Rhetorical Strategies Practice

1. Rhetorical Strategies Practice

2. Strategy #1 • While I do not generally care for television, I do enjoy movies. Movies, however, present both a financial and a time commitment. When my family and I go to a movie, we spend roughly $20 for admission and an additional $20 for popcorn, sodas, and other snacks. At this cost, a night at the movies will often function as the evening meal as well. Occasionally my mom and I or my husband and I will go see something I especially want to see and leave the children with a sitter. Still the financial obligation is significant. Movies generally last somewhere between an hour and a half to two hours, plus time to dress, drive, park the car, buy tickets, get snacks, find a seat, and watch previews. Thus, there isn't always room in a busy schedule--or a tight budget-- to go to movies. In other words, I can't see them all at the theater. For these reasons, I've devised a ranking of movies to include those that I can watch at home. The films in my life (Although the specific movies vary, these groups work for most other people too) belong in these categories: 1)Films I will pay to watch in a theater; 2)Films I will rent; and 3)Films I will watch on television.

3. Strategy #1: Classification/Division • A division-classification essay usually begins with a generic subject such as pets, homes, people, teachers, automobiles, etc., divides the topic into specific groups, and provides examples and reasons to distinguish between those divisions. One rule for an effective division of items is that there be a category in which most items will fit. For example, dividing movies into three groups such as action, mystery, and horror would not offer a group or division for romance, human interest, biographical, and many other types of films. Thus, the topic of films, if chosen for division-classification should be divided into broader categories. • Because division-classification as a pattern of development lends itself well to humor or the expression of personal taste, personally, I divide films into these groups: 1)Films I will pay to watch in a theater; 2)Films I will rent; and 3)Films I will watch on television. Below is a sample using these divisions:

4. Strategy #2 • Who was a better pitcher – who did more to help his teams win – Pack Robert "Bob" Gibson, or Grover Cleveland "Pete" Alexander? In the popular imagination, the answer is easy. Gibson was voted to the All-Century team. Lefty Grove, Christy Mathewson and Alexander were the only three 20th Century pitchers to win 300 games and win more than 64% of their decisions (Roger Clemens has since joined them); in the balloting, Gibson (with 251 career wins and a .591 career winning percentage) drew more votes than all three combined. It’s not just the public at large; when the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) named its top 100 players of the century, Gibson was 17th, Alexander 25th. What got me thinking particularly about the comparison between the two was Sports Illustrated; SI’s state-by-state list of the top athletes of the 20th Century placed Gibson directly above Alexander among athletes from Nebraska. • Besides both being from Nebraska, both men were late bloomers; Gibson arrived in the majors at age 23, but struggled with his control and didn't have his first good year until age 26, and didn’t really blossom until they expanded the strike zone the following year. Alexander didn't even enter professional baseball until age 22 (in 1909) and had his career set back when he was nearly killed after being struck in the head by a thrown ball while running the bases in July of 1909. When he did arrive in the majors two years later he immediately led the league in wins and set a rookie strikeout record that lasted 73 years.

5. Strategy #2: Compare and Contrast • We use comparison to show how two things are alike or similar; we use contrast to show how two things are different. Typically, we compare things that differ from each other. I n other words, there has to be sufficient differences between them to make it interesting or worth our while to compare. • Contrast, on the other hand, focuses on the differences between two things. This observation suggests that those two things should be so alike that discussing their differences is interesting or relevant. • A blogger who calls himself "The Baseball Crank" writes an excellent comparison between two great pitchers, Bob Gibson and Grover Cleveland Alexander. Source: “The Baseball Crank,” Dec. 17, 2003

6. Strategy #3 • All it takes to make hummus are a few easy-to-find ingredients—chickpeas, olive oil, lemons, and garlic among them. Tahini, which is sesame-seed paste, is another key component—the dish’s standard name in Arabic translates as, simply, “chickpeas with tahini”—though what no one ever tells you about hummus is that you can use peanut butter or another nut butter and it will still be delicious. (Just be sure to buy the so-called natural kind—that is, the kind with no added sugars or hydrogenated oils.) Hummus purists may balk, but peanut butter is usually quite a bit cheaper than tahini—a non-negligible consideration for many, especially after holiday spending sprees. • You’ll also want paprika to give hummus its characteristic warm flavor. Pimentón, which is paprika made from peppers that have been smoked before being pulverized, elevates hummus to an entirely new level of addictiveness—but you can use regular paprika if you’re not crazy about smokiness. • After procuring your ingredients, all that really remains to do is to mash (or to press a button, if you’ve got a food processor or blender). Hummus texture is a matter of personal preference. Some like it as silky-smooth as yogurt, but it can be excellent on the other side of the spectrum, too. I tend to like it somewhere in the middle—rough, but not alienating, like The National’s early stuff.

7. Strategy #3: Process Analysis • Process analysis asks the question "How?" Specifically, a process analysis paragraph or essay answers the question, "How does this process occur?" Process analysis is different from giving instructions; in instructions, the purpose is to guide someone through a procedure. In process analysis, the purpose is to explain that procedure. Some examples of process analysis would be to explain how a volcano erupts, how blood flows through the body, how a seed germinates, how a device moves through a factory, how children are tested for autism. But be careful. If you answer the question, "How do you study for a test?" you are giving instructions, not explaining a process. • Source: “You’re Doing It Wrong: Hummus” by L.V. Anderson, Slate, Dec. 28, 2011

8. Strategy #4 • I was saved from sin when I was going on thirteen. But not really saved. It happened like this. There was a big revival at my Auntie Reed's church. Every night for weeks there had been much preaching, singing, praying, and shouting, and some very hardened sinners had been brought to Christ, and the membership of the church had grown by leaps and bounds. Then just before the revival ended, they held a special meeting for children, "to bring the young lambs to the fold." My aunt spoke of it for days ahead. That night I was escorted to the front row and placed on the mourners' bench with all the other young sinners, who had not yet been brought to Jesus.

