Friday, March 27, 2009

Art of Persuasion Techniques from Steve

RHETORIC OR THE ART OF PERSUASION

Any piece of writing which asks you to argue a point or attempt to persuade one group or another will be enhanced by a number of persuasive or rhetorical tricks. Below is a list of the main tricks you might wish to employ, with an example for each one. Try not to overuse these techniques, but use them as an expert chef would add seasoning to a meal.

1. Emotive Language-trying to tug at the heart strings of your audience. Consider the poor, starving little children in Africa, their swollen bellies rumbling for lack of food. They need help know to alleviate their terrible suffering. You can almost see yourself mailing off a cheque to the Red Cross after reading that. So now you see how easy it is we will try some more challenging tricks.

2. Subtle repetition-re-emphasising the same point but in a subtly different way. Without your help these children will die. We know in these difficult times it is hard to spare any cash but please do give whatever you can. Only your help can keep these poor, unfortunate children alive.

3. Rhetorical questioning-asking a question that does not need an answer/or one to which the answer is obvious. Do you really want to fail the exam?

4. Hyperbole-excessive exaggeration. A technique that can often be used to make a problem seem bigger than it is. This problem will affect countless millions of people. Or This is the most important problem facing the earth today.

5. Attacking the opposition-Try to take the wind out of the competing viewpoint by getting your retaliation in first. Return of the Jedi cannot be termed a better sci-fi film than The Empire Strikes Back. Let’s be honest it’s barely a sci-fi film at all. Ewoks! That’s all I need to say. It’s an excuse for a children’s merchandising line. They should have called it return of the small, furry creatures in the forest.

6. Magic 3’s-the use of three forceful words in close succession for emphasis and to hammer home a point. America’s behaviour, in relation to this matter is craven, cowardly and selfish. Bang, bang, bang you have magic 3’s.

7. Parallel structures-You show the reader the bad side before getting them to consider what you really want them to do. To hold a grudge would be a terrible thing to do, it creates bitterness and unhappiness to forgive is divine.
Assertion-presenting opinions as facts. This is a grave crisis and if we do not act know there may be no world to save

Newspaper article for S5 to analyse from Steve

UNSUNG SUPERSTAR

It seems that every November when the annual World Player of the Year jamboree emerges from the heat, pressure and glory of another season’s competition and the eyes of the football cognoscenti turn to Zurich the same hallowed names emerge to take their seemingly pre-ordained place amidst the effulgent glare of the world soccer firmament.

Cristiano Ronaldo, for all his histrionics, and recalcitrant mood swings demands attention for his stunning goal output. Forty two times he troubled the scoring charts last year, even if his penchant for missing vital spot kicks could have (some might argue, should have) cost his club dearly. Kaka, the brightest star of an otherwise aging and prosaic Milan side, also seems to exist in a perpetual state of grace as far as the critics are concerned, despite the fact that his league goal output has dwindled somewhat in recent seasons. Lionel Messi, combines mesmerising dribbling skills with pace and power; the whole package being wrapped in an aura of wide-eyed innocence that heralds him as the most promising of a long line of successors to Maradona’s throne. He has finally added prolific goalscoring (29 this season at the time of writing) to his myriad other qualities. The aura such players create is dreamy and fantastic and as such the most gifted practitioners of the esoteric arts of forward play are lauded and deified. However, what the annual awards rarely if ever seem to do (Fabio Cannavaro’s deserved win in 2006 being the recent exception) is reward season long brilliance that does not encompasses the scorers art. So spare a thought for the most under appreciated genius of the modern game: Andres Lujan Iniesta

