Pat Sherbert
Director of English Programs
[email protected]
Begin by asking students to identify the rhetorical structure of the
poem. Students recognize the sonnet and can identify the rhyme pattern, and
even find images. Finding a pattern of imagery is much harder. Rhetorical
structure needs to be defined: intention and effect.
In the College Board Special Focus on Writing about Literature, Mel
MacKay quotes S. I. Hayakawa's phrase that all "language in thought and
action" has a rhetorical structure. Language has a speaker and language has an
effect. As MacKay states: "All literary art has both an overt physical structure and a rhetorical structure,
or meaning structure." There are any number of conversations that would suggest a rhetorical structure
within the art selection, that rhetorical structure becomes the base for the paragraph structure of the essay.
Language and devices build the paragraph once the thinking and identification have happened. The
approach for rhetorical analysis is intention and effect. Any response which shows the transaction
between speaker and audience is a rhetorical approach.
To begin, this Shakespearean poem is a conversation between writer and reader:
• What is the situation or occasion?
• Who is speaking and why?
• Who is he speaking to and why?
• What is his purpose?
Rhetorical Approach
(Meaning Structure)
The Speaker-Audience Transaction
Observation
Bewilderment or Confusion
Recognition
Resolution
Sonnet 60
Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore,
So do our minutes hasten to their end;
Each changing place with that which goes before,
In sequent toil all forwards do contend.
Nativity, once in the main of light,
Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crown'd,
Crooked eclipses 'gainst his glory fight,
And Time that gave doth now his gift confound.
Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth
And delves the parallels in beauty's brow,
Feeds on the rarities of nature's truth,
And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow:
And yet to times in hope my verse shall stand,
Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand.
–William Shakespeare
Advanced Placement®, AP®, and Pre-AP® are registered trademarks of The College Board. The College Board was not involved in the production
of and does not endorse this product. © 2007 by Pat Sherbert. All rights reserved. This paradigm is designed for program teachers to model any
prep session in verse.
Sherbert
Teacher Training – Rhetorical Analysis- Lit
2
Summary: Just as the waves push toward the pebbled shore, our minutes hasten toward their
end, each moment replacing the one that went before, straining against each other to move
forward in successive effort. Once born, creatures crawl from that pre-birth ocean of light to
maturity, facing cruel eclipses that obstruct their glory, and Time, that gives, begins to destroy its
own gifts. Time pierces the flowering cast of youth and digs deep lines in beauty's forehead:
feeds on the most exquisite of nature's specimens, and there's nothing that its scythe won't mow.
And yet my verses will last to be read by future generations, praising your worth in spite of
Time's cruel hand.
Analytical Approach
The opening two lines present a simile in
which time passing is represented by
"waves" and "minutes" as passing time
In the second quatrain, "nativity" is
personified as a child and crawls to
adulthood. Time gives us birth and then
"confounds" the gift by taking it away.
He feels uneasy about what time will make
him lose with the antithetical youth of
"beauty's brow" with wrinkles in the brow.
He now hopes that his sonnets will survive
his death to praise the worth of his verse.
Sonnet 60
Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore,
So do our minutes hasten to their end;
Each changing place with that which goes before,
In sequent toil all forwards do contend.
Nativity, once in the main of light,
Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crown'd,
Crooked eclipses 'gainst his glory fight,
And Time that gave doth now his gift confound.
Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth
And delves the parallels in beauty's brow,
Feeds on the rarities of nature's truth,
And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow:
And yet to times in hope my verse shall stand,
Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand.
–William Shakespeare
Reflection: Define the difference between a rhetorical and an analytical approach to teaching
literature.
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Advanced Placement®, AP®, and Pre-AP® are registered trademarks of The College Board. The College Board was not involved in the production
of and does not endorse this product. © 2007 by Pat Sherbert. All rights reserved. This paradigm is designed for program teachers to model any
prep session in verse.
Sherbert
Teacher Training – Rhetorical Analysis- Lit
3
Advanced Placement® English Literature, 1966
Section1
Part A- 25 minutes
Read the following poem several times before you attempt to answer the questions that follow.
