Texts and Human Experiences.
This module has its own exam paper - paper 1. The first section will be asking you to respond to unseen texts. The second part will be asking you to respond to your prescribed text.
Your question could be asking you to respond to a general statement about texts or about human experiences. Your question could include an extract from your prescribed text, with a question asking you to demonstrate how the extract is characteristic of the whole text. Sample questions from the rubric are:
1. Evaluate how language is used to shape representations of people’s experiences in the text you have studied.
2. How do the representations of the human experiences, both individual and collective, shape meaning in the text you have studied?
3. Explain and evaluate the diverse ways texts can represent personal and public worlds.
4. Justify how texts use language forms, features and structures appropriately for purpose audience and context, and their affect on meaning.
5. Explain and evaluate cultural assumptions and values in texts and their effects on meaning.
6. Explore the anomalies, paradoxes and inconsistencies in human behaviour and motivations in the text you have studied.
Mod A - Standard: Language, Identity and Culture
This will be examined in paper 2. Your question could be asking you to respond to a general statement about texts or about language, identity and culture. Your question could include an extract from your prescribed text, with a question asking you to demonstrate how the extract is characteristic of the whole text (or set of poems). Sample questions from the rubric are:
1. How is language used to both reflect and shape individualised and collective identity?
2. How are cultural perspectives shaped through the text?
3. How does the composer employ textual forms and features to communicate ideas, values and attitudes which influence perceptions about cultural perspectives?
4. How is language used to affirm, ignore, reveal, challenge or disrupt prevailing assumptions and beliefs about individuals and cultural groups?
Mod A - Advanced: Textual Conversations
1. There are two sides to every story. How do the two texts you have studied engage in a textual conversation?
2. The two texts studied were composed in different contexts, and for different audiences. How do the different textual features of the latter text comment on the ideas of the former?
3. How does the latter text critique the ideas and received meanings of the former? Which aspects are challenged and which are championed?
4. “Meaning is always wandering around between texts.” - Harold Bloom. How does this apply to the texts you have studied?
5. “Literary texts ‘are built from systems, codes and traditions established by previous works of literature’.” - Graham Allan. To what extent is this true when applied to the texts you have studied?
6. Rewritings or appropriations can be an active process of interpretation and intervention. Rewritings can be creation, interpretation, or writing back as critique or correction. How do these ideas apply to the texts you have studied?
7. "English is like a long conversation through time. Like any conversation it moves over various linked themes." - Arthur Applebee. To what extent is this true for the texts you have studied?
Mod B - Standard: Close Study of Literature
This will be examined in paper 2. Your question could be asking you to respond to a general statement about literature. Your question could include an extract from your prescribed text, with a question asking you to demonstrate how the extract is characteristic of the whole text (or set of poems). Sample questions from the rubric are:
1. The text you have studied is regarded as significant and meaningful. Do you agree? Include your assessment of the effectiveness of the textual forms and features in your answer.
2. How is the text you have studied distinctive? Answer with reference to ideas and characteristics.
3. How does the interplay between ideas and the portrayal of people, settings and situations contribute to a significant and meaningful text?
4. How does the interplay between ideas, form and language affect the reader?
Mod B - Advanced: Critical Study of Literature
This will be examined in paper 2. Your question could be asking you to respond to a general statement about literature. Your question could include an extract from your prescribed text, with a question asking you to demonstrate how the extract is characteristic of the whole text (or set of poems). Sample questions from the rubric are:
1. How do the distinctive qualities of the text contribute to textual cohesion and meaning?
2. How has the text’s significance changed over time? Do you find this text to be currently significant?
3. The value and meaning of the texts change according to the contexts of responders. How is this text significant in our society today?
4. The composer skillfully employs construction, content and language to create a cohesive text. How is this done in the text you have studied?
5. The value of texts change according to context. Is the text you have studied still of value? How do the forms and features engage responders today?
Mod C - The Craft of Writing
This will be examined in paper 2. You are likely to be asked to write a creative piece, based on a stimulus, and then a reflection on how what you have learned in HSC English has informed the piece you just wrote. The principle is that you demonstrate your control of language and stylistic devices for a specific purpose and audience. You may be asked to write in a certain text type, however, these are fluid - texts types are often hybrid, eg, creative/persuasive/discursive. Although you won't be asked a question from the rubric, sample ideas from the rubric are:
1. Writers create texts to describe the world around them, evoke emotion, shape a perspective or share a vision. With reference to a text you have studied in Modules A, B or C, explain how this has been successfully achieved.
2. Stories are meaning making devices. How have the texts you have studied created meanings?
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
Sunday, March 10, 2019
Sentences
There are some basic ways we talk about sentences which you would have covered in primary school: simple, compound or complex. I will address some others here. In a later post I’ll address the figures of rhetoric related to syntax and patterns in sentence construction. I’ll deal with syllables in a post on poetry. Meanwhile, you can use these ways of looking at sentences: the mood, the branching and the length.
Mood
In English there are these main types of sentences. They function according to their use and purpose. They are referred to as moods in English (not to be confused with the mood of a piece of literature which might be a synonym for atmosphere). Mood refers to a verb category or form which indicates what the verb expresses.
Indicative
The indicative mood is used in factual statements. It is the most commonly used mood and is found in all languages. Also known as declarative.
Eg: Women are safe to walk outdoors at night.
Imperative
The imperative mood expresses commands, direct requests, and prohibitions. In many circumstances, directly using the imperative mood seems blunt or even rude, unless you are in command and giving an instruction.
Eg: Women, walk outdoors at night!
Subjunctive
The subjunctive mood has several uses in independent clauses. Examples include discussing hypothetical or unlikely events, expressing opinions or emotions, or making polite requests. It uses forms of a verb which are used to express a wish, desire, hope, possibility, doubt, or uncertainty.
Eg: I propose that women have the right to feel safe enough to walk outdoors at night.
Interrogative
The interrogative mood asks questions. It uses verbs that ask questions. (There is a book called The Interrogative Mood: A Novel?, written by Padgett Powell - every sentence is a question.)
Eg: Are women safe to walk outside at night?
Conditional
The conditional mood uses might, could, would or should and the statement is conditional, that is, something is required for something else to happen.
Eg: Women would be safe to walk outdoors at night if men respected them.
Exclamatory
The exclamatory mood makes a statement with excitement or emotion. It ends with an exclamation mark.
Eg: How wonderful that women are safe and free!
Branching
Sentences are either left or right branching.
Periodic or left branching sentences only make complete sense at the final clause or phrase. The predicate of the sentence comes at the end (the period). These are used to suspend the sense to create confusion or interest. The brain needs to work harder to find out what is happening. It requires more cognitive load. The main clause is last.
Eg1: The roofs were flung off, the cars flipped, the debris scattered while families huddled in fear during the cyclone in Darwin.
Eg2: "It turns people into objects that can be symbolically possessed, by seeing them as they never see themselves, by having knowledge of them that they can never have; to photograph people is to violate them". - rewriting of Susan Sontag
Cumulative or right branching or loose sentences put the main subject first, followed by a sequence of modifiers. It requires less cognitive load for the reader because the reader understands the situation sooner. The main clause is first.
Eg1: During the cyclone in Darwin the roofs were flung off, the cars flipped, the debris scattered while families huddled in fear.
Eg2: "To photograph people is to violate them, by seeing them as they never see themselves, by having knowledge of them that they can never have; it turns people into objects that can be symbolically possessed. " - Susan Sontag
Length
This might be the first thing you notice about a sentence; whether it is short or long.
A short sentence says something with great confidence. It is almost a slogan or an aphorism - it has the ring of truth. Monosyllables help too. Function and form are working together.
Eg: I did not.
A long sentence recreates a situation or a thinking process that is more complex. It might represent a meandering, with interruptions and digressions. Function and form are working together.
