The Inheritance of Tools

Blog for Monday. Have a great weekend!!

1. What is Sander's most engaging example of powerful diction? Explain why you think so. (I'm looking at you, Kiana.)
2. Note 2 examples of Sander's use of parallel structures.
3. Consider the organization of the essay, noting particularly the section about the gerbils (paragraphs 17-25). How does that section contribute to the overall effect?
4. Discuss the significance of the gerbil section to the conclusion, which immediately follows.
5. Read paragraph 20. Explain the purpose of Sander's reference to the grand events included there.
6. Explain the rhetorical effect of the allusions that Sanders includes in paragraph 25.
7. Read carefully the final sentence of the essay. Discuss the effectiveness of concluding with this selection of details.

Go Hawks!

Once More to the Lake

For many of us, E.B. White is in our imaginations through Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little. He excelled at creating worlds for his readers, and in this piece we begin to see why.
We're going to get to know this essay pretty well over the next week along with Inheritance of Tools. Reading it and briefly discussing it in class today was a first salvo into that knowledge. The next step is to blog your answers to the following questions by Thursday:

1. Characterize White’s attitude in the opening paragraphs.
2. Note White’s use of such original and creative expressions as “had never had any fresh water up his nose.” Find and cite a few others.
3. Note White’s selection of details in paragraphs 1-6. Indicate a specific example and explain its effect.
4. Indicate three or four examples of figurative language and discuss their purpose. 
5. Identify at least one appeal to each of the five senses and explain the effect on each.
6. Discuss the rhetorical purpose served by paragraph 10.
7. Discuss the effect of the specificity of the details in paragraph 11. 
8. The concluding sentence of the penultimate paragraph begins with “And.” What is the effect of beginning that way?
9. Discuss the nature of the final image of the essay. What rhetorical purpose does it serve?
10. Read the essay a second time and count the “and”s in it. Discuss the effect of their use.

If you were absent or need another copy of the essay, here it is: Once More to the Lake.

Secondly, there is a wistful cadence to this piece that makes it rather endearing and a bit haunting. Exploring that a bit, 

Note/Mark your favorite passage. This could be one you find especially well written, or it could be one that interests you for some reason (feature, subject, etc.). You don't have to put this on the blog, but be prepared to talk about it.
Be prepared to explain your favorite passage to the class on Thursday and to be asked to explain more if your comments stay on the surface.