At 1.69 metres the diminutive Spaniard looks more like a bookish undergraduate than an international regular. His pale features and slight frame accentuating his status a Lilliputian among the muscled bruisers of the modern European game. Certainly he is no frenzied bulldozer in the mode of a Gennaro Gattuso. Nor does he possess the obvious grace and poise of a Michael Ballack or even the passing range of a Deco or Andrea Pirlo. He has averaged only a handful league goals a year in his six seasons as a professional and yet despite these seeming shortcomings he is rated by many, alongside his compatriot in the Barcelona engine room Xavi, as the most complete midfielder in Europe. So what exactly does he do then? In two words: almost everything. He can operate deftly anywhere outside of defence, being equally adept in central midfield or on either flank. Witness his sparkling performances against both Russia and Germany in last summer’s European Championships. Games in which he started wide on the left but switched effortlessly between flanks, dovetailing delightfully with Valencia’s David Silva. His natural ability to beat his marker coupled with the visionary and penetrative nature of his final ball all helped him gain a place in FIFA’s All Star team of the tournament. Ally these qualities to a tireless work ethic and a playing style built around purposeful movement and ball retention and you have an all-round midfielder coveted by every major club side on the continent. Not that any of them have much hope of prising the player away.

His present contract with Los Cules does not end until June of 2014 and if that seems like sensible forward planning by the Catalan giants then there is method in their foresight. At 24 Iniesta undoubedtly has his best playing years ahead of him. On July 19th last year he was allegedly linked with a move to rivals Real Madrid. Reports in Spain hinted Real was prepared to pay the 60 million euros that would activate his release clause. However, the Barca faithful need not have feared. Their man remains deeply attached to the club he joined as a 12 year old in 1996. Iniesta himself, despite Barcelona having markedly underperformed during each of the last two seasons, nailed his colours to the mast saying, " When I say I want to retire in Barça, I say it with all my heart."

Strangely Iniesta almost joined Los Meringues as a youngster. Young Andres and his family visited Madrid to run the rule over their youth set up. Instead of leaving dazzled by the bright lights of the capital they returned home peturbed by the level of crime around the apartment block where the club’s youngsters would be stationed. Madrid’s loss proved Barcelona’s gain as Andres was swiftly ensconsced within their La Masia training camp. His rise speaks volumes for both his own effervescent talent and the clubs unparalled ability to promote from within their own ranks. Making his debut in Louis Van Gaal’s underachieving 2002 side Iniesta has quickly amassed over 160 league appearances. With only 14 league goals it is clear that his finshing could use a polishing gloss. However time is on his side and recent seasons have seen him hit the target with increasing regularity. His stunning goal in the friendly with England in 2007 highlighted his abilty to strike the ball from distance and started Spain on the record breaking run that would lead to their eventual triumph in Switzerland.

Whether he is dropping deep to instigate attacks and win back the ball (cast your mind back to his eye catching role in Barcelona’s triumphant 2006 Champions League Final victory over Arsenal), linking the play as a central midfielder or cutting in from either flank Iniesta is rarley less than excellent. Even Lionel Messi was moved to refer to his teammate as “an animal,” while expressing bewilderment at his eventual absence from the World Player of the Year reckoning. Former manager Frank Rijkaard compard Iniesta’s passing ability to a child handing out sweets and the comparison is an apt one. There is something of the school team innocent about the diminutive playmaker. His willingness to apply himself unstintingly to the cause, to turn his hand to any position or adapt to the myriad tactical variations of the modern game highlight him as a throw back to a more Corinthian era.

Some have suggested that Iniesta’s very versatility may prove detremental to his progress as a player. Like many talented players who excel in multiple positions he risks being shunted around the side, filling in where gaps arise. However, unlike many utilty makeweights Iniesta seems comfortable wherever he lines up. His dribbling is reminiscent of Dejan Savicevic in his Milan pomp, while his incisive passing bears many of the hallmarks of Paul Scholes. Many see in Scholes the precursory template for the type of player Iniesta has become. Yet ultimately Iniesta is his own man. A strangely reticent iconoclast, playing the game to a tune that has become increasingly unfashionable in modern football circles. One can imagine him crisscrossing the Nou Camp turf happily if all they were offering were bed and board at the end of the match. As a player he offers the viewer an intoxicating paradox: boundless creativity sublimated to the needs of the team dynamic. Capable of the sublime yet happy to revel in the everyday if it furthers the interests of his side. Wherever Iniesta lines up his play rarely, if ever descends to the level of the mundane.