Eg: Virginia Woolf, On Illness
“Considering how common illness is, how tremendous the spiritual change that it brings, how astonishing, when the lights of health go down, the undiscovered countries that are then disclosed, what wastes and deserts of the soul a slight attack of influenza brings to light, what precipices and lawns sprinkled with bright flowers a little rise of temperature reveals, what ancient and obdurate oaks are uprooted in us in the act of sickness, how we go down into the pit of death and feel the waters of annihilation close above our heads and wake thinking to find ourselves in the presence of the angels and the harpers when we have a tooth out and come to the surface in the dentist’s arm chair and confuse his ‘Rinse the mouth—rinse the mouth’ with the greeting of the Deity stooping from the floor of Heaven to welcome us—when we think of this and infinitely more, as we are so frequently forced to think of it, it becomes strange indeed that illness has not taken its place with love, battle, and jealousy among the prime themes of literature.”
Doesn't this sentence recreate the feeling of being feverish and ill?
Firstly, let's revise simple, compound and complex sentences.
To do this you need to remember definitions of nouns, verbs, clauses and phrases.
A clause is a group of words with a subject and a verb.
Eg, she worked
A phrase is a group of words without a subject and a verb.
Eg, at the bank
A simple sentence contains a single independent clause. It contains a subject and a predicate. It expresses a complete thought.
Eg, She worked at the bank.
A compound sentence contains two independent clauses joined by a conjunction. Conjunctions are and, but, for, as, yet, or.
Eg, She worked at the bank and was very happy.
A complex sentence contains an independent clause and one or more dependent clauses. The dependent clause begins with a subordinating conjunction. Subordinating conjunctions are after, before, because, although, when, since, if, whenever, unless, while, so that, even though, wherever, and so on.
Eg, She worked at the bank half an hour from her home so that she could feed her family.
Mood
In English there are these main types of sentences. They function according to their use and purpose. They are referred to as moods in English (not to be confused with the mood of a piece of literature which might be a synonym for atmosphere). Mood refers to a verb category or form which indicates what the verb expresses.
Indicative
The indicative mood is used in factual statements. It is the most commonly used mood and is found in all languages. Also known as declarative.
Eg: Women are safe to walk outdoors at night.
Imperative
The imperative mood expresses commands, direct requests, and prohibitions. In many circumstances, directly using the imperative mood seems blunt or even rude, unless you are in command and giving an instruction.
Eg: Women, walk outdoors at night!
Subjunctive
The subjunctive mood has several uses in independent clauses. Examples include discussing hypothetical or unlikely events, expressing opinions or emotions, or making polite requests. It uses forms of a verb which are used to express a wish, desire, hope, possibility, doubt, or uncertainty.
Eg: I propose that women have the right to feel safe enough to walk outdoors at night.
Interrogative
The interrogative mood asks questions. It uses verbs that ask questions. (There is a book called The Interrogative Mood: A Novel?, written by Padgett Powell - every sentence is a question.)
Eg: Are women safe to walk outside at night?
Conditional
The conditional mood uses might, could, would or should and the statement is conditional, that is, something is required for something else to happen.
Eg: Women would be safe to walk outdoors at night if men respected them.
Exclamatory
The exclamatory mood makes a statement with excitement or emotion. It ends with an exclamation mark.
Eg: How wonderful that women are safe and free!
Branching
Sentences are either left or right branching.
Periodic or left branching sentences only make complete sense at the final clause or phrase. The predicate of the sentence comes at the end (the period). These are used to suspend the sense to create confusion or interest. The brain needs to work harder to find out what is happening. It requires more cognitive load. The main clause is last.
Eg1: The roofs were flung off, the cars flipped, the debris scattered while families huddled in fear during the cyclone in Darwin.
Eg2: "It turns people into objects that can be symbolically possessed, by seeing them as they never see themselves, by having knowledge of them that they can never have; to photograph people is to violate them". - rewriting of Susan Sontag
Cumulative or right branching or loose sentences put the main subject first, followed by a sequence of modifiers. It requires less cognitive load for the reader because the reader understands the situation sooner. The main clause is first.
Eg1: During the cyclone in Darwin the roofs were flung off, the cars flipped, the debris scattered while families huddled in fear.
Eg2: "To photograph people is to violate them, by seeing them as they never see themselves, by having knowledge of them that they can never have; it turns people into objects that can be symbolically possessed. " - Susan Sontag
Length
This might be the first thing you notice about a sentence; whether it is short or long.
A short sentence says something with great confidence. It is almost a slogan or an aphorism - it has the ring of truth. Monosyllables help too. Function and form are working together.
Eg: I did not.
A long sentence recreates a situation or a thinking process that is more complex. It might represent a meandering, with interruptions and digressions. Function and form are working together.
Eg: Virginia Woolf, On Illness
“Considering how common illness is, how tremendous the spiritual change that it brings, how astonishing, when the lights of health go down, the undiscovered countries that are then disclosed, what wastes and deserts of the soul a slight attack of influenza brings to light, what precipices and lawns sprinkled with bright flowers a little rise of temperature reveals, what ancient and obdurate oaks are uprooted in us in the act of sickness, how we go down into the pit of death and feel the waters of annihilation close above our heads and wake thinking to find ourselves in the presence of the angels and the harpers when we have a tooth out and come to the surface in the dentist’s arm chair and confuse his ‘Rinse the mouth—rinse the mouth’ with the greeting of the Deity stooping from the floor of Heaven to welcome us—when we think of this and infinitely more, as we are so frequently forced to think of it, it becomes strange indeed that illness has not taken its place with love, battle, and jealousy among the prime themes of literature.”
Doesn't this sentence recreate the feeling of being feverish and ill?
See This Sentence has Five Words by Gary Provost which demonstrates the value of varying sentence length.
Saturday, March 9, 2019
Words for Words
Words, made of sounds, are the smallest component parts of literature. Writers select words carefully for their audience, purpose and context, and you will be expected to be able to comment on word choice. Word choice sets the tone, voice, character, setting, and establishes assumptions about the knowledge and references of the reader. You will need words for words.
There are words for words you would have learnt in primary school. You can revise these in high school, and extend on them. You would have learnt the parts of speech, but there is a lot more to know. I’ll begin with the words you will really need, and then continue with the more obscure words. The point of including the more obscure words is to show you that there is more to know if you are interested, and also to demonstrate the kind of thinking you can apply when writing about words. My list is incomplete.
Parts of Speech
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Conjunctions
Prepositions
Nouns can be sub categorised as:
Collective noun, proper noun, common noun, abstract noun, concrete noun
Verbs can be sub categorised as:
action (transitive or intransitive), modal (helping) auxiliary (linking)
Conjunctions can be categorised as:
Subordinating conjunctions - whereas, although, though
Conjunctive adverbs - however, hence, nevertheless, therefore
You can use a semicolon instead of a conjunction.
You should also know these are determiners.
Determiners
- articles - a, an, the
- demonstratives - this, that
- possessive adjectives - my, your, their
- quantifiers - many, few, several
You would have learnt about antonyms and synonyms, but a word can be a contranym, acronym, homonym, eponym, pseudonym, or metonym.
Nym as a suffix means name (from the Greek root word onym).
Suffix - sets of letters added at the end of a word (Often from the Greek: -gram, -ology, -archy etc)
Prefix - sets of letters added before a word (Often from the Greek: ana -, anti-, para-, hyper-, syn-, pro- etc)
These are used to change the meaning or change the word class.
Also from the Greek:
Lex (Gk): of words - lexicon - the words associated with a subject
Log (Gk): word, study, reasons - logic, dialogue, prologue, epilogue, analogy, syllogism, eulogy, neologism
We can describe word choice that indicates the register or style of a piece of writing, eg, technical, poetic, descriptive, emotional, formal, informal, jargon, vulgar, sensory, dialect, colloquial. These need to be appropriate to the purpose, as well as the audience or reader. A writer makes word choices according to the assumed knowledge of the intended reader.