Then, for each question, select the answer that you think best, and blacken the corresponding
space on the answer sheet.
5
10
Like the waves make towards the pebbled shore,
So do our minutes hasten to their end;
Each changing place with that which goes before,
In sequent toil all forwards do contend.
Nativity, once in the main of light,
Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crown’d,
Crooked eclipse ‘gainst his glory fight,
And Time that gave doth now his gift confound.
Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth
And delves the parallels in beauty’s brow,
Feeds on the rarities of nature’s truth,
And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow:
And yet to times in hope my verse shall stand,
Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand.
1. When does the speaker first indicate that
the poem is a compliment to someone?
(a) At the beginning of the first
quatrain
(b) At the end of the quatrain
(c) In the second quatrain
(d) In third quatrain
(e) In the concluding couplet
2. The image in the first two lines suggests
all of the following except:
(a) Life has a regularity and rhythm
of its own.
(b) The course that life follows is
beyond the control of man.
(c) Life moves hurriedly toward its
end.
(d) The will to live is fundamental
to man’s accomplishments
(e) The end toward which all men
move is natural and
unavoidable.
3. Throughout the poem, the poet expands
his ideas chiefly by means of
(a) Simile
(b) Paradox
(c) Hyperbole
(d) Antithesis
(e) Personification
4. Line 3 can best be interpreted as
meaning that
(a) Life is monotonous
(b) The world is constantly
changing
(c) No moment of life is ever
repeated
(d) Man is helpless against the
forces of nature
(e) No moment of life is without a
struggle
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of and does not endorse this product. © 2007 by Pat Sherbert. All rights reserved. This paradigm is designed for program teachers to model any
prep session in verse.
Sherbert
Teacher Training – Rhetorical Analysis- Lit
5. “In sequent toil all forwards do contend”
(Line 4) is an accurate description of all
of the following except the
(a) Movement of the waves toward
the shore
(b) Succession of moments in our
lives
(c) Movement of life towards its
close
(d) Progression of time
(e) Struggle between the waves and
the shore
6. “Nativity” (Line 5) can best be
interpreted to mean
(a) Birth and infancy
(b) Ignorance
(c) Christ’s birth
(d) The rising of the sun
(e) Innocence
7. In lines 5-7, the speaker describes life as a
(a) Movement from illusion to
reality
(b) Movement from promise to
promise without sign of
fulfillment
(c) Movement that is unpredictable
in its course
(d) Struggle to secure a mature
outlook despite constant lack of
fulfillment
(e) Struggle to maintain
achievements despite adverse
fortune
4
9. The words “being crown’d” (line 6) can
best be interpreted to mean
(a) Reaching old age
(b) Reaching fulfillment
(c) Achieving wisdom
(d) Adjusting to life
(e) Completing the struggle of life
10. The major images in lines 5-7 involve
(a) Hope and despair
(b) Appearance and reality
(c) Light and darkness
(d) Glory and ignominy
(e) Straightness and crookedness
11. The metaphor in line 10 refers
specifically to a
(a) Philosopher’s probing an idea
(b) Farmer’s plowing a field
(c) Mathematician’s drawing lines
(d) Man’s seeking his reflection
(e) Warrior’s stabbing with a spear
12. Lines 9-10 can best be interpreted to
mean that Time
(a) Permits no man to enjoy his
youth
(b) Strikes at the vigor and success
of youth
(c) Is an enemy to all who prize
only physical beauty
(d) Prefers the signs of age to the
signs of youth
(e) Allows even the young to die
8. Which of the following comparisons is
NOT made in the poem?
(a) Sea…time
(b) Youth…age
(c) Past…future
(d) Light…darkness
(e) Destruction…immorality
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of and does not endorse this product. © 2007 by Pat Sherbert. All rights reserved. This paradigm is designed for program teachers to model any
prep session in verse.
Sherbert
Teacher Training – Rhetorical Analysis- Lit
5
13. Line 11 suggests that Time
(a) Preys upon the best in nature
(b) Exists to support the superior
and the beautiful
(c) Yields only to the best in nature
(d) Is the guardian of the natural
order
(e) Is the greatest enemy of those
who seek knowledge
(c) Provide a generalization derived
from the examples presented in
lines 5-8
(d) Elaborate upon the
personification introduced in
line 8
(e) Provide a contrast with the
images used in the first two
quatrains
14. Which of the following is the best
interpretation of line 12?
