicial System (1) Justice means equality. (2) Justice deals with all equally, equally treats all with respect, and equally dispenses punishment to those whom it is due. (3) Justice must be blind: blind to race, blind to religion, and blind to social status. (4) And when we seek justice, we seek equality; we seek respect, and we seek punishment. (5) Is that—equality, respect, and punishment—not what justice is? (6) How then do we—bums or billionaires, prostitutes or preachers, friends or foes—explain the differences in justice for certain types of people? (7) Justice (what we, the penniless, have experienced) is a servant of money. (8) Enter the judicial arena and enter the money game. (9) Those who need justice the most are those who can least afford it. (10) To adjudicate equally we must equalize justice. (11) I have learned equality, respect, punishment. (12) The mongers have also learned, and what they have learned is life and liberty and justice for all actually means death and tyranny and injustice for the impoverished. (13) And justice for all is a fantasy—it does not live; it does not breathe; it does not exist, because what Americans really want is revenge. (14) We are taught vengeance from an early age: society demands it; honor demands it, and by-God, justice demands it. (15) Justice is like a commodity; it is bought and sold, and often the purchaser buys the wrong product—revenge. (16) I suffer for justice with little hope of ever feeling its healing touch; the most I can hope for is a local anesthetic. (17) Justice hides from me like a frightened little child, too afraid to show its fragile, failing face. (18) All hope abandon ye poor people who enter here. Title - twisted cliche - a cliche where one (or more) of the words are changed, either in spelling or completely, but the basic concept of the cliche is still recognizable; And Just-us for all. 1. Symmetrical sentence - Elements on one side of the verb equal the elements on the other side of the verb; Justice means equality. 2a. Anadiplosis - ("doubling back") the rhetorical repetition of one or several words; specifically, repetition of a word(s) that ends one clause or phrase and then begins the next. …deals with all equally, equally treats all with respect, and equally dispenses…. 2b. Anaphora - the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses or lines. …equally treats all with respect, and equally dispenses. 3a. Anadiplosis - ("doubling back") the rhetorical repetition of one or several words; specifically, repetition of a word(s) that ends one clause or phrase and then begins the next. Justice is blind: blind to race, blind to religion, and blind to social status. 3b. Anaphora - the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses or lines. Justice is blind: blind to race, blind to religion, and blind to social status. 4. Anaphora - the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses or lines; And when we seek justice, we seek equality; we seek respect, and we seek punishment. 5. Rhetorical question (framing a hyperbaton) - a statement turned into a question and asked in a way as to solicit a specific answer, usually yes; Is that—equality, respect, and punishment—not what justice is? 6a. Hyperbaton (in this case interrupted syntax) - separation of words which belong together, often to emphasize the first of the separated words or to create a certain image. ; …do we—bums or billionaires, prostitutes or preachers, friends or foes—explain…. 6b. Alliteration - the repetition of initial consonant sounds; we—bums or billionaires, prostitutes or preachers, friends or foes—explain 6c. Antithesis - opposition, or contrast of ideas or words in a balanced or parallel construction; do we—bums or billionaires, prostitutes or preachers, friends or foes—explain…. 6d. Polysyndeton - the repetition of conjunctions in a series of coordinate words, phrases, or clauses; do we—bums or billionaires, prostitutes or preachers, friends or foes—explain…. 7. Apostrophe - a sudden turn from the general audience to address a specific group or person or personified abstraction absent or present. ; Justice (what we, the penniless, have experienced) is a servant of money.8. Balanced sentence - a statement/question in which elements (words or phrases) located anywhere within the statement equal other elements located elsewhere with in the same statement; Enter the judicial arena and enter the money game. 9. Antithesis - balanced elements contained in a statement/question where the key words are opposites; need justice the most...can least afford it. 10. Chiasmas - a balanced element statement/question where the key words of the first phrase are reversed to create the second phrase; adjudicate equally...equalize justice. 11. Asyndeton - within a sentence/question, an omission of conjunctions in a list, series, repetition; equality, respect, punishment. 12. Polysyndeton - the repetition of conjunctions in a series of coordinate words, phrases, or clauses; …and what they have learned is life and liberty and justice for all actually means death and tyranny and injustice for the impoverished.13. Anaphora - a repetition of a series of key word(s) or phrases at the beginning of a phrase or clause; And justice for all is a fantasy—it does not live; it does not breathe; it does not exist, because what Americans really want is revenge. 14. Antistrophe - repetition of the same word or phrase at the end of successive clauses; society demands it; honor demands it, justice demands it. 15. Simile - a comparison using the words like or as; Justice is like a commodity; it is bought and sold, and often the purchaser buys the wrong product—revenge. 16. Metaphor - a comparison expressing an object in terms normally associated with a different object; suffer, healing, anesthetic = medical terms applied to justice. 17a. Personification - applying human (or animal) qualities to non-human objects; Justice hides.... 17b. Alliteration - the repetition of initial consonant sounds; frightened, fragile, failing, face. 18. Allusion - an indirect reference to a past literary or cultural statement that is generally recognizable; All hope abandon ye [poor people] who enter here. Dante’s Divine Comedy: The Inferno. |