Also, you can comment on:
Modality - is it high or low? This expresses how certain we are about what we say. High is definite, and low is unsure.
High: Learning words for words will definitely help you in high school English.
Low: Learning words for words could possibly help you in high school English.
Connotation, denotation, collocation
All words have a literal meaning and a connotation. The denotation is the literal definition you might find in a dictionary. The connotation is the associations with the word - be they related to time, place, culture, class - and may bring in emotions. Connotation may be deliberate or may reveal assumptions or prejudices of the writer. The connotations of a word might reveal that the writer is saying one thing but meaning something different. Collocation is the regular combination of words that form fixed relationships to become part of our lexicon. Eg, strong tea, heavy rain, curry favour. The word ‘collocation’ is in the NESA glossary, so, even if you may never have heard of it you need to know it.
An attribution is the action of ascribing a work or remark to a particular author, artist, or person.
To refer to the he said, she said in a dialogue, you can refer to attributions.
Syllables and stresses (but we will deal with them in a poetry post)
Top Tip: Good writing attempts to create an experience for the reader. You could say that good word choice attempts to be autological and onomatopoeic!
Acronym
Definition: an abbreviation formed from the first letters of a series of words, pronounced as one word
From: Gk - acron = end, tip, onym = word,
Example: radar (Radio detection and ranging), gif (graphics interchange format)
Effect: memory device, makes new words,
Anagram
Definition: a word, phrase or sentence formed from another by rearranging its letters
From: Gk - ana = back, anew, gamma = letter, writing back or anew
Example: angel/glean, I am Lord Voldemort/Tom Marvolo Riddle.
Effect: cleverness, puzzle
Archaism
Definition: usage of an older, often obsolete, form of language
From Latin and Greek: "retention of what is old and obsolete," from Modern Latin archaismus , from Greek arkhaismos , from arkhaizein "to copy the ancients"
Example: quoth, lore, sate, ye, hath
Effect: could be comedic, parody, satirical, or pretentious or could use an outdated word to fit into a metrical pattern
Autological
Definition: a word that describes itself
From: Gk: autos= self, logos = word
Example: word, polysyllabic, buzzword, English
Effect: the most direct representation of a word for a meaning
Opposite: Heterological (ie, all other words)
Calque/ Loanword
Definition: an expression introduced by translating it from one language to another
From: French - to copy or trace
Example: ‘superman’ from the German ‘Ubermensch’
Effect: introduces new words into English
Contranym
Definition: a word which is its own opposite
From: Gk - contra = against, nym = name
Example: cleave, sanction, screen, left, dust, oversight
Effect: could cause confusion - the reader needs to understand the context to gain the meaning, can be used to be deliberately ambiguous
Dysphemism
Definition: making something sound worse
From: Gk - dys = bad, difficult, pheme = speaking
Example: pigheaded for stubborn, grammar Nazi, do-gooder latte-sipping lefties
Effect: Makes something sound worse than it is, may be deceitful or a misrepresentation
Opposite: Euphemism
Eponym
Definition: a person from whose name a word is derived
From: Gk - Epi = upon, nym = name
Example: Earl of Sandwich, Lord Cardigan
Effect: introduces new words into English
Eponymous means ‘giving name to’ and is the character whose name is the title of the work, eg, Harry Potter, Jane Eyre
Euphemism
Definition: using a polite, tactful or less explicit term used to avoid the harsh or unpleasant reality, making something sound better than it is
From: Gk - eu = well, pheme = speaking
Example: ‘pass away’ for die, ‘friendly fire’ for death due to weapons of own side
Effect: Makes something sound palatable and easier to accept, may be deceitful or a misrepresentation
Homograph
Definition: a word that shares the same written form as another word but has a different pronunciation and meaning
From: Gk - homo = same, graph = something written
Example: bear (carry, or the animal), calf, bass, wound, lead, row, tear
Effect: can be used in word play, otherwise, context is everything
Homonym
Definition: words that are identical in sound and spelling but different in meaning. Both a homograph and a homophone.
From: Gk - homo = same, nym = name
Example: rest = repose or remainder, bay = gulf or laurel
Effect: can be used in word play, otherwise, context is everything
Homophone
Definition: a word which has the same pronunciation as another but different meaning, derivation or spelling
From: Gk - homo = same, phone = voice, utterance
Example: its/ it’s, to/ two/ too, there/ their/ they’re, wood/ would, foul/ fowl, pearl / purl
Effect: can be used in word play, otherwise, context is everything. A misuse of a word in written form can indicate lack of education.
Malapropism
Definition: the use of a word sounding like the one intended but ludicrously wrong in the context
From: the French, and based upon the character of Mrs Malaprop in the 1775 play The Rival by Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Example: No-one is the suppository of all wisdom - Tony Abbott. I want to be effluent - Kath & Kim
Effect: comic, or to show ignorance
Metonym
Definition: a figure of speech consisting of the use of the name of one thing for that of which another is attributed or associated with
From: Gk - meta = after, beyond, nym = name
Example: ‘the press’ for journalists, ‘the crown’ for royalty, ‘Hollywood’ for the US film industry
Effect: a shorthand, a type of metaphor
Monepic
Definition: a one word sentence
From: Gk - mono = one, epos = word
Example: Smile. No.
Effect: Definite, assured.
Please note: No is a complete sentence.
Neologism
Definition: a newly invented word or term
From: Gk - neo = new, logos = word
Example: Netiquette, staycation, webinar
Effect: creates a new word
Also: Nonce word - a new word made up for one occasion or to describe one event
Palindrome
Definition: a word or sentence that reads the same both ways
From Greek meaning ‘running back again’ palin = again, drome = to run
Example: civic, level, minim, radar,
Madam, I am Adam. Sir, I’m Iris.
Effect: cleverness, fun
Paragram
Definition: a letter joke, a type of pun, a play on words by alteration of a letter
From: Gk - para = beside, gram = display or show, a joke by the letter
Example: Swine Lake, The high cost of loving
Effect: humour, often used in news headlines
Portmanteau
Definition: two or more words combined to make a single concept
From: Lewis Carroll, who used it in Through the Looking-Glass (1871) when Humpty Dumpty explained a word to Alice
Example: crowdsourcing, overshare, spork (spoon and fork), brunch, chillax, labradoodle, telemarketing, ginormous, steampunk
Effect: creates a new word
Pseudonym
Definition: a name taken by a writer to publish under, a pen-name or non de plume
From: Gk - pseudo = false, nym = name, false name
Example: Mary Ann Evans published under the name of George Eliot
Effect: frees the writer to publish without the expectations that might be associated with their identity
Pun
Definition: a joke exploiting two meanings of a word or words that sound alike, double entendre
From: Middle English?
Example: Reading while sunbaking makes you well red.
Effect: playful
Purr word/Snarl word
Definition: a purr word has positive connotations so is useful in building good public relations while a snarl word has negative connotations
From: modern times
Example: family values/ queue jumper
Effect: emotional, a short-hand, bypasses logical reasoning
Spoonerism
Definition: switching the beginning letters of two words to make the meaning nonsensical
From:named after William Archibald Spooner
Example: Spooner, an Oxford dean, is reported to have said to a student: You have tasted your worm, hissed my mystery lectures, and you must catch the first town drain.
Effect: humorous
Tautonym
Definition: a word that has two identical parts
From: Gk - taut - the same, nym - name
Example: tutu, pompom
Effect: playful, could be childish
Tmesis
Definition: inserting a word in the middle of another
From: Gk - to cut
Example: fanfairytastic, nobloominway, unfreakingbelievable
Effect: playful or emphatic, could be abusive
Verbal punctuation
Definition: a sound that is not a word but punctuates speech
From: it just describes what it is
Example: um, er
Effect: realism, indicates thinking or fumbling
Words can form a lexical string, that is, a sequence of related words. These contribute to cohesion and to the meaning of a text. Lexical cohesion is in the NESA glossary.
