Rhetorical Analysis 1981 GEORGE BERNARD SHAW PASSAGE SHE

Rhetorical Analysis 1981 GEORGE BERNARD SHAW PASSAGE: SHE WOULD HAVE ENJOYED IT

What do you have to do in the Rhetorical Analysis Question? �Rhetorical Analysis requires that you analyze how an author uses rhetorical strategies (different forms of language and its conventions ) to develop an argument. � 1981 -George Bernard Shaw’s passage asks students to write an essay in which they describe the attitude of the writer towards his mother and her cremation.

Describe the attitude of the writer toward his mother and her cremation. �You are being asked to describe his attitude towards his mother and her cremation. �First, you have to address his attitude towards his mother. �Then you need to address his attitude towards her cremation.

What is attitude? Other words to name it are: � Attitude (noun)-a settled way of thinking or feeling about someone or something, typically one that is reflected in a person's behavior. � “She took a tough attitude towards other people's indulgences" Synonyms: � view � perspective � position � orientation � tone viewpoint stance inclination approach outlook standpoint temper reaction

Attitude (Differences) Positive Negative Neutral optimistic accusatory informative hopeful critical objective relieved irreverent What do you need besides attitude to address this prompt? • Identify the speaker • Why is he writing? • To whom is he writing? • What is the intent of the piece? • Identify his outlook towards his mother-find five synonyms which demonstrate specifically how he feels about her or for her • Identify his point of view on cremation (death)-find five synonyms for it. • Paraphrase prompt and provide why (to what end do you believe he does this) a because statement

Writing the Intro. �Use a hook, or some form of figurative language �Provide a bridge to topic-and introduce speaker, text, and why did they write the piece. �Paraphrase the question-address the two attitudes �Explain in a thesis how he develops these attitudes through rhetorical devices and to what end.

Sample Introduction �Hook: Death is inevitable. We cannot escape its grasp, eventually it will come for us. �Bridge: Yet, despite the obvious, humans fear it and try to suppress its influence on our lives. �Who? What did he write? Who is the audience and why? George Bernard Shaw faced with the inevitable, his mother’s death and cremation, writes a letter to his friends “who understand about one’s mother. ” �Address his attitude towards his mother: His letter reveals his sense of relieve for his mother. �Address his attitude towards cremation: It also reveals his irreverence for death and his acceptance of cremation as a normal process.

Thesis: �Address question and rhetorical strategies: Through the use of diction, imagery and figurative language, Shaw consents to death but also questions our macabre perceptions of it and its hold over us.

Tally �Do you have a hook? (1 point) �Do you have a bridge? (1 point) �Do you provide the author’s name? (1 point) �The name of the text or work (1 point) �To whom is he/she writing? (1 point) �Do you address author’s intent? (1 point) �Is the question paraphrased? (1 point) �Do you have an attitude word for his mother? (1 point) �Do you have an attitude for cremation (death)? (1 point) �Do you have a thesis that addresses the rhetorical strategies? (3 points)

Tally and Sample � Do you have a hook? (1 point) � Do you have a bridge? (1 � � � � point) Do you provide the author’s name? (1 point) The name of the text or work (1 point) To whom is he/she writing? (1 point) Do you address author’s intent? (1 point) Is the question paraphrased? (1 point) Do you have an attitude word for his mother? (1 point) Do you have an attitude for cremation (death)? (1 point) Do you have a thesis that addresses the rhetorical strategies? (3 points) Hook: Death is inevitable. We cannot escape its grasp, eventually it will come for us. Bridge: Yet, despite the obvious, humans fear it and try to suppress its influence on our lives. Who? What did he write? Who is the audience and why? George Bernard Shaw faced with the inevitable, his mother’s death and cremation, writes a letter to his friends “who understand about one’s mother. ” Address his attitude towards his mother: His letter reveals his sense of relieve for his mother. Address his attitude towards cremation: It also reveals his irreverence for death and his acceptance of cremation as a normal process. Address question and rhetorical strategies: Through the use of diction, imagery and figurative language, Shaw consents to death but also questions our macabre perceptions of it and its hold over us.

Body paragraph � How does he feel about his mother? � Relieved, Reassured, Comforted, Allayed, Consoled � Relief is not a connotation of death. � He feels alleviated for his mother; he is reassured that death has reconstituted his mother from a “wasted little figure” to a spirit of sorts. However, George Bernard Shaw soon displaces whatever negative associations we have of this scene through the use of vivid, colorful imagery which transforms his mother from a corpse to a resurrected spirit. We presume death is always unwanted, unwelcomed, but this is not the case with George Bernard Shaw. His mother at the beginning of the letter embodies death. She is in a casket waiting for cremation. His mother, a wasted figure, is once more the “wonderful” individual as “feet burst into ribbons of garnet coloured lovely flame. ” She is eager and the use of “pentecostal tongues” definitively alludes to a resurrection. While some may are apprehensive to hear Shaw describe his mother in this manner, his audience-close friends who understood his mother, his loss, can understand his resilient and defiant attitude towards death and. . .

2 nd body paragraph-attitude towards cremation �Shaw changes our association with the process of cremation by demystifying it through the use of unassuming diction, reassuring imagery, and the mocking of death’s victory. Shaw describes cremation as a “process. ” He equates this practice with cooking. The “two cooks” use tongs to pick out bone and coffin scraps. He utilizes the process of cooking and its tools to familiarize its audience with cremation.