Windmills & Giants

We will be using at least two of the above vocabulary terms in our article analyses tomorrow. Remember to take into consideration the connection between rhetorical appeals (ethos, pathos, logos) and devices. Devices (listed above) are used to create logical, pathetic or ethical appeal in a piece.

Jargon, slang, colloquialisms are all interesting parts of diction (To sum up the previous section: interesting writers choose interesting words over boring ones in order to infuse their writing with more information). Jargon is a word for any set of words devoted to a particular task usually used by a particular group or organization. For example, there can be sailing jargon ("aft," "starboard," "boom," etc.), as well as sailing slang and colloquialisms ("avast matey," "shiver me timbers"). I assume you are all familiar with the slang of previous generations: "cool," "gnarly," "far out," etc. (For this, [i.e. your] generation, I use UrbanDictionary.com.) So, slang is used in everyday conversation, but never in academic or professional writing.

Colloquialisms are similar. Droppin' the "g" after words ending in "-ing" is a Southern colloquialism. These words are usually defined by a geographical location (a good dictionary will tell you the location in which these words are used), but as you can see, slang and colloquialisms are very similar. The second word is just longer. Jargon, however, is quite different from the other two. Jargon is used amongst people that are familiar with the topic being discussed. For English students, "gerund," "apostrophe," "synecdoche," and "metonymy" are jargon words. Those who have never studied the language would not understand the technical terms. I am sure you can come up with a few for computer programming, gaming, sports, auto repair, astrophysics, or any other hobby or study.

When an author uses jargon (without defining it), he or she is speaking to a specific audience. So, if you find your author using several words that you are unfamiliar with, grab a dictionary and look them up. If, for example, you look up "humor" in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, you will find ^"hu·mor noun . . . 2 a in medieval physiology" below the standard definitions. "In medieval physiology" applies to the word when it is used as jargon.

[Note: This is a re-post from last year.  I've made some minor alterations to the text, but the content is mostly the same.]

Voice is the second most important aspect of rhetorical (or persuasive) communication. When the communication is written, we call this aspect the author's "style." I assume that many of you have been introduced to the style analysis paper in other courses, probably Freshman or Sophomore English. If not, have no fear. Here is a quick review.

When we describe voice in a rhetorical argument, we are actually describing six things. I will refer to them using the acronym T-DIDLS ("tee-diddles") because it sounds funny and we can all remember it. The first letter stands for TONE, which will be described throughout this series. The second is DICTION, which we will be covering today.

Diction is how we describe an author's choice of words. You will rarely find a character in a novel "saying" anything; often, they "shout," "mutter," "respond," or "sneer." This allows the author to pack as much meaning into one word as possible. The same goes with descriptive words. So, instead of describing a scene like this:

The old cat was bad for the man's asthma.

An author could describe it this way, with more interesting diction:

The dandered and decrepit cat irritated her owner's asthma.

Okay, so I may not be the next Faulkner, but I hope you get the idea. The words "dandered" and "decrepit" in the second sentence replace "old" in the previous sentence. Not only is the second sentence more interesting, but it more specifically describes the situation. By adding the word "irritated," a TONE of frustration or annoyance is added to an otherwise frank explanation of events.

Another aspect of diction depends on the author's purpose. If the author intends to entertain, there will be much laughter and gaiety all around. His or her word choice will reflect a relaxed diction; informal and colloquial words like "um," "okay," "well," and "K," "LOL," "whatcha up to?," and "nuthin'" are all relaxed words that put the reader in a mind to be entertained. On the other hand, if the author's purpose is to inform, then the words will be much more formal. Academic writing, presentations, most speeches, and any proposals or resumes are written in precise and proper words:

Both Vladimir Nabokov and Marcel Proust state that the worldview they held as children was slanted and inaccurate, yet each devotes much of his story to the recollection of his formative years. Each has devoted numerous pages to narrating or explaining scenes of his early youth that have affected him later in some manner, profound or otherwise. One should certainly wonder, then, what it is about childhood memories that endow them, for these men, with such weight in later life?