There are other terms from rhetoric that describe words, particularly words that use contractions, omit letters, or substitute letters or syllables, but you don’t need them for high school.
And don’t forget all the words about the sound effects of words: alliteration, sibilance, assonance, cacophony, dissonance, resonance, harmony, euphony, onomatopoeia, tone. Words creates tone pictures or tone colours (to use synesthesia - a mixing of the senses).
No piece of literature is free from devices! For even one word on a page, there is something to comment on.
Upcoming posts: how to write about sentences; using rhetorical terms for sentences, structure and style
There are words for words you would have learnt in primary school. You can revise these in high school, and extend on them. You would have learnt the parts of speech, but there is a lot more to know. I’ll begin with the words you will really need, and then continue with the more obscure words. The point of including the more obscure words is to show you that there is more to know if you are interested, and also to demonstrate the kind of thinking you can apply when writing about words. My list is incomplete.
Parts of Speech
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Conjunctions
Prepositions
Nouns can be sub categorised as:
Collective noun, proper noun, common noun, abstract noun, concrete noun
Verbs can be sub categorised as:
action (transitive or intransitive), modal (helping) auxiliary (linking)
Conjunctions can be categorised as:
Subordinating conjunctions - whereas, although, though
Conjunctive adverbs - however, hence, nevertheless, therefore
You can use a semicolon instead of a conjunction.
You should also know these are determiners.
Determiners
- articles - a, an, the
- demonstratives - this, that
- possessive adjectives - my, your, their
- quantifiers - many, few, several
You would have learnt about antonyms and synonyms, but a word can be a contranym, acronym, homonym, eponym, pseudonym, or metonym.
Nym as a suffix means name (from the Greek root word onym).
Suffix - sets of letters added at the end of a word (Often from the Greek: -gram, -ology, -archy etc)
Prefix - sets of letters added before a word (Often from the Greek: ana -, anti-, para-, hyper-, syn-, pro- etc)
These are used to change the meaning or change the word class.
Also from the Greek:
Lex (Gk): of words - lexicon - the words associated with a subject
Log (Gk): word, study, reasons - logic, dialogue, prologue, epilogue, analogy, syllogism, eulogy, neologism
We can describe word choice that indicates the register or style of a piece of writing, eg, technical, poetic, descriptive, emotional, formal, informal, jargon, vulgar, sensory, dialect, colloquial. These need to be appropriate to the purpose, as well as the audience or reader. A writer makes word choices according to the assumed knowledge of the intended reader.
Also, you can comment on:
Modality - is it high or low? This expresses how certain we are about what we say. High is definite, and low is unsure.
High: Learning words for words will definitely help you in high school English.
Low: Learning words for words could possibly help you in high school English.
Connotation, denotation, collocation
All words have a literal meaning and a connotation. The denotation is the literal definition you might find in a dictionary. The connotation is the associations with the word - be they related to time, place, culture, class - and may bring in emotions. Connotation may be deliberate or may reveal assumptions or prejudices of the writer. The connotations of a word might reveal that the writer is saying one thing but meaning something different. Collocation is the regular combination of words that form fixed relationships to become part of our lexicon. Eg, strong tea, heavy rain, curry favour. The word ‘collocation’ is in the NESA glossary, so, even if you may never have heard of it you need to know it.
An attribution is the action of ascribing a work or remark to a particular author, artist, or person.
To refer to the he said, she said in a dialogue, you can refer to attributions.
Syllables and stresses (but we will deal with them in a poetry post)
Top Tip: Good writing attempts to create an experience for the reader. You could say that good word choice attempts to be autological and onomatopoeic!
Acronym
Definition: an abbreviation formed from the first letters of a series of words, pronounced as one word
From: Gk - acron = end, tip, onym = word,
Example: radar (Radio detection and ranging), gif (graphics interchange format)
Effect: memory device, makes new words,
Anagram
Definition: a word, phrase or sentence formed from another by rearranging its letters
From: Gk - ana = back, anew, gamma = letter, writing back or anew
Example: angel/glean, I am Lord Voldemort/Tom Marvolo Riddle.
Effect: cleverness, puzzle
Archaism
Definition: usage of an older, often obsolete, form of language
From Latin and Greek: "retention of what is old and obsolete," from Modern Latin archaismus , from Greek arkhaismos , from arkhaizein "to copy the ancients"
Example: quoth, lore, sate, ye, hath
Effect: could be comedic, parody, satirical, or pretentious or could use an outdated word to fit into a metrical pattern
Autological
Definition: a word that describes itself
From: Gk: autos= self, logos = word
Example: word, polysyllabic, buzzword, English
Effect: the most direct representation of a word for a meaning
Opposite: Heterological (ie, all other words)
Calque/ Loanword
Definition: an expression introduced by translating it from one language to another
From: French - to copy or trace
Example: ‘superman’ from the German ‘Ubermensch’
Effect: introduces new words into English
Contranym
Definition: a word which is its own opposite
From: Gk - contra = against, nym = name
Example: cleave, sanction, screen, left, dust, oversight
Effect: could cause confusion - the reader needs to understand the context to gain the meaning, can be used to be deliberately ambiguous
Dysphemism
Definition: making something sound worse
From: Gk - dys = bad, difficult, pheme = speaking
Example: pigheaded for stubborn, grammar Nazi, do-gooder latte-sipping lefties
Effect: Makes something sound worse than it is, may be deceitful or a misrepresentation
Opposite: Euphemism
Eponym
Definition: a person from whose name a word is derived
From: Gk - Epi = upon, nym = name
Example: Earl of Sandwich, Lord Cardigan
Effect: introduces new words into English
Eponymous means ‘giving name to’ and is the character whose name is the title of the work, eg, Harry Potter, Jane Eyre
Euphemism
Definition: using a polite, tactful or less explicit term used to avoid the harsh or unpleasant reality, making something sound better than it is
From: Gk - eu = well, pheme = speaking
Example: ‘pass away’ for die, ‘friendly fire’ for death due to weapons of own side
Effect: Makes something sound palatable and easier to accept, may be deceitful or a misrepresentation
Homograph
Definition: a word that shares the same written form as another word but has a different pronunciation and meaning
From: Gk - homo = same, graph = something written
Example: bear (carry, or the animal), calf, bass, wound, lead, row, tear
Effect: can be used in word play, otherwise, context is everything
Homonym
Definition: words that are identical in sound and spelling but different in meaning. Both a homograph and a homophone.
From: Gk - homo = same, nym = name
Example: rest = repose or remainder, bay = gulf or laurel
Effect: can be used in word play, otherwise, context is everything
Homophone
Definition: a word which has the same pronunciation as another but different meaning, derivation or spelling
From: Gk - homo = same, phone = voice, utterance
Example: its/ it’s, to/ two/ too, there/ their/ they’re, wood/ would, foul/ fowl, pearl / purl
Effect: can be used in word play, otherwise, context is everything. A misuse of a word in written form can indicate lack of education.
Malapropism
Definition: the use of a word sounding like the one intended but ludicrously wrong in the context
From: the French, and based upon the character of Mrs Malaprop in the 1775 play The Rival by Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Example: No-one is the suppository of all wisdom - Tony Abbott. I want to be effluent - Kath & Kim
Effect: comic, or to show ignorance
Metonym
Definition: a figure of speech consisting of the use of the name of one thing for that of which another is attributed or associated with
From: Gk - meta = after, beyond, nym = name
Example: ‘the press’ for journalists, ‘the crown’ for royalty, ‘Hollywood’ for the US film industry
Effect: a shorthand, a type of metaphor
Monepic
Definition: a one word sentence
From: Gk - mono = one, epos = word
Example: Smile. No.
