Susan Sontag On Writing

Edited from LitHub here.

I like Sontag's approach: that it is important to be attentive and to be connected and to not be cynical.



To be a great writer:

know everything about adjectives and punctuation (rhythm)
have moral intelligence—which creates true authority in a writer.

    –from As Consciousness Is Harnessed to Flesh: Journals and Notebooks, 1964-1980

On what good writers ought to do:

I’m often asked if there is something I think writers ought to do, and recently in an interview I heard myself say: “Several things. Love words, agonize over sentences. And pay attention to the world.”

Needless to say, no sooner had these perky phrases fallen out of my mouth than I thought of some more recipes for writer’s virtue.

For instance: “Be serious.” By which I meant: Never be cynical. And which doesn’t preclude being funny.

And . . . if you’ll allow me one more: “Take care to be born at a time when it was likely that you would be definitively exalted and influenced by Dostoyevsky, and Tolstoy, and Turgenev, and Chekhov.

    –from Sontag’s “At the Same Time: The Novelist and Moral Reasoning”

On finding inspiration in daily life:

Do stuff. Be clenched, curious. Not waiting for inspiration’s shove or society’s kiss on your forehead.

    –from Sontag’s 2003 commencement speech at Vassar

On the morality of the writer:

Obviously, I think of the writer of novels and stories and plays as a moral agent. . . This doesn’t entail moralizing in any direct or crude sense. Serious fiction writers think about moral problems practically. They tell stories. They narrate. They evoke our common humanity in narratives with which we can identify, even though the lives may be remote from our own. They stimulate our imagination. The stories they tell enlarge and complicate—and, therefore, improve—our sympathies. They educate our capacity for moral judgement.

    –from Sontag’s “At the Same Time: The Novelist and Moral Reasoning”

On carving out a place in contemporary fiction:

I’m glad to be free of the kind of one-note depressiveness that is so characteristic of contemporary fiction. I don’t want to express alienation. It isn’t what I feel. I’m interested in various kinds of passionate engagement. All my work says be serious, be passionate, wake up.

    –from a 1992 interview with Leslie Garis

On attention:

Pay attention. It’s all about paying attention. It’s all about taking in as much of what’s out there as you can, and not letting the excuses and the dreariness of some of the obligations you’ll soon be incurring narrow your lives. Attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. Stay eager.

    –from Sontag’s 2003 commencement speech at Vassar

On the uses of the writer to the world:

One task of literature is to formulate questions and construct counter-statements to the reigning pieties. And even when art is not oppositional, the arts gravitate toward contrariness. Literature is dialogue; responsiveness. Literature might be described as the history of human responsiveness to what is alive and what is moribund as cultures evolve and interact with one another.

Writers can do something to combat these clichés of our separateness, our difference—for writers are makers, not just transmitters, of myths. Literature offers not only myths but counter-myths, just as life offers counter-experiences—experiences that confound what you thought you thought, or felt, or believed.

A writer, I think, is someone who pays attention to the world. That means trying to understand, take in, connect with, what wickedness human beings are capable of; and not be corrupted—made cynical, superficial—by this understanding.

    –from Sontag’s speech after being awarded the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade in 2003

On art as salvation:

To me, literature is a calling, even a kind of salvation. It connects me with an enterprise that is over 2,000 years old. What do we have from the past? Art and thought. That’s what lasts. That’s what continues to feed people and give them an idea of something better. A better state of one’s feelings or simply the idea of a silence in one’s self that allows one to think or to feel. Which to me is the same.

    –from a 1992 interview with Leslie Garis

On how to be a writer:

It’s lunacy. . . You have to be obsessed. People write me all the time, or get in touch with me about “what should I do if I want to be a writer?” I say well, do you really want to be a writer? It’s not like something you’d want to be—it’s rather something you couldn’t help but be. But you have to be obsessed.

