Definition:. Rhetorical modes are based on the ways human brains process
information. Choosing the one mode that matches your topic helps you
organize your writing and helps the reader process the information you want to
discuss. Using key words that emphasize the chosen mode helps reinforce
your essay's coherence.
http://www.la.unm.edu/~straight/E101-4-6/comp_6.htm
http://www.la.unm.edu/~straight/E101-4-6/comp_6.htm
Rhetorical modes of discourse:
·
A
Narrative Essay tells a
story. It has character, setting, and action. The characters, the setting, and
the problem of the narrative are usually introduced in the beginning. The
problem reaches its high point in the middle. The ending resolves the problem.
The
purpose of this type of writing is to recount a personal or fictional experience
or to tell a story based on a real or imagined event. In well-written
narration, a writer uses insight, creativity, drama, suspense, humor, or
fantasy to create a central theme or impression. The details all work together
to develop an identifiable story line that is easy to follow and paraphrase.
Example
of a Narrative Prompt
In
the prompt below, the topic is an unforgettable experience. The second
component of the prompt suggests that the student think about various
experiences and then write about one that was unforgettable.
Writing
Situation:
Everyone has done something that he or she will remember.
Everyone has done something that he or she will remember.
Directions
for Writing:
Before you begin writing, think about something you have done that you will always remember.
Before you begin writing, think about something you have done that you will always remember.
Now
tell the story about a time you did something that you will always remember.
The
narrative approach, more than any other, offers writers a chance to think and
write about themselves. We all have experiences lodged in our memories which
are worthy of sharing with readers. Yet sometimes they are so fused with other
memories that a lot of the time spent in writing narrative is in the prewriting
stage.
In
this stage, writers first need to select an incident worthy of writing about
and, second, to find relevance in that incident. To do this, writers might ask
themselves what about the incident provided new insights or awareness. Finally,
writers must dredge up details which will make the incident real for readers.
Principles of Writing Narrative Essays
Once
an incident is chosen, the writer should keep three principles in mind.
§
Remember to involve readers in the
story. It is much more interesting to actually recreate an incident for readers
than to simply tell about it.
§
Find a generalization which the
story supports. This is the only way the writer's personal experience will take
on meaning for readers. This generalization does not have to encompass humanity
as a whole; it can concern the writer, men, women, or children of various ages
and backgrounds.
§
Remember that although the main
component of a narrative is the story, details must be carefully selected to
support, explain, and enhance the story.
Conventions of Narrative Essays
In
writing your narrative essay, keep the following conventions in mind.
§
Narratives are generally written in
the first person, that is, using "I." However, third person
("he," "she," or "it") can also be used.
§
Narratives rely on concrete, sensory
details to convey their point. These details should create a unified, forceful
effect, a dominant impression. More information on sensory details is available.
§
Narratives, as stories, should
include these story conventions: a plot, including setting and characters; a
climax; and an ending.
·
A
Descriptive Essay is used
to create a vivid image of a person, place, or thing. It draws on all of the
senses, not merely the visual. Its purpose is to enable the reader to share the
writer's sensory experience of the subject.
Descriptive
writing portrays people, places, things, moments and theories with enough vivid
detail to help the reader create a mental picture of what is being written
about.
Things to Consider as You Write Your Descriptive Essay
§
Think of an instance that you want
to describe.
§
Why is this particular instance
important?
§
What were you doing?
§
What other things were happening
around you? Is there anything specific that stands out in your mind?
§
Where were objects located in
relation to where you were?
§
How did the surroundings remind you
of other places you have been?
§
What sights, smells, sounds, and
tastes were in the air?
§
Did the sights, smells, sounds, and
tastes remind you of anything?
§
What were you feeling at that time?
§
Has there been an instance in which
you have felt this way before?
§
What do you want the reader to feel
after reading the paper?
§
What types of words and images can
convey this feeling?
§
Can you think of another situation
that was similar to the one you are writing about? How can it help explain what
you are writing about?
§
Is there enough detail in your essay
to create a mental image for the reader?
Conventions of Descriptive Essays Illustrated by Sample
Paragraphs
§
Appealing-to-the-Senses
Description: Let the reader see, smell, hear, taste, and feel what you write in
your essay.
The thick, burnt scent of roasted coffee tickled the tip of my nose just seconds before the old, faithful alarm blared a distorted top-forty through its tiny top speaker. Wiping away the grit of last night's sleep, the starch white sunlight blinded me momentarily as I slung my arm like an elephant trunk along the top of the alarm, searching for the snooze button. While stretching hands and feet to the four posts of my bed, my eyes opened after several watery blinks. I crawled out of the comforter, edging awkwardly like a butterfly from a cocoon, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. The dusty pebbles on the chilled, wood floor sent ripples spiraling from my ankles to the nape of my neck when my feet hit the floor. Grabbing the apricot, terri-cloth robe, recently bathed in fabric softener and October wind, I knotted it tightly at my waist like a prestigious coat of armor and headed downstairs to battle the morning.
The thick, burnt scent of roasted coffee tickled the tip of my nose just seconds before the old, faithful alarm blared a distorted top-forty through its tiny top speaker. Wiping away the grit of last night's sleep, the starch white sunlight blinded me momentarily as I slung my arm like an elephant trunk along the top of the alarm, searching for the snooze button. While stretching hands and feet to the four posts of my bed, my eyes opened after several watery blinks. I crawled out of the comforter, edging awkwardly like a butterfly from a cocoon, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. The dusty pebbles on the chilled, wood floor sent ripples spiraling from my ankles to the nape of my neck when my feet hit the floor. Grabbing the apricot, terri-cloth robe, recently bathed in fabric softener and October wind, I knotted it tightly at my waist like a prestigious coat of armor and headed downstairs to battle the morning.
