For Tuesday, October 14

Complete your rhetorical analysis of "I Rise to Protest."

After I remembered you have this extensive paper to perfect this weekend, I decided to let you off of reading the rest of Huck Finn.  We can finish the novel in class on Tuesday before we set things in motion for trial preparation.

Have a wonderful weekend.

For Friday, October 10

Read Huckleberry Finn through Chapter 36.

Norman Rockwell's Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn

For Wednesday, October 8

One and the Same by Melinda Proudhomme

Read Huckleberry Finn through Chapter 32.

If I discussed your rough draft with you today, continue working on your rhetorical analysis.  It's best to get started, so you remember what we talked about.

The final draft of the "I rise to protest" rhetorical analysis is due BOP Tuesday, October 14.

For Monday, October 6

Begin drafting your rhetorical analysis of Mark Twain's speech "I rise to protest."

On Monday, October 6, 2014, I want to see a rough draft that demonstrates your thought and effort.  You do not have to have a completed draft as long as I can see your valid attempts to conquer the assignment.  (For example:  maybe you bring in two solid body paragraphs that you feel are complete.  That way, I can check them to make sure you are on the right track.)  A good rule:  spend an hour and a half (1 ½) to two (2) hours on English this weekend.

We will organize this analysis by articulating the shifts in Twain’s tone throughout the speech. 

1^st movement-mocking humor/light (1 paragraph)

2^nd movement-acerbic language and biting satire (2 to 3 paragraphs – your choice) starting at rhetorical questions that close paragraph 1.

            Indians

            Quakers

            Others

3^rd movement-starting at O my friends,…(1 paragraph)

Introduction Material~possibilities: Background audience.  Background Mark Twain.  Twain’s reputation as a speaker or authority on the subject.

Thesis Sentence template:

In Twain’s speech given at the first annual Plymouth Rock and Pilgrims’ Society dinner, he _______________ the actions of the original pilgrims and ______________________ the sons of the Puritans _____________________________.

(This sentence should speak to Twain’s purpose.  In class we used the verbs:  attacks and dissuades.  Feel free to use your own vivid verb.  Look at “Intention in Speaking” section of your handout.)

Conclusion:  Wrap up: speaker’s success in accomplishing his purpose in light of the evidence you have provided.  How 

For Tuesday, September 30

Finish annotating Mark Twain's speech "I Rise to Protest."  

If on the first two paragraphs you missed labeling the strategy...make sure you do that this time.  If you needed to explain how the strategy works within the essay, make sure to expland those explanations this time.

Consider the structure of the essay and its effectiveness.  He starts out poking fun, making his audience laugh.  He becomes increasingly caustic (vocabulary word) in paragraphs 2,3,4.  Paragraphs 5 and 5 return to a more casual and less excoriating (vocabulary word) tone.

Read Chapters 26 and 27 in Huck Finn.

As time permits, you may want to peruse this document.  I will have a handout for you on Tuesday.

Basic Questions for Rhetorical Analysis

What is the rhetorical situation?

• What occasion gives rise to the need or opportunity for persuasion?
• What is the historical occasion that would give rise to the composition of this text?

Who is the author/speaker?

• How does he or she establish ethos (personal credibility)?
• Does he/she come across as knowledgeable? fair?
• Does the speaker's reputation convey a certain authority?

What is his/her intention in speaking?

• To attack or defend?
• To exhort or dissuade from certain action?
• To praise or blame?
• To teach, to delight, or to persuade?

Who make up the audience?

• Who is the intended audience?
• What values does the audience hold that the author or speaker appeals to?
• Who have been or might be secondary audiences?
• If this is a work of fiction, what is the nature of the audience within the fiction?

What is the content of the message?

• Can you summarize the main idea?
• What are the principal lines of reasoning or kinds of arguments used?
• What topics of invention are employed?
• How does the author or speaker appeal to reason? to emotion?

What is the form in which it is conveyed?

• What is the structure of the communication; how is it arranged?
• What oral or literary genre is it following?
• What figures of speech (schemes and tropes) are used?
• What kind of style and tone is used and for what purpose?

How do form and content correspond?

• Does the form complement the content?
• What effect could the form have, and does this aid or hinder the author's intention?

Does the message/speech/text succeed in fulfilling the author's or speaker's intentions?

• For whom?
• Does the author/speaker effectively fit his/her message to the circumstances, times, and audience?
• Can you identify the responses of historical or contemporary audiences?

What does the nature of the communication reveal about the culture that produced it?

• What kinds of values or customs would the people have that would produce this?
• How do the allusions, historical references, or kinds of words used place this in a certain time and location?

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Gideon O. Burton, Brigham Young University
Please cite "Silva Rhetoricae" (rhetoric.byu.edu) 

Make sure you have an easy to read rhetorical context chart for Mark Twain's speech "I Rise to Protest."  This will look like the one I had on the board in class on Wednesday, Sept. 24.  Next, annotate the strategies Mark Twain incorporates into his speech (Paragraphs 1 and 2).  If you highlight a metaphor...make sure to write in the margins noting the metaphor's effect on the audience....same thing for each device.

In general, Twain utlizes humor to connect with his audience; however, he also counts on humor to soften his blow.  Remember, satire and irony are considered "high comedy."  Satire could be comedy that bites/hurts/convicts.  I would say satire, irony, paradox are Twain's primary tools, and he is a master with his words.  I also notice quite a bit of repetition, analogies, hyperbole, understatement.

I will look at your annotations carefully because I want to make sure you are prepared to write this next rhetorical analysis.  This essay will be a Major Grade X 2.

Read Chapter 25.

For Wednesday, September 24

Read Chapters 21-24 in Huckleberry Finn.  Continue to look for Twain's social commentary.  Specifically, notice Jim's increasingly bad treatment.  Mob Mentality.  Huck's joy at the circus.  Comment on providence.