Otherwise, of course, it’s perfectly okay to write, in the way that it’s perfectly okay to paint or play a musical instrument, and why shouldn’t people do that? I deplore the fact that only writers can write, as it were. Why can’t people have this as an art activity? . . . But to actually want to make your life being a writer, it’s an auto-slavery, obviously. You are both the slave and the task-master, and it’s a very driven thing.

    –from a 1992 talk given at the 92nd Street Y

Using double-barreled literary terms to increase sophistication of analysis

Your teachers might ask you to use evaluative adjectives for your literary terms, so that you describe an image as distinctive or a metaphor as powerful. You can include these in your writing, although it would be more accurate to use these descriptors for the effects and the impact on readers. And you should use adjectives to describe voice and tone, perspective and point of view, and describe the impacts of literary devices as subtle or blatant, for example.

 
More genuinely, you can elevate your writing by turning a literary device from a noun to an advective and using a double-barreled literary term. This adds sophistication to your writing. Your marker will be impressed.

It looks like this:

• Alliterative parallel construction
• Ironic foreshadowing
• Metaphorical metonymy
• Symbolic synecdoche
• Ironic euphemism
• Synesthetic oxymoron
• Understated metaphor
• Poetic synesthesia
• Metaphorical paradox
• Juxtaposed anaphora
• Symbolic metonymy
• Paradoxical allegory
• Hyperbolic simile
• Metaphorical irony
• Allusive symbolism
• Juxtaposed personification
• Dissonant anaphora
• Surreal synesthesia

How Literary Devices Create Humour

Humour in literature can be achieved through a variety of literary devices and techniques. Here are some common literary devices that authors use to create the effect of humour:

Irony: Irony involves saying one thing while meaning another. There are several types of irony, including verbal irony (saying one thing and meaning the opposite), situational irony (when the opposite of what's expected happens), and dramatic irony (when the audience knows something the characters don't). Irony often leads to humorous situations or remarks.

Satire: Satire is a form of humour that uses sarcasm, ridicule, or exaggeration to criticise and mock people, institutions, or societal issues. Satirical works employ satire to highlight absurdities and provoke laughter while making a point.

Wordplay/Puns: Clever wordplay and puns involve using multiple meanings of words or words that sound similar but have different meanings to create humor. If a word is being used to have both a literal and figurative meaning , then it is zeugma. 

Hyperbole: Hyperbole involves extreme exaggeration to emphasise a point or create a comical effect. For example, saying "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse" is hyperbolic and meant to be humorous.

Incongruity: Incongruity humour arises from the unexpected or absurd juxtaposition of elements. It involves placing two or more incongruous ideas or situations together to create humor. The element of surprise plays a crucial role in incongruity humour.

Parody: Parody involves imitating or mimicking a style, work, or genre in a humorous way, often by exaggerating its characteristics or making it appear ridiculous. Parodies can be found in literature, films, and other forms of media.

Sarcasm: Sarcasm is a form of verbal irony that involves saying the opposite of what one means, often with a mocking or scornful tone. Sarcasm is frequently used to convey humor, although it can sometimes be biting or caustic.

Comic Timing: Just as in comedy performances, comic timing in writing involves the precise delivery of jokes or humorous elements to maximise their impact. This includes pacing, pauses, and the placement of punchlines.

Absurdity: Absurdist humour relies on creating situations or characters that are illogical, nonsensical, or completely out of the ordinary. The humor often comes from the sheer absurdity of the circumstances.

Characterisation: Well-developed, quirky, or eccentric characters can be a source of humour. Readers find humour in the idiosyncrasies, quirks, and foibles of characters in a story.

Misdirection: Authors can lead readers or characters to expect one outcome and then surprise them with something entirely different, creating humor through misdirection.

Comic Relief: Sometimes, humor is used as a break from more serious or intense elements in a story, providing relief to the reader. This is common in tragic or dramatic works. Shakespeare used this. 

These literary devices can be used individually or in combination to create humour in literature. The effectiveness of humor often depends on the context, the author's skill, and the reader's sensibilities. Humour in literature can serve various purposes, from entertaining the reader to critiquing society or human nature.