Unlike many of his more lauded contemporaries (the aforementioned Ronaldo looms large here) Iniesta also appears to revel in the pressures of the big game environment. His burgeoning medal collection pays testament to this: UEFA European Under-16 and under-19 Championship winning success was followed by a silver medal in the FIFA World Youth Championship final in the United Arab Emirates. Indeed in the later competition he was named in the FIFA All-Star Team. As a senior he has already amassed 2 La Liga titles to go with the Champions League medal from 2006. With 34 caps (6 goals) to his name he looks set to star in the heart of the Spanish midfield for years to come.

Graham Armstrong, the Sky Television journalist, once famously joked that Iniesta was more likely to urinate in the communion chalice than leave the imprint of his studs down an opponents calf. While the point is affectionately made the clean living and sportsmanlike dynamo would be unikely to countenance either form of sacrilege. Not for him the distasteful feigning of injury or the badge kissing cupboard love espoused by so many of the Premiership’s highest paid performers. Andres runs with a ball the way you did when you were ten and the sun dripped lazily into an endless series of summer holiday evenings. No amount of money can buy football like this.

In an age where the desultory behaviour of too many players polarises fans and drags the games often tarnished reputation into further disrepute Iniesta remains a beacon of fair play and sportsmanship that all lovers of football can marvel at while admiring unreservedly. When plodding domestiques such as Didier Zokora and Javier Mascherano are paid small fortunes to regularly bog down games in defensive treacle it takes a player like Iniesta to remind us all that football really is the beautiful game. We should all enjoy him while we can, his like may be a long time coming around again.


This is a newspaper article that I have written to allow you to test out your analytical skills. The article is written for an educated audience as in intended to be published in a broadsheet newspaper. So what do you have to do?

Write a detailed analytical commentary on the piece in which you analyse the language choices made by the writer. You cannot do the adaptation and reshaping half of the task because you have not reshaped it. However, the language is rich and varied. There are many different types of sentence structure and grammatical issues for you to get your teeth into. See if you can spot any bias or subjectivity in the article. What is the tone? What does the writer think of Iniesta and some of his footballing contemporaries? What do you think the purpose of the article is? Do you feel that it achieves its purpose?

Basic Guidelines for Unit 2 Language from Steve

BASIC CHECKLIST
AREAS TO CONSIDER WHEN WRITING/ANALYSING YOUR ADAPTED PIECE OF WORK (UNIT 2 DESK STUDY)

Basically these are some of the tricks/techniques that you can make use of when writing your piece in the exam. Remember-the more of these techniques that you can employ the more you will have to write about in the analytical section of the exam. This is not an exhaustive list it is just a series of tricks/issues and techniques that you can make use of when writing your piece and then analysing it. If you cover most of these areas you will do well.
Audience-you must tailor your writing to fit the audience at hand. Every decision you make from lexical and grammatical choices to the tone of your piece will depend upon the audience.

Purpose-the purpose of the task will determine the style of your writing and the techniques you need to apply. The purpose will even determine the layout or structure of your writing and any graphological features.
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Facts/opinions-most styles of writing will feature a mix of fact and opinion. Clever use of assertion can also help you to present opinions as if they were facts.

Bias-can you spot a lack of objectivity in the writing of others and comment on it. You may also need to employ bias yourself for effect. Can you spot where the bias is in this news report about the World Footballer of the Year Award?

It seems that every November when the annual World Player of the Year jamboree emerges from the heat, pressure and glory of another season’s competition and the eyes of the football cognoscenti turn to Zurich the same hallowed names emerge to take their seemingly pre-ordained place amidst the effulgent glare of the world soccer firmament. Cristiano Ronaldo, for all his histrionics, and recalcitrant mood swings demands attention for his stunning goal output. Forty two times he troubled the scoring charts last year, even if his penchant for missing vital spot kicks could have (some might argue, should have) cost his club dearly.



Rhetorical devices and tricks-these are basically the use of dramatic or persuasive words or structures to manipulate the intended audience. Basically all of the writing that you will be doing in the exam will be asking you to manipulate one audience or another.