Effect: Definite, assured.
Please note: No is a complete sentence.
Neologism
Definition: a newly invented word or term
From: Gk - neo = new, logos = word
Example: Netiquette, staycation, webinar
Effect: creates a new word
Also: Nonce word - a new word made up for one occasion or to describe one event
Palindrome
Definition: a word or sentence that reads the same both ways
From Greek meaning ‘running back again’ palin = again, drome = to run
Example: civic, level, minim, radar,
Madam, I am Adam. Sir, I’m Iris.
Effect: cleverness, fun
Paragram
Definition: a letter joke, a type of pun, a play on words by alteration of a letter
From: Gk - para = beside, gram = display or show, a joke by the letter
Example: Swine Lake, The high cost of loving
Effect: humour, often used in news headlines
Portmanteau
Definition: two or more words combined to make a single concept
From: Lewis Carroll, who used it in Through the Looking-Glass (1871) when Humpty Dumpty explained a word to Alice
Example: crowdsourcing, overshare, spork (spoon and fork), brunch, chillax, labradoodle, telemarketing, ginormous, steampunk
Effect: creates a new word
Pseudonym
Definition: a name taken by a writer to publish under, a pen-name or non de plume
From: Gk - pseudo = false, nym = name, false name
Example: Mary Ann Evans published under the name of George Eliot
Effect: frees the writer to publish without the expectations that might be associated with their identity
Pun
Definition: a joke exploiting two meanings of a word or words that sound alike, double entendre
From: Middle English?
Example: Reading while sunbaking makes you well red.
Effect: playful
Purr word/Snarl word
Definition: a purr word has positive connotations so is useful in building good public relations while a snarl word has negative connotations
From: modern times
Example: family values/ queue jumper
Effect: emotional, a short-hand, bypasses logical reasoning
Spoonerism
Definition: switching the beginning letters of two words to make the meaning nonsensical
From:named after William Archibald Spooner
Example: Spooner, an Oxford dean, is reported to have said to a student: You have tasted your worm, hissed my mystery lectures, and you must catch the first town drain.
Effect: humorous
Tautonym
Definition: a word that has two identical parts
From: Gk - taut - the same, nym - name
Example: tutu, pompom
Effect: playful, could be childish
Tmesis
Definition: inserting a word in the middle of another
From: Gk - to cut
Example: fanfairytastic, nobloominway, unfreakingbelievable
Effect: playful or emphatic, could be abusive
Verbal punctuation
Definition: a sound that is not a word but punctuates speech
From: it just describes what it is
Example: um, er
Effect: realism, indicates thinking or fumbling
Words can form a lexical string, that is, a sequence of related words. These contribute to cohesion and to the meaning of a text. Lexical cohesion is in the NESA glossary.
There are other terms from rhetoric that describe words, particularly words that use contractions, omit letters, or substitute letters or syllables, but you don’t need them for high school.
And don’t forget all the words about the sound effects of words: alliteration, sibilance, assonance, cacophony, dissonance, resonance, harmony, euphony, onomatopoeia, tone. Words creates tone pictures or tone colours (to use synesthesia - a mixing of the senses).
No piece of literature is free from devices! For even one word on a page, there is something to comment on.
Upcoming posts: how to write about sentences; using rhetorical terms for sentences, structure and style
Saturday, February 16, 2019
How to Improve your Writing
I am placing in this post some links to articles that give you practical advice about how to improve your writing. Not the "Write 1000 words before breakfast then go for a walk" kind of advice but the actual work on the page kind of advice.
* This is advice on how to show, not tell. Remove your thought verbs. You can do this with a Search function on your page - rewrite every piece that includes the words Thinks, Knows, Understands, Realizes, Believes, Wants, Remembers, Imagines, Desires. Also Love and Hate. Also Is and Has.
https://medium.com/writers-guild/amazing-writing-tip-from-chuck-palahniuk-f5c6070550b9?fbclid=IwAR1QYQuE4AlTw4zgJ07eY6D2ah4xBx60rHuGX_LTMMT7cFsTrYKDZJHYDNs
* This writer has analysed the best beginnings to essays according to his research. There are categories and examples. (By the way, this is the same process that the ancient Greeks and Romans used to create their terms of rhetoric! Collect data. Make categories. Name them.)
https://betterhumans.coach.me/how-great-writing-begins-58e3bbf82137
* This is the same writer on his analysis of the best ways to end an essay. These articles will be particularly helpful when you write reflective or discursive pieces.
https://betterhumans.coach.me/how-great-writing-ends-3c8371378def
* This is advice for creative writers from an academic who teaches a creative writing program and reads works submitted by potential candidates for the program. What are these teachers valuing in the submissions?
https://medium.com/s/story/an-mfa-admissions-officer-on-making-your-writing-stand-out-2af00d71dd06
* A video narrated by Richard Lanham on improving your writing, based on his books. It will help you edit your work, sentence by sentence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpRnAJuy-Ck
* This is advice on how to show, not tell. Remove your thought verbs. You can do this with a Search function on your page - rewrite every piece that includes the words Thinks, Knows, Understands, Realizes, Believes, Wants, Remembers, Imagines, Desires. Also Love and Hate. Also Is and Has.
https://medium.com/writers-guild/amazing-writing-tip-from-chuck-palahniuk-f5c6070550b9?fbclid=IwAR1QYQuE4AlTw4zgJ07eY6D2ah4xBx60rHuGX_LTMMT7cFsTrYKDZJHYDNs
* This writer has analysed the best beginnings to essays according to his research. There are categories and examples. (By the way, this is the same process that the ancient Greeks and Romans used to create their terms of rhetoric! Collect data. Make categories. Name them.)
https://betterhumans.coach.me/how-great-writing-begins-58e3bbf82137
* This is the same writer on his analysis of the best ways to end an essay. These articles will be particularly helpful when you write reflective or discursive pieces.
https://betterhumans.coach.me/how-great-writing-ends-3c8371378def
* This is advice for creative writers from an academic who teaches a creative writing program and reads works submitted by potential candidates for the program. What are these teachers valuing in the submissions?
https://medium.com/s/story/an-mfa-admissions-officer-on-making-your-writing-stand-out-2af00d71dd06
* A video narrated by Richard Lanham on improving your writing, based on his books. It will help you edit your work, sentence by sentence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpRnAJuy-Ck
Saturday, January 12, 2019
The Craft of Writing
The Yr 12 module The Craft of Writing, which is common to Standard and Advanced, builds upon the Yr 11 module Reading to Write. The new HSC syllabus aims to improve students’ writing.
The module can be taught as a discrete unit or can be embedded in other modules. It is examined in Paper 2, which is two hour exam. Paper 2 has three sections: Mod A, Mod B and Mod C. The Craft of Writing is Mod C.
The aim is to improve writing skills. Here is a summary of the Module rubric:
- Students appreciate, examine and analyse texts as models and stimulus for their own writing.
- Examine how writers use language creatively and imaginatively for a range of purposes, eg, to describe the world around them, evoke emotion, shape a perspective or share a vision.
- Evaluate the versatility, power and aesthetics of language.
- Imaginative engagement with texts.
- Draft and revise own writing.
- Create highly crafted imaginative, discursive, persuasive and informative texts.
- Consider imagery, allusion, rhetoric, voice, characterisation, point of view, dialogue and tone.
- Consider purpose, audience, context to shape meaning.
- Use conventions of syntax, spelling, punctuation and grammar.
You can see it is a continuation of everything you have been doing in subject English.The difference is that you will be explicitly examined on these skills. How?