9. Strategy #4: Narration • A narrative tells a story. Obviously, stories take place somewhere, and there are things and people in most stories. Therefore, most narratives will include some description. Narratives focus on action. What happens? The answer to this question is what narration is all about. Narratives have a point, the main idea, the theme. If you think of description as a static picture, then think of narration as a movie, a film. The different sections of the narrative can be considered "scenes" in a film. Narrative writing has a beginning, a middle, and an end. • Source: “Salvation” by Langston Hughes

10. Strategy #5 • The preacher preached a wonderful rhythmical sermon, all moans and shouts and lonely cries and dire pictures of hell, and then he sang a song about the ninety and nine safe in the fold, but one little lamb was left out in the cold. Then he said: "Won't you come? Won't you come to Jesus? Young lambs, won't you come?" And he held out his arms to all us young sinners there on the mourners' bench. And the little girls cried. And some of them jumped up and went to Jesus right away. But most of us just sat there. • A great many old people came and knelt around us and prayed, old women with jet-black faces and braided hair, old men with work-gnarled hands. And the church sang a song about the lower lights are burning, some poor sinners to be saved. And the whole building rocked with prayer and song.

11. Strategy #5: Description • Good description creates vivid images in the mind of a reader. A writer may be asked to do objective description, where he or she must relate the physical appearance of a person or place without suggesting any feeling or emotion. Most likely, however, writers will be called upon to write subjective description, where the feelings of the writer are made obvious by the word choices in the description. Think of description as taking a picture. Description uses imagery to appeal to the senses. • Source: “Salvation” by Langston Hughes

12. Strategy #6 • The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has charged cyclist Lance Armstrong with doping, claiming that his blood samples from 2009 and 2010 indicated Erythropoietin use and/or blood transfusions. According to the New York Times, all but two of the Tour de France winners since 1995 have been involved in doping controversies. Why does doping seem to be so much more common in cycling than in other endurance sports? • Heightened scrutiny, among other things. Doping is depressingly prevalent in cycling…Part of the reason it seems like cyclists are always failing drug tests is that cyclists are always taking drug tests. Ever since the Festina affair revealed systematic doping at the 1998 Tour de France, top cyclists get tested dozens of time per year—far more than most other athletes.

13. Strategy #6: Cause and Effect • Cause and effect, as the name implies, examines the causes of a certain condition or event. It may also examine the results (or effects) of that same event. But before we can ever talk about causes or effects, there must be an event, the thing itself. Note in this example that the writer attempts to explore the causes of the belief that doping is more prevalent among cyclists. • Source: “Riding High: Why Is There So Much More Doping in Professional Cycling Than in Other Sports?” by Brian Palmer, June 12, 2012, Slate

14. Strategy #7 • Everyone knows about Type A. This magnificently bland coinage, put forward by a pair of California cardiologists in 1959, struck a collective nerve and entered the language. It is a token of our confusion: are we victims or perpetrators of the crime of haste? Are we living at high speed with athleticism and vigor, or are we stricken by hurry sickness? • The cardiologists, Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman, listed a set of personality traits which, they claimed, tend to go hand in hand with one another and also with heart disease. They described these traits rather unappealingly…Excessive competitiveness. Aggressiveness.

15. Strategy #7: Definition • Remember that defining a concept or word can be denotative (objective) or connotative (personal). This passage attempts to define Type A personality. • Source: “Life As Type A” by James Gleick, 1999

16. Strategy #8 • People of all ages can rise above their problems, but they need to have a reason to do so. Young people generally don’t have the maturity to value education in the same way my adult students value it. But fear of failure, whether economic or academic, can motivate both. • Flunking as a regular policy has just as much merit today as it did two generations ago. We must review the threat of flunking and see it as it really is – a positive teaching tool. It is an expression of confidence by both teachers and parents that the students have the ability to learn the material presented to them.

17. Strategy #8: Persuasion/Argumentation • The writer argues that failure and flunking is actually a valuable part of the education process. • Source: “In Praise of the ‘F’ Word” by Mary Shelley, Newsweek, 1991

18. Strategy #9 • For ten years, I taught public school. Aside from the kid who ruined my carefully-planned lessons by making animal sounds, nothing bothered me more than the language of educators; the jargon and clichés and euphemisms found in school brochures. Take, for example, The Parent and Student Middle School Guide from Region Nine, which governs fourteen schools in Manhattan. In the booklet, one school brags that it provides all students with “academic preparation” while helping them “to think clearly” in “an enriched environment.” Another Region Nine middle school claims that its staff “is comprised of” (sic) “highly qualified professionals who specialize in the teaching of young adolescents.” A third school says that it “is dedicated to students seeking an atmosphere that offers academic rigor through intensified literary arts instruction, science and math investigations” and “an exciting inter-disciplinary, multi-cultural curriculum.” This is blather, the equivalent of a political stump speech (well, maybe not that bad). It would be impossible for any parent reading these vagaries to picture what goes on in the schools’ classrooms.

19. Strategy #9: Exemplification • An exemplification paragraph explains a general idea by offering specific examples. Note the multiple examples of educational jargon.