There are three types of rhetoric (as put forward by Aristotle) ethos, pathos (the one you will be making most use of dealing as it does with emotions and feelings) and logos

Lexical issues-the words chosen will provide you with most of your analysis. I will not waste time going over something you covered exhaustively last term. However, there are a number of key lexical issues you might wish to bear in mind:
1. Is the language subject specific
Does the writer us colloquialisms?

Are contractions used (he’s/we’ve) to create a more friendly/informal/relaxed atmosphere?
Are pre/post modifiers used (that was a cracking shot)

Does the writer use figurative language to create effects (metaphor/simile/personification)?
Are lexical choices equivocal or unequivocal? (it is possible that some slight damage will be caused )
Do we see a lot of high frequency conversational type phrases, the sort you would commonly see in a conversation ((you know, we can see etc). Using language like this means you are trying to achieve a certain tone.

8. How far do lexical issues decide tone/feeling?

9. Are lexical choices formal or informal?


Sound patterns-you will be able to comment on examples of:


Alliteration-A repetition of the same sound or letter in the same position ate the start of a word
Assonance-repetition of the same or similar vowel sounds

Consonance-A repetition of consonant sounds in the same position in a sequence of words

Onomatopoeia-a word whose sound echoes its meaning


Rhyme-you know what this is


Miscellaneous tricks that the clever writer might consider making use of. All of the techniques below have been explained to you in class.

Irony
2. Oxymoron
3. Paradox
4. symbolism
5. Hyperbole/understatement
6. Puns
7. The use of lists
8. Subtle repetition
9. Figurative language

· Grammatical issues-you can make use of any of the tricks/techniques that you discovered last year. However, there are a few key areas you may wish to address:

Sentence structure-simple/compound/complex sentences

Consider the use of pre/post modification (especially in newspaper journalism)
Use of tense-past/present

Use of active and passive voice (often to be found when you are attempting to write a more formal text)
Parts of speech:some examples-verbs-cried/adjectives-fast/nouns-gorilla/conjunctions-and,if,because/pronouns-he,she/prepositions-on,in,to/adverbs-quickly/interjections-ouch

Mood and tone of the writing-all writers (hopefully you included) will be aiming to create a specific mood and the tone of the language they use will be crucial in achieving this. Try to consider the tone that you are employing and comment on the effect you were attempting to achieve.

THE KEY ISSUE
In the examination you will be asked to write for a specific audience and purpose. All of the points above will help you to achieve that aim. However, you will also be asked to write a commentary on your work-which analyses the language choices you have made. You will also be asked to focus on how you reshaped the materials in the pack you were given to create your piece.


Reshaped means change and modify. The clever student will adapt, modify and utilise the tricks, techniques and language in the various articles to create a new and effective hybrid article of their own.

Every time you comment on your language choices analyse and examine the way you have changed the original material to come up with your work. This shows intelligence and awareness. You will be presenting the examiner with vivid evidence of the fact that you have understood the gist and message of the original materials, yet you were clever enough to adapt them to fit the audience/purpose of your task. The beauty of it is you are analysing your own work-so simply do the following:

· Point out the effect you are trying to create through your use of language
· Show how you have adapted the original material and why you chose to change it

You don’t have to do this for every point (obviously some of what you write will be completely your own work) but the more you refer back to the question the better you will do

An example taken from the environmental pack:

The Headline of article A proclaimed “America out on a limb,” in referring to the USA’s unilateral stance on climate change. However, in adapting this material for readers aged 11-16 I believed that I need blunt and more obviously forceful approach. I chose to use a metaphor, like Article A though I believe mine better captures the essence of America’s selfish need to stand alone on climate change. “Selfish America goes it alone” emphasises how the United States, in refusing to ratify the Kyoto Protocols, has chosen to distance itself from the wider international community. I wanted my readers to that this was widely seen as craven insensitivity and selfishness, placing America beyond the pale and opening them up for well deserved criticism.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

S5 Linguistic Terminology Revision Unit 1

Below is a list of definitions of linguistic terms, followed by the terms themselves. Match the term with the definition.

An exchange which is completed in two turns (moves): an utterance and its response.

The negotiation or control of the subject discussed in conversation.

Words or sounds used by the listener to give feedback to the talker during a conversation.

