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StyleandRhetoricalAppeals,pg.
1
STYLEANDRHETORICALAPPEALS APLANGUAGEANDCOMPOSITION2009-2010TERMSTOKNOW
Thesis
Inexpositorywriting,thethesisstatementisthesentenceorgroupofsentencesthatdirectlyexpressestheauthor’sopinion,purpose,meaning,orposition.Expositorywritingisusuallyjudgedbyanalyzinghowaccurately,effectively,andthoroughlyawriterhasproventhethesis.
Structure
This@lexibletermdescribesthevariety,theconventions,andthepurposesofthemajorkindsofwriting.Thefourmostcommonrhetoricalmodes(oftenreferredtoas“modesofdiscourse”)areasfollows:
(1)Thepurposeof
exposition
(orexpositorywriting)istoexplainandanalyzeinformationbypresentinganidea,relevantevidence,andappropriatediscussion.TheAPlanguageexamessayquestionsarefrequentlyexpositorytopics.(2)Thepurposeof
argumentation
istoprovethevalidityofanidea,orpointofview,bypresentingsoundreasoning,discussion,andargumentthatthoroughlyconvincethereader.
Persuasive
writingisatypeofargumentationhavinganadditionalaimofurgingsomeformofaction.(3)Thepurposeof
description
istorecreate,invent,orvisuallypresentaperson,place,eventoractionsothatthereadercanpicturethatbeingdescribed.SometimesanauthorengagesallFivesensesindescription;gooddescriptivewritingcanbesensuousandpicturesque.Descriptivewritingmaybestraightforwardandobjectiveorhighlyemotionalandsubjective.(4)Thepurposeof
narration
istotellastoryornarrateaneventorseriesofevents.Thiswritingmodefrequentlyusesthetoolsofdescriptivewriting.
Syntax
Thewayanauthorchoosestojoinwordsintophrases,clauses,andsentences.Syntaxissimilartodiction,butyoucandifferentiatethembythinkingofsyntaxasgroupsofwords,whiledictionreferstotheindividualwords.InthemultiplechoicesectionoftheAPexam,expecttobeaskedsomequestionsabouthowanauthormanipulatessyntax.Intheessaysection,youwillneedtoanalyzehowsyntaxproduceseffects.
type/lengthofsentencesegregating
:Asegregatingstyleconsistsofrelativelyshort,uncomplicatedsentences.Shortsentencesarestrong,repetitive,andemphatic.(“Hewrites,atmost750wordsaday.Hewritesandrewrites.Hepolishesandrepolishes.Heworksinsolitude.Heworkswithagony.Heworkswithsweat.”)
freight-train
:Thefreight‐trainstylecouplesshortindependentclausestomakelongersequentialstatements.Itisusefulwhenyouwishtolinkaseriesofevents,ideas,impressions,feelings,orperceptionsasimmediatelyaspossible,withoutjudgingtheirrelativevalueorimposingalogicalstructureuponthem.(“AndtheraindescendedandtheFloodscame,andthewindsblew,andbeatuponthehouse;anditfell:andgreatwasthefallofit”).
parataxis
:independentclausesbuttedtogetherwithoutconjunctions(unlikethefreight‐trainstyle)andusingsemicolonsorcommas.ParataxisisusedwhenFluidityoffreight‐trainisnotdesired.(“Thehabitsofthenativesaredisgusting;thewomenhawkontheFloor,theforksaredirty;thetreesarepoor;thePontNeufisnotapatchonLondonBridge;thecowsareskinny...”).
triadic
:Afreighttrainsentencecomposedinthreeunitsistriadic.Thetriadicsentenceprovidesaclearerstructuralprinciplethatisnotopen‐ended(unlikethefreight‐trainandparataxisstyles)andtendstoberepetitive.(“Hershowmanshipwassuperb;hertimingsensational;herdramaticinstinctuncanny.”).
cumulative
:Acumulativesentenceconsistsofaninitialindependentclausefollowedbyanumberofsubordinateconstructionsthataccumulatedetailsabouttheperson,place,event,oridea.(“7000RomaineSt.looksitselflikeafadedmovieexterior,apastelbuildingwithchippedartemodernedetailing,thewindowsnoweitherboardeduporpanedwithchicken‐wireglassand,attheentrance,amongthedustyoleander,arubbermatthatreadsWELCOME.”).
parallelism
:Parallelismmeansthattwoormorewordsorconstructionsstandinanidenticalgrammaticalrelationshiptothesamething.Parallelismispleasanttohearandeconomical.(“Wewillcome
whenweareready
and
whenwechoose
.”).
balanced
:AbalancedsentenceconsistsoftwopartsroughlyequivalentinbothlengthandsigniFicanceanddividedbyapause.Balancedelementsmayrepeatthesameidea,showcauseandeffect,precedenceandsubsequence,oranyotherrelationships.(“Visiteitheryoulike;they’rebothmad.”).