(a) Everything ends at its appointed
time
(b) Time begins things, even as it
ends them
(c) Death is all that man looks
forward to
(d) Everything lives to be destroyed
(e) Nature’s truth ultimately cuts
down all moral things
17. Which of the following is the major idea
developed in lines 1-12?
(a) The inexorable movement of
time destroys all
(b) Age withers the beauty of man
(c) Death destroys whatever glory a
man has achieved
(d) Death and decay lie in wait for
all
(e) The poet confers immorality on
man
15. In the concluding epithet, the speaker
hopes that
(a) He will survive the ravages of
time
(b) His poem will be immortal
(c) His friend will not lose youth
too quickly
(d) His friend will continue to
deserve the praise the speaker is
giving him
(e) His poem is worthy of the
virtues his friend represents
18. The mood of lines 1-12 can best be
described as
(a) Consistent, but intensified as the
poem develops
(b) moving from the impersonal to
the intensely personal
(c) shifting with each quatrain
without any intensification
(d) consistent for the first two
quatrains, but shifting in the
third
(e) shifting after the first quatrain,
but consistent for the next two
16. The images of the third quatrain serve
primarily to
(a) Provide emotional relief from
the tension developed in the first
two quatrains
(b) Reinforce the meaning of the poem
by understating the main idea
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of and does not endorse this product. © 2007 by Pat Sherbert. All rights reserved. This paradigm is designed for program teachers to model any
prep session in verse.
Sherbert
Teacher Training – Rhetorical Analysis- Lit
6
19. Which of the following best describes the speaker’s approach to his subject in lines 1-12?
(a) He states his specific theme in general terms in the first quatrain and expands in by using
specific, personal illustrations in the second and third quatrains.
(b) He states his theme in the first quatrain, explaining it first in terms of the natural world
and then in terms of a stylized world; in the third quatrain he moves back to the natural
world to make the general statement of the theme and its relationship to all men.
(c) He states his theme in the first quatrain and expands upon it in succeeding quatrains, each
time becoming more explicit about the relationship of the theme to man.
(d) He introduces the theme in the first quatrain, but does not fully state it until the second;
the third quatrain is a further expansion of the second.
(e) He introduces the theme in the first quatrain and expands the introduction in the second;
the third finally states the theme in general terms.
(1)E (2)D (3)E (4)B (5)E (6)A (7)E (8)C (9)B (10)C (11)B (12)B (13)A (14)D (15)B (16)C (17)A (18)A (19)C
Advanced Placement®, AP®, and Pre-AP® are registered trademarks of The College Board. The College Board was not involved in the production
of and does not endorse this product. © 2007 by Pat Sherbert. All rights reserved. This paradigm is designed for program teachers to model any
prep session in verse.
Sherbert
Teacher Training – Rhetorical Analysis- Lit
7
Free Response Question:
Read the following poem carefully. Then, in a well-organized essay, analyze how the speaker
uses the varied imagery and techniques of poetry to reveal his attitude toward the nature of time.
Thesis should be stated identifying the poet's attitude. What is nature's truth? Concrete Images Paradox Metaphor Sonnet 60 is acknowledged as one of Shakespeare's greatest because
it deals with the universal concerns of time and its passing. In the
sonnet, time is symbolized by concrete images. For example, the
opening two lines present a simile in which time is represented by
"waves" and "minutes": "Like as the waves make towards the
pebbled shore, / So do our minutes hasten to their end"; here, death
is "the pebbled shore" — another concrete image.
In the second quatrain, the poet laments time's unfairness. A child
— "Nativity" — is born and, over time, matures to adulthood, and
yet the adult now dreads the maturation process as he grows
increasingly older and thus reaches the point of death, or the end of
time. Time, which gives life, now takes it away: "And Time that
gave doth now his gift confound."
