Diction

Our class focused on how to analyze diction. As every piece of literature has diction, it can sometimes be a struggle to start the analysis process. I recommend circling words that stand out: words that indicate tone and feeling, words that repeat, words that create a theme.

To practice this, we worked with quotes by circling diction and creating thesis-like statements to summarize the analysis. As with syntax, the formula for a diction thesis would be author + active verb + specific type(s) of diction + mature purpose. After our class practice, you worked with a group to analyze a quote about autumn and complete the aforementioned components above.

We will work more with diction next week. If you were absent, you do not have a makeup assignment for today. However, you can read some of your favorite quotes, identify the type of diction, and then figure out the purpose. This will be an informal way to prep for Monday's class.

Syntaxing Surprises

After my lap around the room to answer your questions, you received a surprise: the deadline for the essay was not today at the end of the hour but tomorrow at 3:45 p.m. Be aware that you will not have class time to work on the essay tomorrow, so any finishing touches will need to be completed for homework or in study hall. As with all of your hard copy essays, you will need to turn this in if you are on school grounds at any point of the day. If absent for the entire day, you will need to share/attach/photograph the essay and then turn in the hard copy the next day.

Syntaxing

Today's class was dedicated to self-evaluating the syntax essay or, more broadly, how to spruce up a rhetorical analysis essay. Use your evaluation suggestions and the tips from class to work on your essay. During class tomorrow, you will have the entire hour to complete a final draft of the essay. If you think you  need more than the allotted hour, take some time this evening or during a study hall to work on it.

Might Not Be Periodic

For the first half of class, we (since I was, technically, playing the role of the simple sentence in one group) shared the different sentence structures you highlighted over the weekend. During this process, you noted when and why the author brought in simple sentences, complex, and the like. Furthering this interaction, your group also noted other syntactical friends like enumeration, anaphora, rhetorical questions, and the like.

For Wednesday, you need to write 3-5 paragraphs responding to the following prompt. Have a hard copy with you for class -- this includes absent students as well.

How does Sherman Alexie utilize syntax to reflect his purpose in "Superman & Me"?

Be aware that you will be self-evaluating your work on Wednesday. If you do not have a draft, you will not be able to break down your rhetorical analysis skills.

Syntax & Superman

To begin class, we finished reviewing your syntax handout.

Then, you printed out your evil paragraph for me. If absent, you will need to share that paragraph with me so that I can have a copy.

Then, we read the essay "Superman and Me" in class, identifying the purpose(s) of each paragraph as we went along.http://static.schoolrack.com/files/34213/220710/Chapter_4-Part_3.pdf

You were then divided into groups to identify the syntax in "Superman & Me." Each student will highlight a specific sentence type or two sentence types for class on Monday. In addition, we reviewed your rhetorical strategy handout for other syntactical analysis. After you highlight the text, go back and see if you notice any other related strategies to help with your syntactical analysis.

Our absentee students will form a group and/or work with another group depending on attendance. Here is what you will need to highlight in the text:

• Tiana - Simple & Cumulative
• Gabrielle - Compound & Compound-Complex
• Miranda - Complex & Periodic

Syntax

For our first half hour, you shared in same and different rhetorical article groups. After turning in this assignment, we moved onto syntax and the six types of sentences that we will focus upon in our identification and analysis: simple, compound, complex, compound-complex, cumulative, and periodic. To practice identification of these sentences, you grabbed two highlighters and a partner and highlighted independent and dependent clauses to help ascertain the syntax. We will finish going over the handout on Friday.

Favor -- I would like to have a copy of your evil paragraph. Please revise your paragraph to make sure it is error-free and then print out a hard copy for me. If you are not here on Friday, share the paragraph with me so I can print it out. Thanks in advance.

Rhetorical Terms

In order to amp your rhetorical analyses and look beyond logos, ethos, and pathos, we reviewed/learned 42 strategies that authors use to reflect their purposes in writing. To put this into action, you drew an article, read its content, and completed a handout breaking down the components of a rhetorical analysis. Absentees will need to pick up hard copies next class.