§
Spatial-Order
Description: Show the reader where things are located from your perspective.
Billy Ray's Pawn Shop and Lawn Mower Repair looked like a burial ground for country auction rejects. The blazing, red, diesel fuel tanks beamed in front of the station, looking like cheap lipstick against the pallid, wrinkled texture of the parking lot sand. The yard, not much larger than the end zone at General G. Patton High School on the north end of town, was framed with a rusted metallic hedge of lawn mowers, banana seat bicycles, and corroded oil drums. It wasn't a calico frame of rusted parts, but rather an orchestra of unwanted machinery that Billy Ray had arranged into sections. The yellow-tanked mowers rested silently at the right of the diesel fuel. Once red, now faded orange, mowers stood at attention to the left. The oil barrels, jaded and pierced with holes, bellared like chimes when the wind was right. The bikes rested sporadically throughout the lot. In the middle of it all was the office, a faded, steel roof supported by cheap two-by-fours and zebra paneling. Billy Ray was at home, usually, five blocks east of town on Kennel Road.
.
Billy Ray's Pawn Shop and Lawn Mower Repair looked like a burial ground for country auction rejects. The blazing, red, diesel fuel tanks beamed in front of the station, looking like cheap lipstick against the pallid, wrinkled texture of the parking lot sand. The yard, not much larger than the end zone at General G. Patton High School on the north end of town, was framed with a rusted metallic hedge of lawn mowers, banana seat bicycles, and corroded oil drums. It wasn't a calico frame of rusted parts, but rather an orchestra of unwanted machinery that Billy Ray had arranged into sections. The yellow-tanked mowers rested silently at the right of the diesel fuel. Once red, now faded orange, mowers stood at attention to the left. The oil barrels, jaded and pierced with holes, bellared like chimes when the wind was right. The bikes rested sporadically throughout the lot. In the middle of it all was the office, a faded, steel roof supported by cheap two-by-fours and zebra paneling. Billy Ray was at home, usually, five blocks east of town on Kennel Road.
.
·
An
Expository Essay can
take a variety of forms. It may tell how to make or do something, report on an
experience, or explore an idea. Expository writing conveys information to the
reader in such a way as to bring about understanding, whether it be of a
process or procedure, or of the writer's ideas about a concept.
.
.
The
purpose of this type of writing is to inform, clarify, explain, define, or
instruct by giving information, explaining why or how, clarifying a process, or
defining a concept. Well-written exposition has a clear, central presentation
of ideas, examples or definitions that enhance the focus developed through a
carefully crafted reader's understanding. These facts, examples, and
definitions are objective and not dependent on emotion, although the writing
may be lively, engaging, and reflective of the writer's underlying commitment
to the topic.
Example
of an Expository Prompt
Below
is an example of an expository prompt. The first component orients the student
to the topic: jobs or chores. The second component suggests that the student
think about various jobs or chores and then explain why a particular job or
chore is done.
Writing Situation:
Everyone has jobs or chores.
Directions
for Writing:
Before you begin writing, think about one of your jobs or chores.
Before you begin writing, think about one of your jobs or chores.
Now explain why you do your job or chore.
What to consider when writing an expository essay:
§
What process are you trying to explain?
Why is it important?
§
Who or what does the process affect?
§
Are there different ways of doing
the process? If so, what are they?
§
Who are the readers? What knowledge
do they need to understand this process?
§
What skills/equipment are needed for
this?
§
How long does the process take? Is
the outcome always the same?
§
How many steps are there in the
process?
§
Why is each step important?
§
What difficulties are involved in
each step? How can they be overcome?
§
Do any cautions need to be given?
§
Does the process have definitions
that need to be clarified?
§
Are there other processes that are
similar and could help illustrate the process that you are writing about?
§
If needed, tell what should not be
done or why something should be done.
§
Expository papers are often written
in the second person (you), but some teachers prefer that you avoid this. Check
with your teacher.
Your
responses to these questions and statements should enable you to write an
effective expository essay.
Suggested transition words to lead readers through your
essay
Expository
essays are generally organized according to time: that is, they begin with the
first step in the process and proceed in time until the last step in the
process. It's natural, then, that transition words indicate that one step has
been completed and a new one will begin. Some common transitional words used in
these essays are listed below.
|
One
time |
Transition
|
Another
time |
|
|
|
TIME
|
|
|
|
|
After
a few hours,
|
Immediately
following,
|
|
|
|
Afterwards,
|
Initially,
|
|
|
|
At
last
|
In
the end,
|
|
|
|
At
the same time,
|
In
the future,
|
|
|
|
Before
|
In
the meantime,
|
|
|
|
Before
this,
|
In
the meanwhile,
|
|
|
|
Currently,
|
Last,
Last but not least, Lastly,
|
|
|
|
During
|
Later,
|
|
|
|
Eventually,
|
Meanwhile,
|
|
|
|
Finally,
|
Next,
Soon after,
|
|
|
|
First,
Second, Third, etc.
|
Previously,
|
|
|
|
First
of all,
|
Simultaneously,
|
|
|
|
Formerly
|
Subsequently,
|
|
|
|
Immediately
before,
|
Then,
|
|
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