Words to describe tone

Tone is an effect of a writer's work. However, teachers rarely share examples of how to describe tone.

 Here are links to resources that provide many words to describe tone. 

This is a site for writers that explains how tone is different from voice and from mood.

It provides 155 words in alphabetical order.  

https://www.writerswrite.co.za/155-words-to-describe-an-authors-tone/

This is another site for writers that categorises the tones (positive, negative, sad, neutral) and suggests 175 words with their definitions.

https://authority.pub/list-tone-words/

This is a teaching/tutoring site that lists 319 words in alphabetical order with their definitions. 

https://www.albert.io/blog/ultimate-list-of-tone-words/

The Hierarchy of Literary Devices

In literary analysis, some devices and elements are often considered more fundamental or foundational than others. Here's a hierarchy, taking into account their typical importance in the analysis process. In studying a literary work it is helpful to consider these elements and where you would place them in a hierarchy of literary devices. 

Imagery: Imagery is often considered foundational because it provides the sensory details and vivid descriptions that form the basis for deeper analysis. It sets the stage for other devices to operate.

Figurative Language:

Metaphor: Metaphors are often analysed for their symbolic and thematic significance.
Simile: Similar to metaphors, similes are analysed for their use in drawing comparisons.
Personification: Analysed for its role in humanising non-human entities.
Hyperbole: Examined for its impact on emphasis and exaggeration.
Irony: Irony is crucial for exploring contrasts and subtext in the text.

Symbolism: Symbolism plays a critical role in uncovering deeper meanings and themes in a literary work.

Allusion: Allusions are analysed to understand intertextuality and the author's intent in referencing other works or ideas.

Foreshadowing: Foreshadowing is important for predicting and interpreting future events and themes in the narrative.

Theme: Identifying and analysing the central themes of a work is a fundamental aspect of literary analysis.

Allegory: Allegories are examined to reveal underlying moral, political, or philosophical messages.

Tone: Analysing the author's tone helps in understanding their attitude toward the subject matter and the audience.

Mood: Mood analysis explores how the author creates emotional atmospheres and affects the reader's experience.

Rhetorical Devices: at the sentence level (rhetorical devices can be higher level)

Anaphora: Analysed for its impact on rhythm and emphasis.
Epiphora: Examined for its contribution to pacing and emphasis.
Antithesis: Analysed for its role in contrasting ideas.
Parallelism: Explored for its impact on readability and rhythm.

Narrative Techniques:

Point of View: Examined for its influence on the reader's perspective and engagement.
Flashback: Analysed for its role in revealing character backstory and plot development.
Foreshadowing: Reiterated for its function in building anticipation.

Style: Style analysis delves into the author's unique voice and writing choices, including syntax, diction, and sentence structure.

Genre-specific Devices: Depending on the genre, certain devices like satire, irony, or suspense techniques may take precedence in the analysis.

Sound Effects (Prosody):

Rhyme: Examined for its impact on rhythm and emphasis.
Rhythm: Analysed for its contribution to the pacing and mood of a poem or text.
Alliteration: Explored for its role in creating musicality and emphasis.

Onomatopoeia: Analysed for its ability to evoke sensory experiences through sound.

This is the criteria for formulating the hierarchy. Consider these elements and how you would rank them in the hierarchy. 

Foundational Role: Devices that serve as foundational elements in understanding and interpreting a text are placed higher in the hierarchy. These are often the building blocks upon which more complex analyses are constructed.

Thematic Significance: Devices that contribute significantly to the development and exploration of the work's themes and messages are given higher importance.

Narrative Impact: Devices that have a substantial impact on the narrative structure, character development, and plot progression are positioned higher in the hierarchy.

Interpretive Depth: Devices that invite deeper interpretation, symbolism, and subtext tend to be ranked higher.

Authorial Intent: Devices that reveal the author's intent, style, and purpose in writing are considered essential.