 
StyleandRhetoricalAppeals,pg.
2
type/lengthofsentence(cont’d)loose
:ThemainclausecomesFirstandisfollowedbythesubordinateclausesandphrases.Thenumberofideasinaloosesentenceiseasilyincreasedbyaddingphrasesandclauses.(“Ifoundalargehall,obviouslyaformergarage,dimlylit,andpackedwithcots.”)
periodic
:Thesubordinateconstructionsprecedethemainclause,whichclosesthesentence.Theperiodicsentenceisemphatic.Delayingtheprincipalthoughtincreasesitsimportance.(“Givenamoistplanetwithmethane,formaldehyde,ammonia,andsomeusuableminerals,allofwhichabound,exposedtolightningorultravioletradiationattherighttemperature,lifemightstartalmostanywhere.”).
convoluted
:Themainclauseissplitintwo,openingandclosingasentence;thesubordinateconstructionsintrudebetweenthepartsofthemainclause.Convolutedsentencesestablishstrongemphasisbythrowingweightuponthewordsatthebeginningandendofthesentence.(“Nowdemons,whateverelsetheymaybe,arefullofinterest”).
centered
:themainclauseoccupiesthemiddleofthesentenceandisbothprecededandfollowedbysubordinateconstructions.Inacenteredsentence,thechanceofobscurityisreducedinalongsentenceifthemainclausecanbeplacedinthemiddleofthesubordinateelements.(“HavingwantedtowalkonthesealikeSt.Peter
hehadtakenaninvoluntarybath
,losinghismiterandthebetterpartofhisreputation.”).
fragment 
:Thefragmentisasingleword,phrase,oradependentclausestandingaloneasasentence.Informalwritingfragmentsaregenerallyafault,thoughoccasionallyvaluableforeye‐catchingandunusualemphasis.(“ThatnightmarewasalmostrealizedinHitler’stotalitariansystem.Almost,butnotquite.”).
active/passive--
Insentenceswrittenin
activevoice
,thesubjectperformstheactionexpressedintheverb;thesubjectacts(Example:Thedog
bit 
theboy).Insentenceswrittenin
 passivevoice
,thesubjectreceivestheactionexpressedintheverb;thesubjectisactedupon(Example:Theboy
wasbittenby 
thedog).
antithesis–
theoppositionorcontrastofideas;thedirectopposite.(“Thoughstudious,hewaspopular;thoughargumentative,hewasmodest;thoughinFlexible,hewascandid;andthoughmetaphysical,yetorthodox.”).
aphorism–
Atersestatementofknownauthorshipthatexpressesageneraltruthoramoralprinciple.(Iftheauthorshipisunknown,thestatementisgenerallyconsideredtobeafolkproverb.)Anaphorismcanbeamemorablesummationoftheauthor’spoint.(“Losttimeisneverfoundagain.”).
chiasmus–
AFigureofspeechbasedoninvertedparallelism.ItisarhetoricalFigureinwhichtwoclausesarerelatedtoeachanotherthroughareversalofterms(asin“...asknotwhatyourcountrycandoforyou—askwhatyoucandoforyourcountry.”).
juxtaposition
:Placingdissimilaritems,descriptions,orideasclosetogetherorsidebyside,especiallyforcomparisonorcontrast.
punctuation
:Howdoestheauthorpunctuatethesentenceandtowhatextentdoesthepunctuationaffectthemeaning?
repetition/alliteration–
Repetition
istheduplication,eitherexactorapproximate,ofanyelementoflanguage,suchasasound,word,phrase,clause,sentence,orgrammaticalpattern.Alliterationistherepetitionofsounds,especiallyinitialconsonantsoundsintwoormoreneighboringwords(asin“shesellsseashells”).Althoughthetermisnotfrequentlyinthemultiple‐choicesection,youcanlookforalliterationinanyessaypassage.Therepetitioncanreinforcemeaning,unifyideas,supplyamusicalsound,and/orechothesenseofthepassage.
Diction
Relatedtostyle,dictionreferstothewriter’swordchoices,especiallywithregardtotheircorrectness,clearness,or 
effectiveness.FortheAPexam,youshouldbeabletodescribeanauthor’sdiction(forexample,formalorinformal,ornateorplain)andunderstandthewaysinwhichdictioncancomplementtheauthor’spurpose.
abstract/concrete—
 Abstract
wordssignifythingsthatcannotbeperceived(Examples:honor,generosity,idea,democracy).
Concrete
wordsrefertoperceptiblethings(Examples:arose,aclapofthunder,theodorofviolets).
ambiguity–
Themultiplemeanings,eitherintentionalorunintentional,ofaword,phrase,sentence,orpassage.orexample,“Itwasa
 funny 
affair.”(“Laughable”or“strange”?)