Antithesis The antithesis in lines 9 through 12 is between the aging poet and
the youth's good looks. The poet warns, "Time doth transfix the
flourish set on youth / And delves the parallels in beauty's brow." In
other words, the young man currently is beautiful, but "parallels" —
wrinkles — will eventually appear, as they have on the poet.
However much the young man and the poet would like beauty to
reside forever on the youth's face, "nothing stands but for his
[time's] scythe to mow."
Nonetheless, the poet promises to immortalize the youth's good
looks before time's wrinkles appear on his face: "And yet to times in
hope my verse shall stand, / Praising thy worth, despite his cruel
hand." The poet's hope does not include giving the young man
eternal beauty. Clearly the poet is concerned that to ensure his
immortality it will be though his verse. Now, the poet's own sonnets
are the only security he has to gain eternal worth.
Advanced Placement®, AP®, and Pre-AP® are registered trademarks of The College Board. The College Board was not involved in the production
of and does not endorse this product. © 2007 by Pat Sherbert. All rights reserved. This paradigm is designed for program teachers to model any
prep session in verse.
Sherbert
Teacher Training – Rhetorical Analysis- Lit
8
Scoring Guide
Sonnet 60
General Directions: The score you assign should reflect your judgment of the quality of the
essays as a whole. Reward the writers for what they do well. The score for an exceptionally
well-written essay may be raised by one point from the score otherwise appropriate. In no case
may a poorly written essay be scored higher than 3.
9-8
These well-organized and well-written essays clearly demonstrate an understanding of how the speaker in
"Sonnet 60" uses varied imagery to convey his attitude toward the distressing nature of time. In their
references, they are apt and specific. Though not without flaws, these papers will offer a convincing
interpretation of the poem, as well as consistent control over the virtues of effective composition, including
the language unique to the criticism of poetry. They demonstrate the writers' ability to read perceptively
and to write with clarity and sophistication.
7-6
These essays also demonstrate an understanding of Shakespeare's sonnet but, compared to the best essays,
they are less thorough or less precise in their analysis of how the speaker uses imagery to convey attitude.
In addition to minor flaws in interpretation, their analysis is likely to be less well-supported and less
incisive. While these essays demonstrate the writers' ability to express ideas clearly, they do so with less
mastery and control over the hallmarks of mature composition than do papers in the 9-8 range.
5
While these essays deal with the assigned task without important errors, they have little to say beyond what
is most easy to grasp. Their analysis of how imagery conveys attitude may be vague. As exegesis, they
deal with the poem in a cursory way. Though the writing is sufficient to convey the writer's thoughts, these
essays are typically pedestrian, not as well conceived, organized or developed as upper-half papers. They
may reveal simplistic thinking or immature writing.
4-3
These lower-half essays often reflect an incomplete or oversimplified understanding of the poem.
Typically, they fail to respond adequately to part of the question. Their analysis may be weak, meager or
irrelevant; the nature of love may be ill-defined, the analysis inaccurate or unclear. The writing
demonstrates uncertain control over the elements of college-level composition. These essays usually
contain recurrent stylistic flaws and/or misreadings, and they often lack persuasive evidence from the text.
Essays scored 3 exhibit more than one of the above infelicities; they are marred by a significant
misinterpretation, insufficient development, or serious omissions.
2-1
These essays compound the weakness of the papers in the 4-3 range. They may seriously misread the
poem. Frequently, they are unacceptably brief. They are poorly written on several counts, and may contain
many distracting errors in grammar and mechanics. While some attempt may have been made to answer
the question, the writer's observations are presented with little clarity, organization, or supporting evidence.
Essays that are especially inexact, vacuous, and/or mechanically unsound should be scored 1.
0
This is a response with no more than a reference to the task
- Indicates a blank response, or is completely off-topic.
Advanced Placement®, AP®, and Pre-AP® are registered trademarks of The College Board. The College Board was not involved in the production
of and does not endorse this product. © 2007 by Pat Sherbert. All rights reserved. This paradigm is designed for program teachers to model any
prep session in verse.
Sherbert
Teacher Training – Rhetorical Analysis- Lit
9
Question 2
(Suggested time-35 minutes. This question counts one-third of the total essay section score.)