You will need to study two of the prescribed texts. These are short works of fiction or nonfiction, selected from the prescribed list by your teacher. (Some of these texts were in an old HSC module: Speeches - there are resources for these you can find online or at your library.) You will be asked to read widely and write in different forms, reflect on your writing, redraft and edit your work. Your assessment task makes up 25% of your whole school assessment. You can find links to the prescribed texts here.
The exam is likely to have two parts, one asking you to write something in response to a stimulus, or you may be asked to write a piece in a certain form which includes a specific stylistic or literary device. You could be asked to write something based upon a text you have studied. The second part may ask you to justify the creative decisions you made in the piece you just wrote. Or you could be asked to reflect on what you have learned about the craft of writing with reference to any module prescribed or related text. You will be asked to write an imaginative, discursive, persuasive, informative or reflective response.
You would have written most of these types of texts before, but discursive is new to the syllabus. The NESA description is here:
Texts whose primary focus is to explore an idea or variety of topics. These texts involve the discussion of an idea(s) or opinion(s) without the direct intention of persuading the reader, listener or viewer to adopt any single point of view. Discursive texts can be humorous or serious in tone and can have a formal or informal register.
But you can also think of discursive writing as a writer thinking on the page, exploring an idea. It may be a personal essay. It may explore multiple viewpoints. It still requires a structure. The point is to read widely and to write for various purposes.
You can find a wide range of essays on a wide range of topics in various journals such as The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Guardian, Medium, Electric Literature, Meanjin. Do an online search for best essays and read some you find there. Black Inc has been publishing collections of Best Australian Essays for each year since 1998. You can find these in your library. Recently I've been reading essays by Susan Sontag, Joan Didion, Annie Dillard, and Rebecca Solnit. I recommend you also read short stories. Black Inc has been publishing collections of Best Australian Short Stories since 1999. See also this online guide http://www.shortstoryguide.com/ and there are some online recommendations of short stories you can read in your lunch break.
If you read an essay each morning and a short story every night for forty days, imagine how much you will learn!
And you can see how the terms of rhetoric come in handy here! You would do well to apply them to the prescribed texts.
The module can be taught as a discrete unit or can be embedded in other modules. It is examined in Paper 2, which is two hour exam. Paper 2 has three sections: Mod A, Mod B and Mod C. The Craft of Writing is Mod C.
The aim is to improve writing skills. Here is a summary of the Module rubric:
- Students appreciate, examine and analyse texts as models and stimulus for their own writing.
- Examine how writers use language creatively and imaginatively for a range of purposes, eg, to describe the world around them, evoke emotion, shape a perspective or share a vision.
- Evaluate the versatility, power and aesthetics of language.
- Imaginative engagement with texts.
- Draft and revise own writing.
- Create highly crafted imaginative, discursive, persuasive and informative texts.
- Consider imagery, allusion, rhetoric, voice, characterisation, point of view, dialogue and tone.
- Consider purpose, audience, context to shape meaning.
- Use conventions of syntax, spelling, punctuation and grammar.
You can see it is a continuation of everything you have been doing in subject English.The difference is that you will be explicitly examined on these skills. How?
You will need to study two of the prescribed texts. These are short works of fiction or nonfiction, selected from the prescribed list by your teacher. (Some of these texts were in an old HSC module: Speeches - there are resources for these you can find online or at your library.) You will be asked to read widely and write in different forms, reflect on your writing, redraft and edit your work. Your assessment task makes up 25% of your whole school assessment. You can find links to the prescribed texts here.
The exam is likely to have two parts, one asking you to write something in response to a stimulus, or you may be asked to write a piece in a certain form which includes a specific stylistic or literary device. You could be asked to write something based upon a text you have studied. The second part may ask you to justify the creative decisions you made in the piece you just wrote. Or you could be asked to reflect on what you have learned about the craft of writing with reference to any module prescribed or related text. You will be asked to write an imaginative, discursive, persuasive, informative or reflective response.
You would have written most of these types of texts before, but discursive is new to the syllabus. The NESA description is here:
Texts whose primary focus is to explore an idea or variety of topics. These texts involve the discussion of an idea(s) or opinion(s) without the direct intention of persuading the reader, listener or viewer to adopt any single point of view. Discursive texts can be humorous or serious in tone and can have a formal or informal register.
But you can also think of discursive writing as a writer thinking on the page, exploring an idea. It may be a personal essay. It may explore multiple viewpoints. It still requires a structure. The point is to read widely and to write for various purposes.
You can find a wide range of essays on a wide range of topics in various journals such as The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Guardian, Medium, Electric Literature, Meanjin. Do an online search for best essays and read some you find there. Black Inc has been publishing collections of Best Australian Essays for each year since 1998. You can find these in your library. Recently I've been reading essays by Susan Sontag, Joan Didion, Annie Dillard, and Rebecca Solnit. I recommend you also read short stories. Black Inc has been publishing collections of Best Australian Short Stories since 1999. See also this online guide http://www.shortstoryguide.com/ and there are some online recommendations of short stories you can read in your lunch break.
If you read an essay each morning and a short story every night for forty days, imagine how much you will learn!
And you can see how the terms of rhetoric come in handy here! You would do well to apply them to the prescribed texts.
Texts and Human Experiences
In the final term of Yr 11 you will do the first module of Yr 12: Texts and Human Experiences. It is common to both Standard and Advanced students. As a module, that name is very broad. It asks that you consider what are universal human experiences; what do communities have in common and what makes them distinctive, and how do individuals fit or not fit into communities. What do all humans need? What do we want? How has that changed according to time and place? How has it remained the same? How do we think, feel and behave? It relates to ideas of belonging, identity and representation.
Here is a summary of what the rubric is asking of you to explore:
- How texts represent individual and collective human experiences using language.
- How texts give insight into anomalies, paradoxes, inconsistencies in human behaviour and motivations. The role of storytelling throughout time.
- Develop skills in using literary devices, language concepts, modes and media.
- Make judgements about how meaning is shaped by context, purpose, structure, stylistic and grammatical features and form.
- Communicate ideas using figurative language to express universal themes and evaluative language to make informed judgements about texts.
- Develop skills in metalanguage, grammar, syntax.
- Respond to texts to see the world differently, challenge assumptions, ignite new ideas and reflect personally.
Most of those points are what you would have been working on through years of studying literature. You will see how it relates to the Advanced module in Yr 11: Narratives that Shape our World, and Module A in Yr 12 Standard: Language, Identity and Culture.
The point you may not have thought much about yet is the role of storytelling through time. That is a big topic. That idea has been explored through science (neurology), philosophy, politics, psychology, mythology, religion, theatre, art, architecture, dance and music. You can use any prism that makes sense to you and apply it in this module. You might want to review my post on Core Principles: From orality to literacy, as well as finding other resources according to your interests. You have the whole internet to help you, but if you are stuck I can recommend some books and articles. Ask in the Comments.
You are required to study a prescribed text and a related text of your own choosing. Your chosen related text is not examined, however it must be included in your assessment task for this module.
Exam paper 1 will cover this module. It is a 90 mins exam with 10 mins reading time. There are two sections. Section I asks you to respond to unseen texts. Section II asks you to respond to your prescribed text. It may include stimulus material or an unseen text as related.
For the rubric in full see here https://syllabus.nesa.nsw.edu.au/assets/english_advanced/english-advanced-stage-6-syllabus-2017.pdf
Here is a summary of what the rubric is asking of you to explore:
- How texts represent individual and collective human experiences using language.
- How texts give insight into anomalies, paradoxes, inconsistencies in human behaviour and motivations. The role of storytelling throughout time.
- Develop skills in using literary devices, language concepts, modes and media.
- Make judgements about how meaning is shaped by context, purpose, structure, stylistic and grammatical features and form.
- Communicate ideas using figurative language to express universal themes and evaluative language to make informed judgements about texts.
- Develop skills in metalanguage, grammar, syntax.
