Day #8
Only clay-brained
jolt-heads would
forget to
purchase this
most important
resource.
Adding Rhetorical Punch
Read through the introduction and conclusion paragraphs of your
essay draft.
 Have you used any rhetorical devices?
 Literary devices?
 Any specific style to create impact or emphasis?
Label what you have already used.
You might already be using rhetoric without even knowing it!
 Rhetoric is the ART OF PERSUASION
 Devices include:
 Parallel Structure
 Anaphora
 Epistrophe
 Dash
 And many others!
 Using rhetorical devices in your essay will make your essay more dramatic,
powerful, and memorable. Use rhetorical devices to emphasize the most
important points in your essay.
 Let’s try out some of these strategies now with the introduction and conclusion
paragraphs! Write your new sentences onto your draft.
 Definition: Repeated grammatical pattern
 Examples:
 Mary likes hiking, swimming, and bicycling.
 Mary likes to hike, to swim, and to bike.
 Rand’s Objectivism conveys how to live, how to exist, and how to be.
 Try this now with the last sentence of your conclusion. Select a structure
to repeat THREE times. Work with a partner if you need help.
The Gothic genre fulfills the horrific fantasies of the
reader, entices the terrifying imaginations of viewers,
and evokes the complex understanding of human
nature.
 Definition: Parallel structure that uses opposites to create emphasis
 Example:
 “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of
wisdom, it was the age of foolishness […]”
--Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
 Try it out now in the attention-grabber (first sentence of the introduction
paragraph). Then, share with a partner to check for understanding.
The Gothic genre terrifies its readers; the Gothic
genre entertains its readers.
 Definition: Repeating a sequence of words at the beginnings of neighboring clauses
 Example:
 “In the time the savage bull sustains the yoke,
In the time all haggard hawks will stoop to lure,
In the time small wedges cleave the hardest oak,
In the time the flint is pierced with softest shower.”
--Thomas Kyd, The Spanish Tragedy
 Try it out now with a part of your introduction or conclusion. This can either be in one
longer sentence or across a few sentences. Swap sentences with a partner to check for
understanding.
Gothic evokes fear; gothic evokes
paranoia.
 Definition: repeating the same words at the end of successive phrases or clauses
 Examples:
 “Where affections bear rule, their reason is subdued, honesty is subdued, good will is
subdued, and all things else that withstand evil, for ever are subdued.”
--Thomas Wilson
 “[…]this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government
of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from earth.”
--Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address
 Try it out now with a part of your introduction or conclusion and share with a partner.
In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, her use of the
Gothic epitomizes the fear of death, the
paranoia of death, and the insanity of death.
 A short sentence can provide nice, dramatic impact if it is located among longer
sentences because it will stand out and create impact.
 Example:
 “She pluck’d, she eat.”
--John Milton, Paradise Lost
 Try it out now– best to use either at the end of the introduction or conclusion.
Share with a partner.
The Gothic epitomizes the insecurity of life, the
paranoia of death, and the insanity of death.
Gothic is fear.
 The em dash can be a nice device to set apart an important word or phrase that provides
much more separation and attention than simply using commas (be sure to hit the hyphen
key twice to create the dash).
 Think of the dash as a comma on steroids!
 Examples:
 Her taste in music–from country to rap–exemplifies her eclectic personality.
 The vegetarian gasped in horror when he saw lining the wall of the cabin a collection
of animal heads—moose, deer, bears, elephants, all dead.
 Kira shows that nothing in life is worthwhile without that which makes us happy–
ourselves.
 Try it out now. Use a dash somewhere in your introduction or conclusion paragraphs and
share with a partner.
The iniquities of humanity are brought forth
by the Gothic genre’s most powerful trait–
fear.
 These are adverbs that can be used as transitions between ideas. These adverbs draw attention to important ideas in the
essay.
 They must be followed by a comma!!
Accordingly,
However,
Similarly,
Incidentally,
Certainly,
Moreoever,
Consequently,
Nevertheless,
Furthermore,
Nonetheless,
Finally,
Otherwise,
Further,
Therefore,
Ultimately,
Hence,
 Try it now– add a conjunctive adverb to a sentence in BOTH the introduction and conclusion. Check with a partner
for understanding.
 Rhetoric must be tasteful– not too much and not too
little. Think of it like adding salt & pepper to a recipe.
You don’t want too much or too little– just enough!
 Look over the rhetorical sentences you’ve created and
decide on which ones you want to use.
Project presentations
next time! You will be
graded on the product
itself AND the
presentation. This
counts as an essay
grade.