The Sunday News
BEFORE getting into this week’s subject can we briefly touch on what remained when discussing previous work. We looked at speech making and we will start on it and add some points. For instance, rhetoric is the art of speech making.
Various rhetoric devices are used to add impact to the words of the speaker.
These devices can consist of choices of vocabulary, sound effects or structural patterns. The overall sound and rhythm of a speech can have a powerful impact on an audience.
Powerful speakers can convey emotional power through careful control of tone and pace. Here are some common rhetorical devices:
Rhetorical questions for example: “Do you find this acceptable? Balanced phrases –to work and to live; antithesis or placing opposite meanings together, for example, let us shape our hopelessness into our new hope, cold fire.
Repetition for example: We will stand up, we will fight, we will win. Tripling or groups of three like: “Friends, Romans, Countrymen” found in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.
Onomatopoeia, for example: a tapestry of talents. If you identify rhetorical devices in your reading, be it in stories or poetry remember you must also explain why these devices are used and what effects they create.
The quality of your writing skills plays a significant role in your performance.
Good control of your expression will get the reader or examiner to your side and will contribute to the overall judgement of your work. It will be an advantage if you: communicate clearly, organise your ideas using sentences and paragraphs. Use a variety of sentence structures effectively. Use a wide range of vocabulary.
Use the grammar of Standard English; use accurate punctuation, present work clearly and neatly. Most important of all, your writing should have a sense of purpose. In other words, answer the question set.
Do not repeat the essay you wrote in the mock examination or last year’s paper, and do not offload thoughtlessly everything you know about your set book.
Ensure everything you write is relevant to the question. Writing an examination essay or prose – divide your time wisely between each question on the paper. Read each of the questions through quickly at the start of the examination. Let your sub -consciousness do some work. Answer the question which means do the task as set.
Start at the sharp end. Your first impressions are vital. Think before you start. Give the examiner something positive to think in the first sentence. Make the examiner “think high grade?” after the first paragraph.
Get the writer in your essay early – see the writer as part of the discussion. Quotations should be short, frequent and integrated.
The standard of the quote should be in the phrase that is less than a full sentence. However, a single word quote may be appropriate and so might a whole sentence occasionally. Refer back to the question in every paragraph. Often one word will do it. If none of your paragraphs ties with the question, then you have drifted away.
If so, do not panic, but return to the trail promptly. Get to the heart of the text or character at the start of the question.
Have enthusiasm and respect of each text. With extract questions particularly, do not meander loosely through the text, look at the outcomes from the extract get them at or near the top of the essay and pull the arguments together with good selection and highlighting.
Manipulate language in your answer modifying as you proceed rather than crossing out words and phrases. Crossing out will betray indecision, while skillful manoeuvring will reflect well on you. The key unit of meaning is the sentence: your sentences need to be controlled and purposeful.
Paragraphs are also important as they usually reflect the level of organisation in an essay. Too few or short paragraphs betray problems with the authority and control of the argument. Use a paragraph for a definite purpose, such as discussing a character or a particular moment.
Your conclusion remember came at the start of the essay; if possible can end your essay with something consciously saved earlier on.
Do not overrun your time on any question. An essay is a continuous piece of writing on a subject. The plot and characters will be well constructed and sustained. There will be a good beginning and an appropriate ending. The narrative is purposeful and well-paced. Understand – First person and third-person writing again.
A first person piece of writing, often a narrative, is written from the perspective of I or we (grammatical first person).
The narrator is therefore firmly in the story. A third person piece of writing is written from a more detached point of view.
The writer is generally outside the immediate action looking in. It is written from the perspective of he, she or they (grammatical third person).
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