- Respond to texts to see the world differently, challenge assumptions, ignite new ideas and reflect personally.
Most of those points are what you would have been working on through years of studying literature. You will see how it relates to the Advanced module in Yr 11: Narratives that Shape our World, and Module A in Yr 12 Standard: Language, Identity and Culture.
The point you may not have thought much about yet is the role of storytelling through time. That is a big topic. That idea has been explored through science (neurology), philosophy, politics, psychology, mythology, religion, theatre, art, architecture, dance and music. You can use any prism that makes sense to you and apply it in this module. You might want to review my post on Core Principles: From orality to literacy, as well as finding other resources according to your interests. You have the whole internet to help you, but if you are stuck I can recommend some books and articles. Ask in the Comments.
You are required to study a prescribed text and a related text of your own choosing. Your chosen related text is not examined, however it must be included in your assessment task for this module.
Exam paper 1 will cover this module. It is a 90 mins exam with 10 mins reading time. There are two sections. Section I asks you to respond to unseen texts. Section II asks you to respond to your prescribed text. It may include stimulus material or an unseen text as related.
For the rubric in full see here https://syllabus.nesa.nsw.edu.au/assets/english_advanced/english-advanced-stage-6-syllabus-2017.pdf
Rhetoric
In the new HSC English syllabus, rhetoric is mentioned in the modules Narratives that Shape our World and The Craft of Writing. Learning figures of rhetoric will help you in all your modules.
Here is the NESA definition of rhetorical devices, from their glossary: Strategies used by writers and speakers to achieve particular effects, for example to stimulate the audience's imagination or thought processes, to draw attention to a particular idea, or simply to display wit and ingenuity in composition. Examples of rhetorical devices are irony, paradox, rhetorical question, contrast and appropriation.
But there is a lot more to rhetoric than that!
The word rhetoric is from the Greek meaning ‘speaker in the assembly’. Rhetoric is the art of using language for persuasion, in speaking and writing. The devices for doing this well were codified by the ancient Greeks and Romans. They did this through observation and analysis. They found patterns and named them. In the Middle Ages in Western Europe rhetoric was taught together with logic and grammar. It was considered part of a classical education. The rules were divided into five processes: invention, arrangement, style, memory and delivery. Each had their subdivisions. Although rhetoric is no longer formally taught in high school (except, perhaps in the study of Ancient Greek and Latin), the ideas from rhetoric are helpful. They provide a student of literature with the words to identify literary devices and their effects. They also help improve your own writing.
For our purposes in high school English figures of rhetoric are tools to help you compose writing that achieves your purpose - to entertain, inform, persuade or present an opinion. They help with strategy and style. They cover logic and how to make your writing memorable. But you need to ensure that you use these figures to help your writing; misuse will hinder your purpose.
You can think of them as formulas. There are principles you can apply which work. These should not be hidden from you.
There are other ways these terms have been categorised and each resource will present the information in its own way. I had intended to present these terms according to how they can be applied as metalanguage - words about words, how to describe sentences, structure etc, but have settled on presententing them according to Lanham’s categories. It is not very helpful to a student to just read a long list presented alphabetically, as available online, unless you then create your own categories.
To make things more complicated, there is often disagreement about terms. These terms have been discussed over two and half thousand years, so it isn’t surprising. What it means for you is that there is some wriggle room. There are devices that can belong to more than one category. These divisions are sometimes unclear. There are broad or disputed meanings. You can apply your own thinking in how you use these terms to organise your responses to texts. There is precedent: the Greeks, Romans, Medieval monks, European Renaissance, various English dictionaries, and there are probably scholars who are currently working on it. There is no one standard dictionary of rhetoric. You can see yourself as continuing the chain of scholarship.
The other main point to remember is this: YOU DO NOT NEED TO REMEMBER THE NAMES OF ALL THE DEVICES. Of course, it would be good if you can, but, depending how keen an English student you are, it will be sufficient to recognise that there are terms for certain structures and effects. You can notice the pattern or device and comment on it by describing it without naming it. However, if you are keen, you can access the resources below. They include devices that you would likely not encounter in high school English - there are literally hundreds, from ab ovo to zeugma - that may spark your interest for further study. (The books I’ve listed below are quite entertaining, especially how they link and give examples of the devices. In his introduction Mark Forsyth tracks how Shakespeare used rhetorical devices, improving as he practised.)
I am continuing to work on this resource. For each device or figure I want to include the etymology of the term, an example from ancient literature, and an example from a modern context which includes women and people of colour, who are usually absent from these examples. I want the example to say something relevant about our lives today. It is an ambitious project I have set myself, and I’ll update the posts as I go along. But I’ll do the simpler posts about the devices first, so you can get started.
A useful activity to begin might be to take a large piece of paper (cardboard or butcher’s paper) or a whiteboard, and write down all the words you use in subject English. This is your metalanguage. See how you can categorise your metalanguage. You will then grow this as you learn more terms and devices. This will help you with everything in subject English. Growing your metalanguage is part of the purpose of the new HSC syllabus.
Books and Further Reading:
Aristotle - Rhetoric, Poetics
Quintilian, Cicero, Longinus
A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms - Richard A. Lanham
The Elements of Eloquence: How to Perfect the English Phrase - Mark Forsyth
Rhetorical Devices: A Handbook and Activities For Student Writers - Brendan McGuigan
A Handbook of Rhetorical Devices - Robert A. Harris
http://bmshri.org/sites/default/files/sri_sahithya/A_Handbook_of_Rhetoric.pdf
A Handbook of Rhetoric
http://www.hellesdon.org/documents/Advanced%20Rhetoric.pdf
Here is the NESA definition of rhetorical devices, from their glossary: Strategies used by writers and speakers to achieve particular effects, for example to stimulate the audience's imagination or thought processes, to draw attention to a particular idea, or simply to display wit and ingenuity in composition. Examples of rhetorical devices are irony, paradox, rhetorical question, contrast and appropriation.
But there is a lot more to rhetoric than that!
The word rhetoric is from the Greek meaning ‘speaker in the assembly’. Rhetoric is the art of using language for persuasion, in speaking and writing. The devices for doing this well were codified by the ancient Greeks and Romans. They did this through observation and analysis. They found patterns and named them. In the Middle Ages in Western Europe rhetoric was taught together with logic and grammar. It was considered part of a classical education. The rules were divided into five processes: invention, arrangement, style, memory and delivery. Each had their subdivisions. Although rhetoric is no longer formally taught in high school (except, perhaps in the study of Ancient Greek and Latin), the ideas from rhetoric are helpful. They provide a student of literature with the words to identify literary devices and their effects. They also help improve your own writing.
For our purposes in high school English figures of rhetoric are tools to help you compose writing that achieves your purpose - to entertain, inform, persuade or present an opinion. They help with strategy and style. They cover logic and how to make your writing memorable. But you need to ensure that you use these figures to help your writing; misuse will hinder your purpose.
You can think of them as formulas. There are principles you can apply which work. These should not be hidden from you.
There are other ways these terms have been categorised and each resource will present the information in its own way. I had intended to present these terms according to how they can be applied as metalanguage - words about words, how to describe sentences, structure etc, but have settled on presententing them according to Lanham’s categories. It is not very helpful to a student to just read a long list presented alphabetically, as available online, unless you then create your own categories.
To make things more complicated, there is often disagreement about terms. These terms have been discussed over two and half thousand years, so it isn’t surprising. What it means for you is that there is some wriggle room. There are devices that can belong to more than one category. These divisions are sometimes unclear. There are broad or disputed meanings. You can apply your own thinking in how you use these terms to organise your responses to texts. There is precedent: the Greeks, Romans, Medieval monks, European Renaissance, various English dictionaries, and there are probably scholars who are currently working on it. There is no one standard dictionary of rhetoric. You can see yourself as continuing the chain of scholarship.
