Lesson #4 Responding

Critically to Sources
Winston Churchill
 Writer’s Prompt:
 On the next slide, you will read a quote from Sir Winston
Churchill.
Critique this quote in terms of:

– Content – what is Churchill trying to say here?

– Analysis - what makes it stand out? Figurative
language, repetition, etc?
– Evaluation – what is Churchill’s purpose? Does
he achieve his purpose?
– Research – how could this quote be used for the
study of a bigger topic or idea?
 Writer’s Prompt:
You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one
word. It is victory. Victory at all costs - Victory in
spite of all terrors - Victory, however long and hard
the road may be, for without victory there is no
survival.

Let that be realized. No survival for the British

Empire, no survival for all that the British Empire
has stood for, no survival for the urge, the impulse
of the ages, that mankind shall move forward
toward his goal.

 Sir Winston Churchill

 Assignment
• Read Chapter 1 and 2 – due by August 28,
2009
• Prepare for Quiz over Chapter 1 and 2
Dave Barry
• Dave Barry is a humor columnist. For 25
years he was a syndicated columnist
whose work appeared in more than 500
newspapers in the United States and
abroad.
• In 1988 he won the Pulitzer Prize for
Commentary. Many people are still
trying to figure out how this happened.
• Dave has also written a total of 30
books, although virtually none of them
contain useful information.
Responding Critically to
Sources
 Ask
• Who is the author?
• Who is the audience?
• What is the writer’s purpose in
writing?
• What is the writer’s sources of
information?
 Who is the Author?
• Does he or she have a reputation for
honesty?
• Is the author writing within his or her
area of expertise?
• Is the author identified with a
particular set of beliefs?
 Who is the Audience?
• Is it a popular audience, a general
but educated audience, or a
specialized audience (professional,
cultural, political, etc.)
• Is the audience likely to be favorable
to the writer’s views?
What is the writer’s purpose in
writing?
• To persuade?
• To inform?
• To entertain?
• To inspire?
• To motivate?
• What does the title of the piece mean?
 What are the writer’s sources
of information?
• Where was the information obtained?
• Is it still valid?
• Are sources clearly identified?
• Pay close attention to dates.
 Class Exercise –
What do you think?
• An article on the Obama administration,
written by a former campaign worker for
John McCain
• A discussion in the St. Louis Post Dispatch,
of the Cardinals’ chances for victory next
season
• A 1948 article in Nutrition Today on the
best diets
• A letter from Jerry Lewis urging you to
contribute money to fight muscular
dystrophy
Analyzing Style
 Analyzing Style
• Style in literature is the literary
element that describes the ways that
the author uses words together to
establish mood, images, and
meaning in the text.
• Style describes how the author
describes events, objects, and ideas.
 The Elements of Style
• Word Choice
• Sentence Structure
• Metaphors and Similes
• Organization and Examples
• Repetition
• Hyperbole, Understatement, and Irony
• Question Marks, Italics, and Capital Letters
• Parallel structure
• Alliteration
• Denotative or Connotative words
 Word Choice
• Are the writer’s words:
– Abstract?
• “love” “freedom” “success” “hate” “courage”
– Concrete?
• “box” “wood” “steel” “building” “car”
– Intellectual?
• “strategery” “placidity” “salutary” “ant
disestablishment”
– Formal?
• “continent” “gentleman” “manor” “articulate”
– Informal?
• “land” “guy” “crib” “say”
 Sentence Structure
• Are they long or short?
• Are they simple (one independent clause) or
compound (two independent clauses)?
– Joe shot the bear.
– Joe shot the bear , yet failed to get the wolf.
• Are they complex?
– As nations grew wealthier, traditional freedom
wasn’t enough.
• Does the writer use fragments?
– Wanting to do this
 Metaphors
 Does the writer use metaphors?
 This winter is a bear.
Democracy is the dent in the high hat.
Candy is the cocaine of kids.
Money is the opiate of society.
Does the writer use similes?
She ran like a herd of turtles.
He laughed like a man on a respirator.
She fell as if she was made from a concrete
slab.
 Repetition
 Does the writer use the tricolon?
 …of the people, by the people, for the
people
…where we live, how we live, and why we
live
Does he effectively use repetitions?
I have a dream….I have a dream…I have a
dream…
This we must do…this we must do…this we
must do…
Hyperbole, Understatement and Irony
 Is the writer using satire to explain a serious
subject?
 The head of Chrysler, President Barack Obama, introduced a new
car today, the Barackacuda.
Does he exaggerate to make a point?
“It’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for
a rich man to get into heaven.”
Does he underplay the problem to make a point?
There were a few Jewish people killed during the Holocaust.
 Parallel Structure
• Similarity of structure in a pair or series of
related words, phrases, or clauses.
• Etymology: From the Greek, "beside one
another“
– Truth is not a diet but a condiment."
(Christopher Morley)
– "When you are right you cannot be too radical;
when you are wrong, you cannot be too
conservative."
(Martin Luther King, Jr.)
 Alliteration
• is the repeated occurrence of the same
consonant sound at the beginning of several
words in the same phrase.
• An example is the Mother Goose
tongue-twister, "Peter Piper picked a peck
of pickled peppers …". usually used as a
form of figurative language
• “The lying lamb lay lustfully on the lawn.”
 Denotative and Connotative
Word Choice
• Denotation is the explicit or direct
meaning or set of meanings of a word
or expression.
• Connotation is what a word suggests;
what we associate the word with.
– House versus “Home”
– Dog versus “Hound”
– Dad versus “old man”
– Wife versus “my old lady”
 Group Exercise
• Break into groups and think about the
positive, negative and neutral
connotations of the words listed.
• Follow the directions in the text on
Page 38 – 39 in Read, Reason, Write -
Collaborative Exercises: On
Connotation
• Answer Question #1, #2, and #3 as a
group.