Essay Analysis Test Back Up Info Flashcards
Personal/Reflective
Purpose of an Essay
- informal which includes:
** first person, colloquial language, subjective, - personal experiences,
- reflective of an aspect of the author,
- the thesis proves something about the author
Persuasive/Argumentative
Purpose of an Essay
Persuasion: emotional appeals
Argumentation: logical appeals
Narrative MOD Purpose
- Purpose: Tells a story or recounts an experience and has a moral or lesson to prove a point
** Answers “What happened” type of question? The thesis answers it
Narrative MOD Pattern
Pattern: chronological (beginning, middle, and end)
Narrative MOD Key Features
- Plot, climax, character, setting
- First-person (i, me, my) and informal tone (colloquial language, subjective)
- Transition words are “time signals” (ie. then, after that, soon)
Narrative MOD Thesis
The thesis is Implicit
Narrative MOD Literary Devices
Figurative Devices (ie. metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole)
Cause and Effect MOD Purpose
Purpose: Gives reasons why something happened OR Shows the results of some event or action
* Answers “Why…?” OR “What are the consequences/results…?”
Cause and Effect MOD Pattern
- Focus on Causes (Cause #1, #2, #3 = Effect)
- Focus on Effects (Cause = Effect #1, #2, #3)
- Causal Chain (Cause, Effect, Cause, Effect)
Cause and Effect MOD Key Features:
- Transitional words (If/then, Because, As a result, Thus, Therefore, Cause, Effect)
- Logical cause and effect relation between ideas
Cause and Effect MOD Thesis
The thesis is implicit or explicit
Cause and Effect MOD Literary Devices
Parallelism (climatic)
Opposite/Contrast
Chiasmus
Periodic sentence
Descriptive MOD Purpose
Purpose: Describes a person, place, event, feeling, or thing
* The thesis answers a “What is it like?” kind of question
* Tries to give the reader a clear impression of the person, place, thing, feeling, or situation it is describing.
Descriptive MOD Pattern
Pattern: spatial/directional (ex: inside to outside, upstairs to downstairs, left to right, etc…)
Descriptive MOD Key Features
- Appeals to the senses; considers how something looks, smells, tastes, feels, and sounds
- Uses dominant impression
- figurative language
- Uses adjectives and adverbs
Descriptive MOD Thesis
The thesis is implicit or explicit
Descriptive MOD Literary Device
Literary device - Imagery
Compare and Contrast MOD Purpose
Purpose: To show similarities or differences to prove the thesis
asks “What is similar and what is different”
Compare and Contrast MOD Pattern
Block Method
Point by Point
Compare and Contrast MOD Key Features
Transitional Words (Key Transitional Words: Like/Unlike, On the contrary, Similar/ Dissimilar, Although, However, On the other hand, But, In contrast)
Compare and Contrast MOD Thesis
The thesis is explicit
Compare and Contrast MOD Literary Devices
Literary devices are structural (parallelism, opposite/contrast, periodic sentence)
Example/Illustration MOD Purpose
Purpose: Uses examples to support the main point the author is making about their topic (the thesis)
Answers “What are examples? To prove point
Example/Illustration MOD Pattern
usually, a minimum of 50% of supporting evidence is examples
Example/Illustration MOD Key Features
- An illustration is an anecdote, analogy, or an example used to help explain or make something clear
- Examples can include statistics, secondary sources, literary devices
- Key Transitional Words: for example, for instance, for one thing, as an illustration, illustrated with, as an example, in this case
Example/Illustration MOD Thesis
The thesis is implicit
Example/Illustration MOD Literary Devices
Literary devices - analogy
How to find Thesis
Look for what sentence in the essay answers the question asked by the method of development
Hyperbole
A figure of speech that greatly exaggerates the truth for dramatic effect.
Metaphor
A figurative comparison without using like or as.
Extended Metaphor
A figurative comparison without using like or as that continues through multiple sentences or paragraphs.
Synecdoche
A figure of speech in which a term or a part of something is used to represent the whole or vice versa.
Metonymy
The use of the name of one thing for that of another.
Simile
A figurative comparison using the words “like” or “as”.
Personification
Figure of speech using human characteristics towards an inanimate object.
Parallelism
Sections of the sentence are the same grammatically or similar to the way it is constructed.
Climatic Parallelism
When sections of the sentence are the same grammatically or similar in the way it’s constructed but they also help the text build to a “climax” or main point.
Repetition
An instance of repeating or being repeated.
Anaphora
The repeated use of a phrase at the beginning of a sentence to reinforce the importance of a subject.
Periodic Sentence
the use of the sentence’s main clause at the end of the sentence.
Rhetorical Question
A question not expected to be answered.
Pun
a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words which sound alike but have different meanings.
Analogy
A comparison between something you have minimal understanding of to something you have lots of understanding, in order to understand something better.
Unusual Word Order
To add emphasis and variation in a sentence by having a verb before the subject.
Sentence Fragment
A sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence that is either missing a subject or a verb.
Chiasmus
A rhetorical device that states 2 ideas, then repeats it in reverse order. This device is purely cosmetic. However, when used effectively, the device can be powerful.
Opposite/Contrast
Words with reverse meaning
Antithesis
Opposing ideas in close proximity
Allusion
A reference to something from history, pop culture, literature, etc.
Litotes
An understatement where you claim something to be less than it actually is, while sometimes using a double negative to state a positive.
Verbal Irony
A figure of speech that says one thing but means another. The tone is important.
Consonance
Sounds (Consonants) used in close proximity to one another
Assonance
Repeating sounds (vowels) which are close to each other, often leaving a poetic impact.
ask a question to which the answer is implied:
rhetorical question
give emphasis:
sentence fragment
give rhythm:
assonance and consonance
play with words:
pun
present ideas in order of importance going from least to most:
climatic parallelism
contrast opposing ideas:
antithesis
make a statement more memorable:
rhetorical devices
save yourself a lot of words:
synecdoche
draw attention to a string of words:
anaphora
compare:
metaphor and simile
explain:
analogy
Informal
*1st Person Point of View and pronouns
*Biased/subjective
*Based on the experiences and knowledge of the writer
*Implicit thesis
*Colloquial style and use of figurative language
Formal
*3rd Person
*Unbiased/objective
*Based on research
*Explicit thesis
*Academic style and use of stylistic devices