Emotional and Stylistic Impact: Devices that strongly affect the emotional resonance and stylistic qualities of the work are emphasised.

Consistency with Genre: The hierarchy acknowledges that certain devices may hold greater importance in specific literary genres, and this is considered when ranking them. Writers can create works consistent with the conventions of genre, but can also challenge the conventions of genre. 

Rhetorical and Stylistic Techniques: Devices that are closely tied to the art of rhetoric and writing style are given their place in the hierarchy, especially when they enhance the overall quality of the writing.

Sound Effects (Prosody): Sound devices like rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, and onomatopoeia are important in poetry and are included in the hierarchy due to their role in shaping the aesthetic and auditory aspects of the text. Will be of lesser importance in prose works. 

While this hierarchy can provide a general framework for literary analysis, it's important to remember that the significance of each device can vary depending on the specific text and the analytical approach being used. A thorough analysis often involves considering multiple devices and their interplay to uncover the depth of meaning in a literary work.

This provides an argument against the expectations that students solely use quotes from texts as evidence in their essays. Literary analysis involves consideration of all aspects of a text; much more than quotes. 

Effects

 In the TEE paragraph you are required to state the effect of the technique you have identified. This is often the trickiest part of writing TEE paragraphs. The effect is not just how the device impacts you, the reader, but how it contributes to the meaning of the whole text.

I am providing here a list of possible effects. Some are fairly general, while others might be specific to the text.

In Rhetoric (as a subject) literary devices are chosen for the purpose of emphasis, or in order to persuade, inform, express or entertain. You may have been taught about Ethos, Pathos and Logos, so you can use them too.

However, you can use the following as effects:

• contribution to structure
• creates amusement
• prompts pleasure
• prompts surprise
• prompts empathy
• contributes to voice
• adds to tone
• creates an image
• sound effects
• suggests connotation
• reinforces the theme
• creates a contrast
• creates drama
• build or releases tension
• builds characterisation
• contributes to establishing setting
• creates irony
• contributes to mood or atmosphere
• contributes to pace (either speeds up or slows down reading)
• creates verisimilitude or mimesis (the appearance of being real or true)
• foreshadowing
• the effect is accumulative
• creates an original or distinctive image/comparison/experience
• emphasis
• creates an impression of immediacy/ad libbing
• understatement or hyperbole
• contributes to representation of something
• presents a paradox 
• presents ambiguity
• contributes to textual cohesion or unity
• how form supports function

If you find the device is ineffective, or you judge it as unsuccessful, you might name the effect as:

• bathos
• cliche
• purple prose
• droll

You might call the character flat rather than round, or a stereotype.

You can comment on how the device relates to other elements of the text to contribute to the whole meaning of the text. That may be in terms of accumulation of effects, forming a motif or a series of sounds, or a lexical chain, either continuing or contrasting.

Overall, you can say how the use of the device contributes to creating an experience for the reader, whether that experience is to follow the logic of a non-fiction piece, or, for fiction, to allow the reader to feel they were present at an event that is presented by the writer.  

How to do a Close Reading

This is from Harvard Writing Centre. 

How to Do a Close Reading

The process of writing an essay usually begins with the close reading of a text. Of course, the writer's personal experience may occasionally come into the essay, and all essays depend on the writer's own observations and knowledge. But most essays, especially academic essays, begin with a close reading of some kind of text—a painting, a movie, an event—and usually with that of a written text. When you close read, you observe facts and details about the text. You may focus on a particular passage, or on the text as a whole. Your aim may be to notice all striking features of the text, including rhetorical features, structural elements, cultural references; or, your aim may be to notice only selected features of the text—for instance, oppositions and correspondences, or particular historical references. Either way, making these observations constitutes the first step in the process of close reading.

The second step is interpreting your observations. What we're basically talking about here is inductive reasoning: moving from the observation of particular facts and details to a conclusion, or interpretation, based on those observations. And, as with inductive reasoning, close reading requires careful gathering of data (your observations) and careful thinking about what these data add up to.