Read the following passage carefully. Then write an essay in which you analyze how Zora Neale Hurston enriches
our sense of her childhood world through her diction and her manipulation of point of view.
Childhood is playful. Papa's nature: Playful Child's perspective of Mama: protective challenging. Mother's nature: Patrician We lived on a big piece of ground with two big chinaberry trees shading the front
gate and Cape jasmine bushes with hundreds of blooms on either side of the walks. I
loved the fleshy, white, fragrant blooms as a child but did not make too much of them.
They were too common in my neighborhood. When I got to New York and found out
that the people called them gardenias, and that the flowers cost a dollar each, I was
impressed. The home folks laughed when I went back down there and told them. Some
of the folks did not want to believe me. A dollar for a Cape jasmine bloom! Folks up
north there must be crazy.
There were plenty of orange, grapefruit, tangerine, guavas and other fruits in our
yard. We had a five-acre garden with things to eat growing in it, and so we were never
hungry. We had chicken on the table often; home-cured meat, and all the eggs we
wanted. It was a common thing for us smaller children to fill the iron tea-kettle full of
eggs and boil them, and lay around in the yard and eat them until we were full. Any leftover boiled eggs could always be used for missiles. There was plenty of fish in the lakes
around the town, and so we had all that we wanted. But beef stew was something rare.
We were all very happy whenever Papa went to Orlando and brought back something
delicious like stew-beef. Chicken and fish were too common with us. In the same way,
we treasured an apple. We had oranges, tangerines and grapefruit to use as hand
grenades on the neighbors' children. But apples were something rare. They came from
way up north....
There were eight children in the family, and our house was noisy from the time
school turned out until bedtime. After supper we gathered in Mama's room, and
everybody had to get their lessons for the next day. Mama carried us all past long
division in arithmetic, and parsing sentences in grammar, by diagrams on the
blackboard. That was as far as she had gone. Then the younger ones were turned over to
my oldest, brother, Bob, and Mama sat and saw to it that we paid attention. You had to
keep on going over things until you did know. How I hated the multiplication tables—
especially the sevens!
We had a big barn, and a stretch of ground well covered with Bermuda grass. So on
moonlight nights, two-thirds of the village children from seven to eighteen would be
playing hide and whoop, chick-mah- chick, hide and seek, and other boisterous games
in our yard. Once or twice a year we might get permission to go and play at some other
house. But that was most unusual. Mama contended that we had plenty of space to play
in; plenty of things to play with; and, furthermore, plenty of us to keep each other's
company. If she had her way, she meant to raise her children to stay at home. She said
that there was no need for us to live like "no-count Negroes and poor-white trash"—too
poor to sit in the house—had to come outdoors for any pleasure, or hang around
somebody else's house. Any of her children who had any tendencies like that must have
got it from the Hurston side. It certainly did not come from the Pottses.
Things like that gave me my first glimmering of the universal female gospel that all
good traits and leanings come from the mother's side.
Mama exhorted her children at every opportunity to "jump at de sun.” We might
not land on the sun, but at least we would get off the ground. Papa did not feel so
hopeful. Let well enough alone. It did not do for Negroes to have too much spirit. He
was always threatening to break mine or kill me in the attempt.
Advanced Placement®, AP®, and Pre-AP® are registered trademarks of The College Board. The College Board was not involved in the production
of and does not endorse this product. © 2007 by Pat Sherbert. All rights reserved. This paradigm is designed for program teachers to model any
prep session in verse.
Sherbert
Speaker/Narration Reflective Teacher Training – Rhetorical Analysis- Lit
10
My mother was always standing between us. She conceded that I was impudent and
given to talking back, but she didn't want to "squinch my spirit" too much for fear that
I would turn out to be a mealy-mouthed rag doll by the time I got grown. Papa always
flew hot when Mama said that. I do not know whether he feared for my future, with the
tendency I had to stand and give battle, or that he felt a personal reference in Mama's
observation. He predicted dire things for me. The white folks were not going to stand
for it. I was going to be hung before I got grown. Somebody was going to blow me
down for my sassy tongue. Mama was going to suck sorrow for not beating my temper
out of me before it was too late. Posses with ropes and guns were going to drag me out
sooner or later on account of that stiff neck I toted. I was going to tote a hungry belly
by reason of my forward ways. My older sister was meek and mild. She would always
get along. Why couldn't I be like her?