 
StyleandRhetoricalAppeals,pg.
3
colloquial/slang–
Theuseofslangorinformalitiesinspeechorwriting.Notgenerallyacceptableforformalwriting,colloquialismsgiveaworkaconversational,familiartone.Colloquialexpressionsinwritingincludelocalorregionaldialects.(Example:“Wehavea
swell 
professorofmathematics”)
pretentious
—Usingbigwordstonopurpose—exceptperhapstoshowoff.(“Upon
receivingananswerintheaf@irmative
,he
 proceeded 
tothebulletinboard.”)
clichés/euphemism/jargon
—
Clichés
aretriteexpressions,devaluedbyoveruse(Examples:“deadasadoornail,”“lightasafeather,”“whiteassnow,”etc.).
Euphemism
comesfromtheGreekfor“goodspeech,”andisamoreagreeableorlessoffensivesubstituteforagenerallyunpleasantwordorconcept.Theeuphemismmaybeusedtoadheretostandardsofsocialorpoliticalcorrectnessortoaddhumororironicunderstatement.Saying“earthlyremains”ratherthan“corpse”isanexampleofeuphemism.
 Jargon
istechnicallanguagemisused(Example:“Giventhestockpileofinnovativein‐housecreativityfortheforthegenerationofnovelwords...”)
connotation/denotation–
Thenon‐literal,associativemeaningofaword;theimplied,suggestedmeaning.Connotationsmayinvolveideas,emotions,orattitudes.Denotationreferstothestrict,literal,dictionarydeFinitionofaword,devoidofanyemotion,attitude,orcolor.(Example:the
denotation
ofaknifewouldbeautensilusedtocut;the
connotation
ofaknifemightbefear,violence,anger,foreboding,etc.)
formalv.informal/levelsofusage
—Levelsofusagereferstothekindofsituationinwhichawordisnormallyused.Considerthreeverbsthatroughlymeanthesamething:
exacerbate
,
annoy 
,
bug
.
hyperbole–
AFigureofspeechusingdeliberateexaggerationoroverstatement.(TheliteralGreekmeaningis“overshoot.”)Hyperbolesoftenhaveacomiceffect;however,aseriouseffectisalsopossible.(“Ihaven’tseenyouforages!”).Often,hyperboleproducesirony.Theoppositeofhyperboleis
understatement 
.
idiom—
An
idiom
isacombinationofwordsfunctioningasaunitofmeaning,asin“totakethebushome.”(Wecannot“carry,bring,orfetchthebushome”)
onomatopoeia–
AFigureofspeechinwhichnaturalsoundsareimitatedinthesoundsofwords.Simpleexamplesincludesuchwordsas
buzz,hiss,hum,crack,whinny,
and
murmur 
.Ifyounoteexamplesofonomatopoeiainanessaypassage,notetheeffect.
tone–
Similartomood,tonedescribestheauthor’sattitudetowardhismaterial,theaudience,orboth.Toneiseasiertodetermineinspokenlanguagethaninwrittenlanguage.Consideringhowaworkwouldsoundifitwerereadaloudcanhelpinidentifyinganauthor’stone.
Figurative
Language
The@igurativemeaningofawordorphrasecontrastswithitsliteralmeaning,whichisclosertoitsstandard,dictionaryde@inition.Figurativelanguageseekstoclarifyandaccentuatemeaningbyreferencingawordorphraseintermsofsomethingfamiliartotheaudience,usuallytoachievespecialmeaningoreffect
simile
—A
simile
isabriefcomparison,usuallyintroducedby
like
or
as
.(“MywordsswirledaroundhisheadlikesummerFlies.”)
metaphor–
AFigureofspeechusingimpliedcomparisonofseeminglyunlikethingsorthesubstitutionofonefortheother,suggestingsomesimilarity.Metaphoricallanguagemakeswritingmorevivid,imaginative,thoughtprovoking,andmeaningful.(“CapeCodisthebaredandbendedarmofMassachusetts.”)
personiZication–
AFigureofspeechinwhichtheauthorpresentsordescribesconcepts,animals,orinanimateobjectsbyendowingthemwithhumanattributesoremotions.(“AsLondonincreased,however,rankandfashionrolledofftothewest,andtrade,creepingonattheirheels,tookpossessionoftheirdesertedabodes”)
allusion–
Adirectorindirectreferencetosomethingthatispresumablycommonlyknown,suchasanevent,book,myth,place,orworkofart.Allusionscanbehistorical,literary,religious,topical,ormythical.Therearemanymorepossibilities,andaworkmaysimultaneouslyusemultiplelayersofallusion.(“Theaccidentwasof
Titanic
proportions”)
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