How to Begin:

1. Read with a pencil in hand, and annotate the text.

"Annotating" means underlining or highlighting key words and phrases—anything that strikes you as surprising or significant, or that raises questions—as well as making notes in the margins. When we respond to a text in this way, we not only force ourselves to pay close attention, but we also begin to think with the author about the evidence—the first step in moving from reader to writer.

Here's a sample passage by anthropologist and naturalist Loren Eiseley. It's from his essay called "The Hidden Teacher."



. . . I once received an unexpected lesson from a spider. It happened far away on a rainy morning in the West. I had come up a long gulch looking for fossils, and there, just at eye level, lurked a huge yellow-and-black orb spider, whose web was moored to the tall spears of buffalo grass at the edge of the arroyo. It was her universe, and her senses did not extend beyond the lines and spokes of the great wheel she inhabited. Her extended claws could feel every vibration throughout that delicate structure. She knew the tug of wind, the fall of a raindrop, the flutter of a trapped moth's wing. Down one spoke of the web ran a stout ribbon of gossamer on which she could hurry out to investigate her prey.

Curious, I took a pencil from my pocket and touched a strand of the web. Immediately there was a response. The web, plucked by its menacing occupant, began to vibrate until it was a blur. Anything that had brushed claw or wing against that amazing snare would be thoroughly entrapped. As the vibrations slowed, I could see the owner fingering her guidelines for signs of struggle. A pencil point was an intrusion into this universe for which no precedent existed. Spider was circumscribed by spider ideas; its universe was spider universe. All outside was irrational, extraneous, at best raw material for spider. As I proceeded on my way along the gully, like a vast impossible shadow, I realized that in the world of spider I did not exist.


2. Look for patterns in the things you've noticed about the text—repetitions, contradictions, similarities.

What do we notice in the previous passage? First, Eiseley tells us that the orb spider taught him a lesson, thus inviting us to consider what that lesson might be. But we'll let that larger question go for now and focus on particulars—we're working inductively. In Eiseley's next sentence, we find that this encounter "happened far away on a rainy morning in the West." This opening locates us in another time, another place, and has echoes of the traditional fairy tale opening: "Once upon a time . . .". What does this mean? Why would Eiseley want to remind us of tales and myth? We don't know yet, but it's curious. We make a note of it.

Details of language convince us of our location "in the West"—gulch, arroyo, and buffalo grass. Beyond that, though, Eiseley calls the spider's web "her universe" and "the great wheel she inhabited," as in the great wheel of the heavens, the galaxies. By metaphor, then, the web becomes the universe, "spider universe." And the spider, "she," whose "senses did not extend beyond" her universe, knows "the flutter of a trapped moth's wing" and hurries "to investigate her prey." Eiseley says he could see her "fingering her guidelines for signs of struggle." These details of language, and others, characterize the "owner" of the web as thinking, feeling, striving—a creature much like ourselves. But so what?

3. Ask questions about the patterns you've noticed—especially how and why.

To answer some of our own questions, we have to look back at the text and see what else is going on. For instance, when Eiseley touches the web with his pencil point—an event "for which no precedent existed"—the spider, naturally, can make no sense of the pencil phenomenon: "Spider was circumscribed by spider ideas." Of course, spiders don't have ideas, but we do. And if we start seeing this passage in human terms, seeing the spider's situation in "her universe" as analogous to our situation in our universe (which we think of as the universe), then we may decide that Eiseley is suggesting that our universe (the universe) is also finite, that our ideas are circumscribed, and that beyond the limits of our universe there might be phenomena as fully beyond our ken as Eiseley himself—that "vast impossible shadow"—was beyond the understanding of the spider.

