Week 6

 

Language Skill: Using Appropriate Adverbials to Fit Rhetorical Context

Adverbials:

• Words or phrases that function as adverbs

• Create textual cohesion

• Have many semantic roles expressing a variety of meanings such as location, reason, concession, time, agency, and attitude

• Have a wide range of syntactic forms, from single words to prepositional phrases and clauses

• Occur in various positions (initial, medial, and final)

• More than one can occur in a single clause

• Most often optional

• Serve different functions including linking and stance

o Linking

 Used to show the relationship between units of discourse

 Connect rather than adding information

 Most often in initial position

 Relationships include:

• Contrast/concession (however and but)

• Enumeration and addition (in addition and for another thing)

• Summation (further and overall)

• Apposition (namely and for example)

• Inference/result (consequently and so)

o Stance

 Used to comment on content or style

 Overtly mark author’s attitude

 Single-word are most common form

 All positions, but medial is most common

 Always optional

 Can also be conveyed with noun phrases, modals, and other verbs

 Categories include:

• Epistemic – judges the truth of the situation

o Certainty or doubt (perhaps versus absolutely)

o Actuality or reality (in fact and really)

o Source of knowledge (according to x and reportedly)

o Limitation (generally and in some cases)

o Viewpoint or perspective (from my perspective and in our view)

o Imprecision hedges (so to speak and sort of)

• Attitude – tells writer’s evaluation (surprisingly or predictably)

• Style – shows manner of writing/voice (in short and frankly)

Language Skill: Using Grammar to Vary Description

Vivid language engages your reader and will enhance and support your rhetorical purpose. The ways we can use grammar include:

·        Adjectives

o   Painting a picture – using specific sensory details to create an image for your reader

§  Vision – color, shape, etc.

§  Audition – sounds, loud/quiet, quality

§  Taction – touch, soft/hard, smooth/rough

§  Gustation – taste, sweet/sour/bitter/salty/umami

§  Olfaction – smell, odor, fresh/musty, etc.

o   Adjectives out of order – changing the standard order to make your reader pay attention

§  Conventional/standard order:

·        quantity/number - one

·        quality/opinion - lovely

·        size - little

·        age - old

·        shape - rectangular

·        color - green

·        proper adjective - French

·        material - silver

·        purpose/qualifier - whittling

·        e.g., “one lovely little old rectangular green French silver whittling knife”

§  Out of order:

·        One or more adjectives might follow rather than precede the noun

o   One lovely whittling knife, old and green

o   Large bull moose, red-eyed and angry, charged

·        One or more adjectives might be set off from the sentence by commas in a clause

o   Careful movements, controlled and precise

o   Participial adjectives

§  Present participle: verb + ing

·        Stomping feet

·        Clapping hands

§  Past participle: verb + ed

·        Framed with traditions and beliefs

·        Mashed potatoes

·        Powerful nouns and verbs

o   Nouns:

§  Absolutes: two-word combinations of noun + present participle

·        Hands shaking

·        Feet stomping

·        Claws digging

§  Appositives: noun, noun phrase, verb – creates the illusion of reality in fiction, but implies a foundation of research in non-fiction

·        The dancer, a whirling swirl of color, flew by

·        The raptor, a white shadow, soared overhead

·        The results, well-founded data, proved convincing

o   Verbs:

§  Concrete, specific verbs replace the feeling of still images or bland language

·        The dancer went by < The dancer flew by

·        The river was calm < The river stretched out in front of us as smooth as the surface of a mirror

·        She walked casually past her ex-boyfriend’s house without a care < She strolled past her ex-boyfriend’s house without a care.

·        They talked < They shouted or They whispered

·        They walked < They stomped. They crept. They skipped.

§  Replacing the verb “be/am/is” etc., makes a sentence more powerful

·        She was happy < She overflowed with joy. < She beamed radiant smiles at everyone.

·        Sentence order

o   Adjective clauses and phrases – create smooth flow in description

§  Combine sentences; use dependent clauses inside commas

§  The dancer spun around the room. She was wearing bright colorful clothing.

§  The dancer, wearing bright colorful clothing, spun around the room.

o   Embedded elements – use any of the above to break monotony

§  The sun sank behind the tress. It was a fiery glowing globe.

§  The sun, a fiery glowing globe, sank behind the trees.

o   Combined sentences – avoid overuse of subject/verb/object structure

§  The hall was empty. She ran toward the classroom. She entered right after the bell rang.