A spoken interaction involving more than one person.

A sequence of turns in a conversation/ dialogue.

Words or phrases used to indicate that the speaker has completed one topic and is moving on to another.

A study of the ways that speakers in a conversation alternate turns to speak.

A grammatical mood that expresses a statement – e.g. I am a hardworking student.

A grammatical mood expressing a directive (command, warning, request, etc.).

A grammatical mood expressing a question.

A particular medium of communication – e.g. speech, writing, etc.

A written record of spoken language, which may use symbols to represent the distinctive features of speech.

A piece of spoken language. Also used to describe a spoken ‘sentence’, since it can be difficult to apply the normal rules of a written sentence to speech.

Mode; turn-taking; declarative;

Utterance; interrogative; framing-move;

Adjacency pair; back-channel behaviour; agenda-setting;

Imperative; exchange; dialogue;

Transcription;

The Bloody Chamber - Analysis and Essay Questions

The following web-site contains some good supplementary information on Themes/ Charactersfor 'The Bloody Chamber'. You have to pay for the study guide in its entirety, but the sections that you can access for free are still useful. Remember to use the websites to supplement your ownand notes that you have made in class, don't rely on them completely.

http://www.bookrags.com/The_Bloody_Chamber

You can also find a number of essay questions at:

http://www.gradesaver.com/the-bloody-chamber/study-guide/essay-questions/

Some of the questions are more relevant than others, but they all provide food for thought.

S5 Unit 2 - Rhetorical Techniques and Planned Speeches

For Unit 2, the desk study, there is a strong possibility that you will be asked to script a planned speech. What follows is part of a worksheet that I compiled, during the first term. It includes five dominant, rhetorical techniques (the list is not exhaustive). For revision, you could analyse planned speeches at http://www.famousquotes.me.uk/speeches/ , considering, in particular, how the speakers employ rhetorical techniques to persuade the audience and to shape the listeners' responses to what they say.

Rhetorical Techniques

When examining the language of planned speeches, we will still need to consider the frameworks of lexis and grammar, as we do with spontaneous speech. However, it is essential that we consider another framework, which is specific to planned speeches, and that framework is rhetorical techniques.

Rhetorical Techniques
Rhetoric is, essentially, the art of public speaking. Rhetorical techniques are employed by public speakers to persuade listeners and shape their responses in various ways.
Here are a number of the most important rhetorical devices:

1) Repetition of sounds/ words/ sentence structure
E.g. ‘The economy today, under the Labour party, is weak, weak, weak!’

2) Rule of three
‘We wouldn’t surrender then, we won’t surrender now, and we will not surrender in the future.’

3) The rhetorical question
‘Are we a nation that has lost its way?’

4) Emotive language
‘I stand before you, appalled and disgusted!’

5) Hyperbole (exaggeration)
‘Due to the incompetence of this present government, the country has come to a complete standstill.’

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

S5 Themes in 'The Bloody Chamber'

The Following page contains some interesting ideas on the themes of 'The Bloody Chamber'
http://www.answers.com/topic/the-bloody-chamber-story-4

Monday, March 23, 2009

The Importance of Being Earnest

Youtube has a number of filmed versions of The Importance of Being Earnest. For a version that follows the original text fairly closely, look up The Importance of Being Earnest -Wendy Hiller. There is a more contemporary version that you can watch, but the director has taken lots of liberties with the presentation of the plot. Enjoy.

The Bloody Chamber - Revision guide

The following website contains summaries and analysis on all the stories from 'The Bloody Chamber'. I hope it will be useful for your revision.
www.gradesaver.com/the-bloody-chamber/study-guide/bibliography/

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Welcome to The Canterbury School English Department blogspot, your one stop shop for everything English. We hope that this site will be useful for all Canterbury students. You will be able to find links to useful websites, ask any questions that you may have regarding your English work at the school and read the comments made by other students. Additionally, we will regularly post various documents that we think will help you in your studies. Please feel free to add any comments about how the website could be improved to better suit your needs (please keep all comments sensible and clean, or the department will have no option but to remove the comments section).
Mr. Sirett