Hey Block 7 ---
Given Chapter 4 of the Kaplan, write a brief paragraph of where you think the discourse of this class is going. What are you seeing as the significant threads? What worries/inspires/motivates you?
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Looking at the powerpoint in class on tuesday helped solidify some things for me. Now that I know the big concepts of rhetoric and what we are supposed to identify when reading (repetition, parallelism, antithesis, symbolism, hyperbole and exclamations, etc), things should be easier. I think if we keep studying these devices, defining them and what not, and also searching for them in essays we read, it will become easier to pick them out and explain them on the AP exam. Like we talked about, it is important to not only know the definition of these things, but to know how they are used and why! I think with practice we will be able to figure this out as well. So far I have enjoyed reading the essays every night but am anxious to see how things will work once we started reading the Bookseller. It could be a different dynamic when reading a book in AP Lang. For example, I don't think we will be looking for themes and character (like we have usually done in english) as much as things like composition and rhetoric. And also, will we have discussions about it in class? Or will it be more of it's own kind of individual project? These are just some thoughts I have :)
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The course seems to be going where I thought it would be: analyzing the technical aspects (word choice, narrative voice, rhetorical devices, etc) of writing and how these aspects are used to establish a point.
ReplyDeleteSome of the literary terms are a bit confusing (I'm still shaky on synecdoche), but in general I'm not too apprehensive about this course. I'm a little worried that, on the AP exam, I'll be given a prompt that I either hate or have nothing to say about, which would make writing a decent essay difficult. I have to say that sometimes I can overuse the passive voice, so I'll need to cut down on that to make my writing more clear. In general, though, I like analyzing works, and I feel pretty confident that I'll be able to do a good job in this course and this exam. It's a different kind of English class than I've had before, but I'm looking forward to it. It's cool getting into why certain pieces/essays are effective - it's almost like the theory behind writing.
I'm definitely interested in learning more about rhetoric and the uses of it in the literature that we read and then analyze in this class. I am a little concerned about how much I'll be able to distinguish the various types of things that we're looking for, but I suppose I'll be able to understand more about it as we progress. Sometimes I feel like some of the literature analysis that can be done in English classes can be somewhat subjective, but at least with these specific types of rhetorical devices, I'll be able to know exactly what it is that we're looking for. I am curious as to how specific word choice and sentence phrasing are used to show and demonstrate specific ideas in a specific way. Hopefully, learning how professional and experienced writers use these devices to full effect will allow me to write with more purpose and having a greater command of the English language.
ReplyDeleteRhetoric is going to play a big part of our writing in this class. While analysis is important as well as deciphering meaning and symbolism within the things we read. We are going to be focusing a lot on the ways in which we write, and our methods of getting across a meaning. I think we will be discussing a lot about how to connect with an audience and ways in which to express a point of view using rhetorical devices. While we are going to do the classic devices, I think we are going to explore deeper into the other methods we are less familiar with.
ReplyDeleteChapter 4 certainly tied together the ideas of the course so far but after reading it, I can't help but feel as though we should have just started with the passage to get this mindset of lingual/rhetorical thinking from day one. Admittedly, the chapter is a little thick and it might have scared off a students, but I honestly believe we could have gotten so much more out of the readings we have done already. That said, it will be interesting to move forward with these ideas in mind. I often find myself favoring writing over content when choosing an essay topic, so I'm not horribly concerned about the essay work ahead; but parsing lectures and essays from a grammatical stand point is a little intimidating. However, it is interesting to think of grammar as such a powerful tool to get a point across as opposed to relying entirely on rhetorical devices and fluid writing. I can't imagine the course changing too much with this information under my belt, but if we're going to be dissecting language as thoroughly as this chapter implies, I think the actual quantity of reading might need to have a slower curve until we learn how to read with the quality and completeness asked of us.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading Chapter 4 of Kaplan, I think that this class is going to be focused on not only doing well on the AP Exam, but to also learn how to write with a strong voice and to use rhetorical devices. I find the thought of that slightly intimidating but exciting at the same time. In all of the english classes I have taken before this one, we only analyzed the content of the pieces of literature we read. At times we touched upon voice and why the author chose to structure certain sentences in that way, but in general, tone and style were never our main focus. After trying to write in two distinct voices in comparing madness with sensibility, I realized how much of a challenge this is going to be for me. But still, the thought of the end result of being able to control my writing more and to be able to analyze pieces of literature in more ways than one and from different angles is exciting. This english class is definitely going to be unlike any other I have taken and probably harder too, but I'm sure that it will be worth it in the end.
ReplyDeleteAt this juncture I feel that I have a good understanding of what our focus is for this course. I recognize that we will be focusing on the use of language and rhetorical devices by authors to gain a desired affect. I understand this goal, but I do not yet feel that I have an adequate command of rhetorical devices and other ideas presented so far. I think that some significant threads are the focus on identifying the purpose of a work, the audience, and the auhor's intention. I am inspired by the depth with which we look at the use of language. I feel that this practice has already deepened my understanding of word usage. The complexity of some of the rheorical devices worries me, but I am optomistic that I will be able to gain enough command of their definitions to effectively use and identify them.
ReplyDeleteWhereas most of my prior English classes have focused on analysis of the themes of the works we read, I believes this class aims more towards analyzing how the author goes about presenting his ideas, and the success of these methods, mainly focusing on authors of rhetoric. While there is a rather abstract quality to analyzing rhetoric, I am now beginning to see that there are various ways to concretely analyze an author's works, rhetorical devices (analogy, synecdoche, etc.) What worries me about the course is that abstract quality, and trying to express those abstract ideas in words. However, this completely new aspect of analysis of writing interests me, and motivates me to work through these difficulties of abstract analysis.
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