§  She ran toward the classroom down an empty hall and entered right after the bell rang.

§  Racing down an empty hall, she skidded into the classroom, breathless, just as the bell clanged above her.

o   Parallel structures – create a musical quality, develops a rhythm, adds balance, and threads images together to create a more complete picture

§  …there was never a page that was void of interest, never one that you could leave unread without loss, never one that you would want to skip…

Language Skill: Relating Form to Function

·        Using appropriate forms based the correct function makes your ideas clearer

o   Function: the use of grammar to create discourse for different purposes in different situations

o   Form: the specific grammatical structures

o   Academic writing requires specific forms for distinct functions:

§  Simple present: report current trends and general aspects

§  Simple past: report methods completed in the past

§  Passive voice: report methods and procedures

·        When writing bulleted text:

o   Do not mix sentences and phrases.

o   It is best to have only complete sentences OR only short phrases equal in length.

o   Use a period after every sentence.

o   Do not use periods after phrases.

o   Either capitalize the first letter (sentences) OR capitalize no letters (phrases).

o   Doing research to make a bulleted list:

§  underline keywords/phrases

§  begin with/without stem

§  create stylistic consistency

§  punctuate carefully

Final Exam Schedule (Tentative)

Final Exam Schedule:

This schedule is a tentative schedule that could change. If there are any changes, I will announce them here on the blog and by email. 

Monday

9) Essays due

10) Review

11) Review

12) Review

Tuesday

9) Review

10) Presentation

11)  Presentation

12) Exam

Wednesday

9) Review

10) Presentation

11) Presentation

12) Exam

Thursday

9) Review

10) Listening Exam

11) Presentation

12) Exam

Friday: Cookie party at noon!

Poetry Assignment

Due Friday, December 6th.  

Write a poem (any length). Any theme. Any form.

It may rhyme (https://rhymezone.com/).

It must convey an emotion.

It must use at least one figure of speech: metaphor, simile, hyperbole, personification, and symbolism.

Email me your poem when it is complete. 

You will recite your poem to the class Friday. 

Week 5

 

Forming Conditional Clauses

These are useful for expressing causal relationships and making predictions about future possibilities, as well as describing general truths or facts, and usually use if/then structures (if, even if, unless, if not, etc.).

Real                                                    vs.                                        Unreal

Describe general truths/facts or                            Describe situations that are currently

repeated situations/habits                                      unreal/untrue with imagined results

Present tense in both clauses                                 If + past tense + then + modal + base verb

(even if = condition irrelevant)                                                

Predict possible future for likely                           Describe situations in the past unreal or

results; also used for hypotheses                           untrue and imagine results

If + present tense + then + future tense                If + past perfect tense + then +

modal + have/has + past participle

Tips:

·        Use a comma after conditional clause

·        Use subjunctive “were” for unreal conditionals

·        Subject of both clauses must agree

·        Use modals: will/can/may for real conditionals, would/could/might for unreal conditionals

 

Week 3

 MLA citation sample and tool: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_sample_works_cited_page.html

Signposting Facts and Opinions (Hedging and Boosting)

Signposts: it is a fact, in my view, many believe, according to x, etc.

Hedges                                               vs.                         Boosters

Modals:        can, may, might, could                                     will, must

Adverbs:      approximately, arguably,                                  easily, especially, frequently,

                     generally, perhaps, possibly,                            indeed, in fact, likely, more, most,

                    probably, relatively, roughly,                            often, notably, particularly,

                    seldom, sometimes, somewhat,                significantly, decidedly, demonstrably,

                    theoretically, unlikely, etc.                                influentially, etc.

Adjectives:  ambiguous, difficult, doubtful,                         accurate, certain, confident, effective,

                    less certain, uncertain, unclear,                         essential, evident, interesting,

                    unreliable, unconfirmed, vague, etc.                 noteworthy, positive, useful, etc.

Using Direct Quotations and Reported Speech (Paraphrasing)

Quote sandwich:

               Introduction to quote

                              Quote

               Explanation of quote

DO NOT just ‘plop’ a quote in the middle of a paragraph without introduction or explanation!

Ways to introduce a quote:

·        Author + reporting verb + that + "quote" + (citation).

·        Author + reporting verb, + "quote" + (citation).

·        According to the author, + "quote" + (citation).