But why vast and impossible, why a shadow? Does Eiseley mean God, extra-terrestrials? Or something else, something we cannot name or even imagine? Is this the lesson? Now we see that the sense of tale telling or myth at the start of the passage, plus this reference to something vast and unseen, weighs against a simple E.T. sort of interpretation. And though the spider can't explain, or even apprehend, Eiseley's pencil point, that pencil point is explainable—rational after all. So maybe not God. We need more evidence, so we go back to the text—the whole essay now, not just this one passage—and look for additional clues. And as we proceed in this way, paying close attention to the evidence, asking questions, formulating interpretations, we engage in a process that is central to essay writing and to the whole academic enterprise: in other words, we reason toward our own ideas.

Copyright 1998, Patricia Kain, for the Writing Center at Harvard University

Sample HSC Exam Questions

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?

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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. But I could equally use The Beatles as an example. They may not have been formally trained, but they were immersed in music and listened to a wide range of music, including classical. They experimented, played and worked, and could reference ideas to bring to their own songs, even if they couldn't describe everything technically.)

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

Periodic Table of Figures of Speech - Full Size (visualcapitalist.com)

Wikipedia's Glossary of rhetorical terms
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_rhetorical_terms

And this site, where the figures are grouped according to what they do.
http://rhetoric.byu.edu/Figures/Figures-Groupings.htm

See also here:
https://writingcommons.org/section/rhetoric/

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.

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. 

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):

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.

The TEE Table

Your teachers will have taught you to make TEE tables in preparation for essay writing. You would have been taught acronyms to help you structure your essay paragraphs. These may be STEEL, PETAL or something else, but the main part is that the Technique is named, followed by Example and Effect. You will have been given a list of techniques, often in alphabetical order, but not be given much about their effects; in fact, often the effects will be listed as techniques. It is interesting to note that there is no listing of the word ‘Technique’ in the NESA glossary. The syllabus talks about form, features and function. There are better ways to go about all this.

What is needed is to categorise the types of literary devices and to be able to identify their effects. You can start with effects and work your way back. You can start with the effect of the whole text, and then investigate how that effect was crafted. You will need to know your text well, see what you find, and then categorise your findings. The study of literature is not a hunt for techniques.

In order to work this way you need to build your metalanguage (language about language). In any field of study you need to know the words particular to the subject. If you are a fashion designer you need to know specific words to describe colours and fabrics and shapes. If you are a cook you need to know the difference between a quiche and a flan. If you are a motor mechanic you need to know how different engines are used for different types of vehicles and why. Musicians need to be able to describe beats, rhythms, pitches, tones, effects. The same is true in subject English.

I will be posting about the names for literary devices and their effects in order to build your metalanguage. I will also be posting about the modules in the new English HSC syllabus.

If you want to stick with TEE tables because this is what your teacher wants (it is easier to mark), and you think in terms of formulas, here is some help.

The basis is this sentence, and then we can switch words in and out in a mix and match fashion. Or you can rearrange and break up the sentence.

The (composer) uses (technique) in (example) to show (effect) which (adds to the meaning of whole text or positions the reader).

Other words for composer: director, writer, author, or use the writer or director’s surname.

Other words for uses: employs, applies, adopts, practices, exercises, embraces, chooses, elects, selects, appoints, assigns, allots, designs, establishes, casts, devises, designates

Other words for technique: repetition, assonance, pun, understatement, long sentence, allusion, intertextuality, etc

DO NOT USE THE WORD TECHNIQUE IN YOUR ESSAYS.

Example: can be a quote from the text or it can be about form or an accumulation of ideas. It doesn’t have to be a quote.

DO NOT USE THE WORD QUOTE IN YOUR ESSAYS (unless a character quotes something or the narrator quotes another text.)