-Zora Neale Hurston, Dust Tracks on a Road: An Autobiography (1942).
Advanced Placement®, AP®, and Pre-AP® are registered trademarks of The College Board. The College Board was not involved in the production
of and does not endorse this product. © 2007 by Pat Sherbert. All rights reserved. This paradigm is designed for program teachers to model any
prep session in verse.
Sherbert
Teacher Training – Rhetorical Analysis- Lit
11
1987­Scoring Guide—Question 2 General Directions: This scoring guide will be useful for most of the essays you read, but for
cases in which it seems inadequate, consult your Table Leader. The score you assign should
reflect your judgment of the quality of the essay as a whole. Reward the writers for what they do
well. The score for a particularly well-written essay may be raised by 1 point from the score
otherwise appropriate. In no case may a poorly written essay be scored higher than 4. Essays
with no response or essays unrelated to the question should not be scored but given to your Table
Leader.
9‐8 These well‐written essays offer a persuasive analysis of the passage, documenting their discussion with examples of diction and understanding of Hurston's management of point of view that give evidence of careful reading. They demonstrate stylistic maturity by an effective command of sentence structure, diction, and organization. The writing need not be flawless, but it reveals the writer's ability to choose from and control a wide range of the elements of effective writing. 7‐6 These essays provide an adequate analysis of the passage and support their discussion by paying appropriate attention to Hurston's choice of diction and by her employment of point of view. They are well written in an appropriate style but with less maturity than the top papers. Some lapses in diction or syntax may be present, but the writing demonstrates sufficient control over the elements of composition to present the writer's ideas clearly. Statements in these essays are supported with relevant evidence, but with less specificity or effectiveness than in essays in the 9‐8 range. 5 These essays offer an acceptable analysis of the passage but do not provide evidence of a full and careful reading of the text. They may be somewhat superficial in their use of evidence or they may fail to connect the elements of Hurston's craft (diction, manipulation of point of view) with the way she "enriches our sense of her childhood." These essays are adequately written, but may demonstrate inconsistent control over the elements of composition. Organization will be evident, but it may not be fully realized or particularly effective. 4‐3 These essays offer examples of Hurston's use of diction and her manipulation of point of view, but they do not marshall these effectively to communicate a helpful analysis of the passage. The writing is sufficient to convey the writer's ideas, but it suggests weak control over diction, syntax, or organization. These essays may contain onsistent spelling errors or some flaws in grammar. The statements in them are seldom supported with specific or persuasive evidence. 2‐1 These essays are inadequate both in analysis and in the use of examples. Often the writer will merely quote or simply summarize the passage. Generally, such essays are unacceptably brief or poorly written on several counts. The writing reveals consistent weaknesses in grammar or another of the basic elements of composition. Although some attempt to answer the question has been made, there is little or no evidence supplied for the writer's assertions. Advanced Placement®, AP®, and Pre-AP® are registered trademarks of The College Board. The College Board was not involved in the production
of and does not endorse this product. © 2007 by Pat Sherbert. All rights reserved. This paradigm is designed for program teachers to model any
prep session in verse.
Sherbert
Teacher Training – Rhetorical Analysis- Lit
12
1987-Student Essays--Question 2
The following essay received a score of 5.
Childhood memories, although sometimes not quite accurate, help recall an important segment
of our lives. We all remember riding our first bicycle (without training wheels!), visiting Santa Claus with
our lists of Christmas wishes, and our excitement at little, new objects. Zora Neale Hurston, in an excerpt
from "Dust Tracks on a Road: An Autobiography," uses effectively diction and point of view to help us
relate to her childhood world.
Certain words can create a specific feeling or atmosphere. Hurston's word choice creates the
feeling of a happy, "homey" childhood. Her elder's were "folks" and gardenias were "Cape jasmine
blooms," suggesting a farm or plantation. Hurston also is able to show how, as child, she viewed the
world with such phrases as "they came from way up north...." A child's world is very small and
everything outside it is viewed with awe.