·        In the article, + "Title," + author + reporting verb + that + "quote" + (citation).

·        In author’s opinion, + "quote" + (citation).

·        Author disagrees/agrees with this point when she states, + "quote" + (citation).

 Punctuation: Comma at the end of the introduction, "open quote with exact words from author period close quote."

For example:

               Flanagan argues against the harms of externalities in her article, “The Hidden Externalities of Fishing.” In particular, she reports that “The industry has already ignored obvious problems” like environmental destruction, and is “unlikely” to stop anytime soon (Flanagan, p. 5). I agree with Flanagan’s point that we must begin enforcing stricter regulations to stop such damage because without enforcement, regulations are meaningless and have no effect.

 

Reported speech:

·        Mention the source

·        Use the correct reporting verb

·        Paraphrase!

How to paraphrase:

1.      Summarize the text using your notes

2.      Use synonyms for key words

3.      Rearrange the structure

a.      Switch passive to active or vice versa

b.      Move clauses around, change their order

c.      Reduce clauses where possible

Example of paraphrasing a quote: “Other illegal but widely practiced fishing methods like bottom trawling can destroy large sections of coral reef; the practices remain in widespread use despite environmental damage because they catch large quantities of fish.” <-- Quote

In her article, “The Hidden Externalities of Fishing,” Flanagan argues that the profitability of catching large amounts of fish incentivizes illegal fishing practices even though they destroy marine environments. <-- Paraphrase

Using Language to Add Cohesion

Cohesive devices occur at the level of sentences and usually follow a pattern of moving from old to new information. Types include:

-        Repetition

o   Key words à synonyms

-        Reference

o   Demonstrative determiners (this, that, these, those)

o   Comparatives (another, other, the other, others, such)

o   Pronouns (he, them, me, etc.)

o   Possessive pronouns (your, their, hers, etc.)

o   Relative pronouns (which, whose, who, etc.)

-        Cohesive nouns

o   Referent + key word/phrase (e.g., these arguments)

-        Topic introducers (concerning, regarding, in reference to, as for, in regard to, related to) + referent + noun/noun phrase (e.g., concerning these arguments)

-        Logical connectors (because of, due to, as a result of, based on, given, in light of, regardless of, despite, like, similar to, in contrast to, in comparison to, unlike, in addition to) + referent + noun phrase (e.g., because of these erroneous claims)

Structure = Argument

o   An argument is a series of statements offered as proof (premises, reasons why) for some proposition (conclusion, claim, assertion).

o   Example:

§  Premise: All mammals have fur.

§  Premise: All cats are mammals.

§  Conclusion: Therefore all cats have fur.

o   Not an argument:

§  I like cake.

§  Cake is good.

§  Give me some cake.

o   Complete the inference:

§  Premise: All humans are mortal.

§  Premise: Socrates is human.

§  Conclusion:

o   Note: A moral argument requires moral evidence.

o   Premise(s)

§  Reasons why, support, proof, evidence for some claim

§  Often more than one, supporting points or evidence for the conclusion, the reasons for believing the author’s opinion or main point

§  May be factual, historical, scientific, statistic, etc.

§  Premise identification words: because, since, due to, based on, for, inasmuch as, as shown by, for the reason that, as indicated by, in that, may be inferred from, as, given that, seeing that, owing to

§  Note: a single indicator word may indicate more than one premise, and premises may have no indicators at all

o   Conclusion

§  Not the end of the paragraph or essay; in logic, a conclusion is the most important part of an argument, the claim or assertion made by the author, the proposition the author wants to convince you is true

§  Usually a statement of belief or opinion, can be a prediction of results or effects

§  Conclusion identification words: therefore, thus, so, hence, consequently, in conclusion, accordingly, as a result, wherefore, we may infer, we may conclude, it must be that, for this reason, entails that, it follows that, implies that

§  Opinion identification words: suggest, believe, hope, indicate, argue, follow

§  Belief identification words: should, would, must, will, ought

§  Note that conclusions may precede or follow the premises in order of presentation

§  Note also that indicator words can be used in error by bad writers

o   Assumptions

§  Assumptions are things that are not SAID in the argument, but are REQUIRED if the argument is to make any sense. Some assumptions seem so obvious that it would be silly to even say them out loud. There are no assumption identification words because assumptions are not explicitly stated, they are only implied.

o   Some statements in the passage may be neither premises nor conclusions