Other words for shows: conveys, represents, suggests, implies, indicates, illustrates, illuminates, demonstrates, depicts, describes, displays, explores, explores, symbolises, reveals, reflects, indicates, highlights, supports, accentuates, reinforces, strengthens, focuses, elucidates, posits, clarifies, evinces, ascribes, espouses, amplifies, substantiates, predicates, expounds, advances, affirms, challenges, validates, opines, proffers, promulgates, confirms, evinces, enlightens, reflects, articulates, informs, portrays, exemplifies, remarks, introduces, infers, maintains, defines, narrates, formultes, explains, signifies, controls, obverves, examines, reinforces, reasons, likens, challenges, simplies, complicates, extends, expands upon, concludes, manifests, initiates, substantiates, selects, provokes, scrutinises, emphasises, accentuates, reinforces, stresses, privileges, reiterates, refutes, opposes, justifies, validates, contrasts. Some of these words could be used as an alternative to Uses.

Other words for effect: tone, cacophony, foreshadowing, suspense etc, or a comment on how it contributes to characterisation, setting, structure or style.

Remember that analysis is the examination and explanation of how the component parts contribute to the meaning of the whole. Your question will ask you either about the meaning, the form, the features or the effect on the reader. You answer the question bringing in these other aspects. You need to be able to explain how the example you have used answers the question.

Here is how you can mix and match.

1. Homer uses a non-linear narrative which replicates the motion of the sea, moving Odysseus towards and away from home. This recreates for the reader a sense of frustration and impatience, encouraging the reader to empathise with Odysseus and his plight.

2. Orwell writes in Part 3, Chapter 2 “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” These simple sentences of parallel construction, uttered by Winston with the weight of truth, demonstrate the idea that, through torture, his memory has been altered to that of the collective.

3. Cullis-Suzuki employs irony and understatement to refer to the environmental issues she has witnessed as ‘little things’, asking rhetorically in her speech ‘Did you have to worry about these little things when you were my age?’ This serves to create a sense of identification with the situation of the speaker, increasing empathy and drawing the audience into her worldview, successfully reinforcing the seriousness of her appeal and the unfairness that this burden has been left with the children of her generation.

4. In The Argonautica, Apollonius weaves imagery and diversions through the narrative which strengthen the theme of love, abandonment and betrayal. Examples of broken relationships are provided by allusions to Peleus and Thetis, Cronos and Philyra and to Ariadne and Theseus. The only example of a genuinely happy relationship is that of the newlyweds Cyzicus and Cleite who are trying for a baby. Jason accidentally kills Cyzicus, and Cleite suicides in grief, which demonstrates Jason’s unconscious inability to respect true love. Jason’s possessions also reinforce this. He has a cloak which Pallas Athene gave him, embroidered with a scene depicting Aphrodite with Ares’ shield, suggesting a symbol of Medea as love combined with war. Hypsipyle gives Jason a mantle which he wears as he prepares for his quest at Colchis, indicating his lack of respect for Hypsipyle and his sexual infidelity. The robe is later offered as a gift to Medea’s half-brother, Apsyrtus, to entice him to his death. Jason murders Apsyrtus at the temple of Artemis, the virgin goddess. His blood is splashed onto Medea’s veil, which symbolises her loss of virginity and innocence. Although the narrative ends before Jason and Medea arrive in his homeland, this foreshadowing suggests that their relationship will be troubled.

Here is an example of a class collecting data about a text.
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/homer-high-tech-data-visualization-james-earle

Form

You will  notice that the study of literature involves considering aspects of form. But what is form?

There are a few ways we talk about form in literature

The first is to identify the category of the writing. It is the naming according to the category or type or style.

Examples include the major categories of novel, poetry, play, film, short story, novella, short film, article. There are subcategories of genre, for example, comedy, tragedy, horror, romcom, sci-fi. These categories share certain conventions that we agree determine what the type of literature is.

The second is to look at structure, that is, how a piece of writing is shaped. For a high school essay this would be an introduction, three paragraphs presenting an argument supported with evidence, and a conclusion. For a play it may three Acts. For a poem, it may be a sonnet or haiku or limerick, which are forms of poetry determined by their structure.  

Every piece of writing either begins with content or form. Sometimes writers start with content (the ideas or something to say) and need to decide upon the form. Other times, writers start with a form and create the content.