Point of view plays an important part in Hurston's essay. By writing in the first person, the effect
is more personal. Again, the child's view is emphasized, as only a child would use the short choppy
sentences Hurston uses in the final paragraph. By writing as the child, personal details have more
meaning. Comments such as, "How I hated the multiplication tables--especially the sevens!" elicit our
own memories of similar events. Most of us can recall the time spent struggling to learn the "times
tables."
The last paragraph of this excerpt show a change in feeling and emotion. What started out as
happy and care free suddenly becomes menacing and foreboding. Only by relating the experience as the
person involved, could this effect be achieved.
This passage certainly is successful in enriching our sense of Hurston's world. The diction and
point of view are only two of many resources used to achieve this effect.
The following essay received a score of 9.
Through full, rich diction and deft manipulation of points of view, Zora Neale Hurston conveys to
the reader a sense of a plentiful and satisfying childhood within the bounds of her home, but also a sense
of a childhood restricted by fears of the outside world and the future which was part of it.
The childhood home of the author is spacious and full, and rich with creature comforts. It is a
"big piece of ground" with two big chinaberry trees... and cape jasmine bushes with hundreds of blooms
on either side of the walks. "There were plenty of orange, grapefruit, tangerine, guavas, and other fruits in
[the] yard." Food is so plentiful the children played with it, using grapefruits as "hand grenades" to
pummel the neighbor children. Choices of these details and the sentence repeating the word "plenty"
("Mama contended we had plenty of space to play in; plenty of things to play with...plenty of us to keep
each other's company) set up the atmosphere of the author's childhood in a self-contained "Garden of
Eden."
Yet the author's choice of words also indicates the outside world was seen as an empty place. In
the first paragraph, the author is "impressed with the fact that the gardenias, so common in her
neighborhood, cost a dollar apiece. Beef stew was "rare" in the house, and it came from the outside world.
The author also says..."apples were something rare. They came from way up north." Rarity of good
things, and, in the fourth paragraph, scarcity of money which makes people "too poor to sit in the house"
is associated with the outside world.
The shifts in point of view strengthen the feeling of plenty versus paucity of resources. In the
first paragraph the child, who is most familiar with the full home life, shows the reader what life is. The
second and third paragraphs backs this up, with the general experiences of the family--the games, the
feasts, the lessons, all in a self-contained little world. The fourth paragraph introduces the thoughts of
Advanced Placement®, AP®, and Pre-AP® are registered trademarks of The College Board. The College Board was not involved in the production
of and does not endorse this product. © 2007 by Pat Sherbert. All rights reserved. This paradigm is designed for program teachers to model any
prep session in verse.
Sherbert
Teacher Training – Rhetorical Analysis- Lit
13
Mama, the proprietor of this domestic Eden. She knows the comforts of home, but she also knows about
the outside world, and the author says, "If she had her way, she meant to raise her children to stay at
home." Mama is the guardian of the "female gospel that all good traits and leanings come from the
mother's side." In this case "mother" means fruitfulness and bounty, fertility.
On the other hand, Papa is, in Mama's opinion, the cause of the desire of the children to stray
from home. Though he may not want his children to go into the harsh world, the introduction of his
thoughts in the fifth paragraph brings up the first very sharp images of the horrors that await the author as
she ventures outside the border of chinaberry trees and Cape jasmine bushes of the family home: "posses
with ropes and guns," sure hanging by white men "on account of that stiff neck [the author] toted."
Though the tone of the passage is set up by more than mere diction and point of view--the
author's plentiful choice of details as an example--these two facets of the piece are outstanding in their
ability to create a moving conflict between the safety of a good home and the menace of a world hostile to
blacks with "forward ways."
Advanced Placement®, AP®, and Pre-AP® are registered trademarks of The College Board. The College Board was not involved in the production
of and does not endorse this product. © 2007 by Pat Sherbert. All rights reserved. This paradigm is designed for program teachers to model any
prep session in verse.