Enough of that. It informs, but only if you are really interested in Speak, Memory or Remembrances of Things Past. Which we aren't; not at this point.

Quick Self-Quiz: Can anyone label the diction I am using throughout this explanation? Take into consideration my purpose and goals.

based on your questions from class, in an easy-to-print design. If you have questions about a question [awk] not listed here, please post a comment and one of your classmates or I will address it.

I have defined the vocabulary used in each question or possible answer. Use this as a study guide by itself, or work through the multiple choice section again, referring to this page when necessary. For your learning pleasure:

1. allusion—a reference to a work outside of the presented work
   

   paradox—sometimes used synonymously with contradiction, is a set of premises that appear to contradict the conclusion. In this question, it seems that the author is attempting to lure you into thinking that because Hester's daughter is dressed in the same colors as the symbol of her sin, that this is contradictory. The two symbols are tied in order to make a direct contrast—Pearl's appearance is described as "the scarlet letter endowed with life," between "the object of her affection and the emblem of her guilt and torture."
   

   extended metaphor—the prolonged use of a metaphor in a work. (See this article from Slate.com for a good example.)
   

2. objective narrator—a voice that reports (or narrates) action without commenting, interpreting, or analyzing
   

   subjective narrator—a voice that reports (or narrates) action while commenting, interpreting, or analyzing
   

3. analogy—interpreting an analogy requires an understanding of the connection between two things (in this question, the "object of Hester's affection" and the "emblem of her guilt and torture"), and applying this same connection to two other things ("Pearl" and "the letter A"). We find this answer by understanding that Pearl was the object of Hester's affection and the letter A was the emblem of her guilt and torture. This type of question appears in many college-prep exams, testing both critical thinking (GLOVE : HAND :: HAT : _____), and vocabulary skills (TENET : THEOLOGIAN :: HYPOTHESIS : _______).
   
4. parallel syntactic structure—illustrates the equality of several ideas in a sentence. A classic example comes from Winston Churchill's radio speech in 1940: "We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender. . . ."
   

   colloquial and idiomatic diction—word choice from a specific geographic location. Often used to establish common ground with an audience.
   

   inverted sentence—a sentence with the verb before the subject
   

5. begging the question—a logical fallacy in which the conclusion of an argument is stated in one of the premises. For example,
   

   To cast abortion as a solely private moral question, . . . is to lose touch with common sense: How human beings treat one another is practically the definition of a public moral matter. Of course, there are many private aspects of human relations, but the question whether one human being should be allowed fatally to harm another is not one of them. Abortion is an inescapably public matter. (Taken from http://www.fallacyfiles.org/begquest.html)
   

   ad hoc argument—an argument created specifically for an incident. For example, Aristotle's theory of spontaneous life from "pneuma" and various natural elements explains how insects seemingly grow from decaying matter.
   

Hope this helps. I will be editing some older posts on PELIDS and T-DIDLS tomorrow. They should be posted before Monday.

Please continue researching your candidate—we will be holding a class discussion on issues next week, so begin preparing as soon as possible.

Quick calendar to keep you looking forward:

If this is your first visit to the site, have a look around. The article feed is on the left sidebar below the post calendar. I try to post at least three times per week, but that fluctuates with the class. If there is ever a major concept covered, though, you can be sure to find an explanation posted within a day. Email me, or add a comment to another post if you need more information.

Your assignment for tonight:

Research the 2008 presidential election hopefuls. Find a candidate you like, bring his or her name to class tomorrow (11/13).

Here is an amazing site from a George Washington University graduate. Begin here if you are unsure where we are in the race, or would like to know where to find more information on each candidate. Information on Republicans and Democrats can be found under the "Candidates & Their Campaigns" link.

Here's a good site with RSS feeds for news on your candidate, stats, even a Firefox extension.

From the NY Times, another source for articles. Wouldn't it be great if we chose from these articles for Thursday? (Remember, it must be an argument, not a re-statement of occurrences.)

Here is a cool chart of the candidate's positions. (Note the source; is it unbiased?)

We will be briefly discussing this in class tomorrow, but the plan is to go straight into hardcore rhetoric. We'll see if that happens.