The other main point to remember is this: YOU DO NOT NEED TO REMEMBER THE NAMES OF ALL THE DEVICES. Of course, it would be good if you can, but, depending how keen an English student you are, it will be sufficient to recognise that there are terms for certain structures and effects. You can notice the pattern or device and comment on it by describing it without naming it. However, if you are keen, you can access the resources below. They include devices that you would likely not encounter in high school English - there are literally hundreds, from ab ovo to zeugma - that may spark your interest for further study. (The books I’ve listed below are quite entertaining, especially how they link and give examples of the devices. In his introduction Mark Forsyth tracks how Shakespeare used rhetorical devices, improving as he practised.)
I am continuing to work on this resource. For each device or figure I want to include the etymology of the term, an example from ancient literature, and an example from a modern context which includes women and people of colour, who are usually absent from these examples. I want the example to say something relevant about our lives today. It is an ambitious project I have set myself, and I’ll update the posts as I go along. But I’ll do the simpler posts about the devices first, so you can get started.
A useful activity to begin might be to take a large piece of paper (cardboard or butcher’s paper) or a whiteboard, and write down all the words you use in subject English. This is your metalanguage. See how you can categorise your metalanguage. You will then grow this as you learn more terms and devices. This will help you with everything in subject English. Growing your metalanguage is part of the purpose of the new HSC syllabus.
Books and Further Reading:
Aristotle - Rhetoric, Poetics
Quintilian, Cicero, Longinus
A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms - Richard A. Lanham
The Elements of Eloquence: How to Perfect the English Phrase - Mark Forsyth
Rhetorical Devices: A Handbook and Activities For Student Writers - Brendan McGuigan
A Handbook of Rhetorical Devices - Robert A. Harris
http://bmshri.org/sites/default/files/sri_sahithya/A_Handbook_of_Rhetoric.pdf
A Handbook of Rhetoric
http://www.hellesdon.org/documents/Advanced%20Rhetoric.pdf
A Periodic Table of Figures of Speech
Wikipedia's Glossary of rhetorical terms
Friday, January 11, 2019
Essay Conclusion
For your conclusion you would have been told to simply sum up your argument to give your essay closure. This is not very interesting.
Your conclusion is your opportunity to distinguish yourself as someone who has engaged with the text and considered it in relation to a broader context. If you answer these questions - I call it my Engaging With Texts Table - you will have views and context before you see the essay question you need to respond to, and you will have something to say. After you have read the text you are studying make some notes in response to these questions.
1. Curiosity: What does this text makes you curious about?
2. Connections: What connections do you draw between the text and your own life and/or other learning?
3. Challenge: What ideas, positions, or assumptions do you want to challenge or argue with in the text?
4. Concepts: What key concepts or ideas do you think are important and worth holding onto from the text?
5. Changes: What changes in attributes, thinking, or action are suggested by the text, either for you or others?
6. If you were to direct or produce an appropriation of the text, what would be your vision and aims?
Then, when you write your essay, your conclusion can almost write itself. In your essay you have engaged in an academic exercise. So what? What next? How is it relevant to our world today? You can start your conclusion by summing up your argument, restating or amplifying your general statement or governing principle, then add a sentence or two commenting on any aspect of the text that interests you, related to the question, or leading to the next question you would like to explore.
Your marker will be impressed that you have engaged with the text and think more broadly about the value of the module.
Your conclusion is your opportunity to distinguish yourself as someone who has engaged with the text and considered it in relation to a broader context. If you answer these questions - I call it my Engaging With Texts Table - you will have views and context before you see the essay question you need to respond to, and you will have something to say. After you have read the text you are studying make some notes in response to these questions.
1. Curiosity: What does this text makes you curious about?
2. Connections: What connections do you draw between the text and your own life and/or other learning?
3. Challenge: What ideas, positions, or assumptions do you want to challenge or argue with in the text?
4. Concepts: What key concepts or ideas do you think are important and worth holding onto from the text?
5. Changes: What changes in attributes, thinking, or action are suggested by the text, either for you or others?
6. If you were to direct or produce an appropriation of the text, what would be your vision and aims?
Then, when you write your essay, your conclusion can almost write itself. In your essay you have engaged in an academic exercise. So what? What next? How is it relevant to our world today? You can start your conclusion by summing up your argument, restating or amplifying your general statement or governing principle, then add a sentence or two commenting on any aspect of the text that interests you, related to the question, or leading to the next question you would like to explore.
Your marker will be impressed that you have engaged with the text and think more broadly about the value of the module.
Essay Introduction
We have looked at how to write the body of your essay, so let’s look at your introduction and conclusion.
Here is a formula that works. It is for an essay which asks you to address two texts. If you practise the formula, when you gain confidence you can loosen it up a bit.
Sentence 1: make a general statement about the theme or module or literary genre.+ Use the words from the rubric. Show that you understand these general principles of literature and the rubric.
Sentence 2: state your response to the question - agree, disagree, partially agree - with definitions and distinctions. This is like what you do in a debate. You can define your terms.
Sentence 3: make a statement about the first text, naming the text, author and year and how it fits in your argument
Sentence 4: make a statement about the second text, naming the text, author and year
Sentence 5: signpost how you have categorised your evidence to present it in the essay. Say what you are going to say in the essay. There should be one category per body paragraph.
You can see in this example how the points are covered in a flowing and natural complex sentences.
A marker should have a good idea of how the rest of the essay will proceed because your have signposted the organisational structure.
I will post later on how to organise your work for essays in the modules.
Here is a formula that works. It is for an essay which asks you to address two texts. If you practise the formula, when you gain confidence you can loosen it up a bit.
Sentence 1: make a general statement about the theme or module or literary genre.+ Use the words from the rubric. Show that you understand these general principles of literature and the rubric.
Sentence 2: state your response to the question - agree, disagree, partially agree - with definitions and distinctions. This is like what you do in a debate. You can define your terms.
Sentence 3: make a statement about the first text, naming the text, author and year and how it fits in your argument
Sentence 4: make a statement about the second text, naming the text, author and year
Sentence 5: signpost how you have categorised your evidence to present it in the essay. Say what you are going to say in the essay. There should be one category per body paragraph.
Sentence 6: a sentence that wraps up the introduction (if it feels natural to do so).
Example, from the 2020 NESA Workbook (which publishes band 6 exam essays - I recommend you read as many of these as you can):
Example, from the 2020 NESA Workbook (which publishes band 6 exam essays - I recommend you read as many of these as you can):
Competing textual representation of the same event develop as a result of different purpose and context of each composer, yet the later casts a shadow upon the original, instilling doubt within responders on the authentic truth from the first. Silvia Plath's 'Ariel' utilises an innovative confessional form to combat female oppression and radiate power in a tumultuous cold war context, whilst Hughes' epistolary 'Birthday Letters' casts a shadow of doubt upon Plath's work, remolding readers' interpretation as he foregrounds his personal truth. Through poems 'Daddy', 'Lady Lazarus', and 'A Birthday Present' Plath communicates th ensnaring patriarchal confinements of the 1960s as factors in her demise, whilst Hughes' fatalistic adaptation through "A Picture of Otto', The Shot', and The Bee God' and 'Red' reveals personal and ideological dissonances. In conjunction, these texts compete for power of authority as readers must interpret the truth amongst clashing perspective, memory, time and emotions of each composer.
You can see in this example how the points are covered in a flowing and natural complex sentences.
+ For general statements about types of stories see this 5 min video on the purpose of stories.
The five types mentioned are: survival (based on fear), love stories, mysteries, transformation, creation stories. 'We must know there can be meaning.'
A marker should have a good idea of how the rest of the essay will proceed because your have signposted the organisational structure.
I will post later on how to organise your work for essays in the modules.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