All writers make decisions about organising their material. You can talk about the organising principles in terms of form - anything that provides structure, be it a motif, repetition, rhyme, or how the text looks on the page. You can also include strategies for an argument or organisation of a narrative, such as change of voice or tone, looking backwards or forwards, reference to an authority or data, using analogies, or appeals to logic or emotions. 

For examples of playing with form see the work of Australian writer Ryan O’Neill who writes stories of relationships as a list, or as a series of book reviews. He demonstrates constrained writing such as the use of word chains, lipograms, pangrams, univocalic, cento, palindromes, snowballs and abecedarius in his book The Drover’s Wives: 99 Reinterpretations of Henry Lawson’s Australian Classic. See also 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style by Matt Madden which presents one simple story told in 99 graphical forms.

Coming soon: Words for Words

Yr 11 Adv: Critical Study of Literature

Critical Study of Literature is like Close Study of Literature, plus values and context. Everything in close study of text relates to this module. You need to address the textual integrity of what you study, that is, how the component parts contribute to the meaning of the whole text. You will study one text.

This is what the syllabus says.

Module B: Critical Study of Literature

In this module, students develop analytical and critical knowledge, understanding and appreciation of a literary text. Through increasingly informed personal responses to the text in its entirety, students develop understanding of the distinctive qualities of the text and notions of textual integrity.

Students study one text appropriate to their needs and interests. Central to this study is the exploration of how the author’s ideas are expressed in the text through an analysis of its construction, content and language. Students develop their own interpretation of the text, basing their judgements on evidence drawn from their research and reading, enabling the development of a deeper and richer understanding of the text. In doing so, they consider notions of contexts with regard to the text’s composition and reception; investigate the perspectives of others; and explore the ideas in the text, further strengthening their personal perspective on the text.

Students have opportunities to appreciate and express views about the aesthetic and imaginative aspects of a text by composing creative and critical texts of their own. Through reading, viewing or listening they analyse, evaluate and comment on the text’s specific language features and form. They express increasingly complex ideas, clearly and cohesively using appropriate register, structure and modality. They draft, appraise and refine their own texts, applying the conventions of syntax, spelling and grammar appropriately.

Opportunities to engage deeply with the text as a responder and composer further develops personal and intellectual connections with this text, enabling students to express their informed personal view of its meaning and value.

.................

In Yr 11, some teachers will teach a text that used to be on the HSC list of prescribed texts but is no longer. The good news is that there are lots of resources for these texts.

Approach to Unseen Texts

There is a strategy for approaching unseen texts that you need to respond to in exam situations.

Firstly, read the question before you read the text. Because these tasks are worth few marks, only read to answer the question. Spend your time according to the amount of marks for each question. For two marks you need to answer the question in one paragraph with references to two examples from the text. For three marks, three examples in one or two paragraphs. In the HSC exam, for questions worth five or six marks you need to synthesise and address two texts in relation to each other. This is a mini essay.

In a class assessment task you might be addressing one text at a time. 

There are some literary features which are common to all texts - look for these as your answers. There is no point looking for metaphor or personification if there are no examples in your text. (Of course, if you can comment on metaphor, symbols, imagery, etc, then do so.) Otherwise, look for:
- structure
- voice, persona, tone, point of view
- title
- punctuation (if there is no punctuation, that is noteworthy)
- composer, who constructed a text in context, for audience, a purpose, and to effect a responder
- text type/ genre/ style
- ideas
- literal (exactly what it says)/figurative language (figurative opens up simile, metaphor etc)/inferential (what does it suggest). Every word used falls into these categories. 
- words
- sentences
- layout on the page
- mood/atmosphere
- representations
- how the composer positions the reader and why
- also look for patterns and repetitions - they are noteworthy.

Your answer should address What (describe), How (explain) and Why (analyse). For the question worth the most marks you should evaluate the effectiveness of the techniques, ie, make a judgement.