Strategies and Activities
This six-week unit will be taught to my eleventh grade English 3 students at the beginning of the second semester. Many, but not all of them will take the SAT at some point during this semester. There has been a significant shift in the Collegeboard SAT, the exam that plays a critical factor in determining college admittance. Traditionally the SAT essay has been an argumentative or persuasive essay. However, now the SAT essay is a rhetorical analysis essay. This is a major shift for students, most of whom are unfamiliar with this type of analysis and essay response. This unit will help prepare them to write this type of essay.
Building Schema and Activating Prior Knowledge
By helping students activate their prior knowledge, they are more likely to make sense of the text they are reading. Consequently, they are more likely to remain engaged in the text, understand the relative importance of the information, and understand new information. Additionally, the accessing of background knowledge will help students build background knowledge and develop schema for understanding the text. A significant portion of Catfish and Mandala takes place during the Vietnam War. Some of our Vietnamese students are familiar with the history of Vietnam and the Vietnam War because the stories have been passed down through the experiences of their parents and grandparents. However, for many students this is unfamiliar or ancient history. Nevertheless, students can activate prior knowledge by focusing on universal themes that appear in Pham’s text. For many students, these themes are relatable. For example, otherness, identity, and cultural conflict. These themes can be activated through journals, quick writes, discussions, or debates.
The unfamiliarity of the historical events that Pham refers to in his memoir may present challenges for some students. One way of building content knowledge is through film. Showing portions of the PBS documentary The Fall of Saigon is an excellent way for students to understand the circumstances and conditions surrounding Pham’s family when they flee Vietnam. It is also a way to connect to the universality of the immigrant experience and discuss the circumstances that exist that cause people to leave where they come from and start a new life in a new world. The documentary Daughter from Danang gives students an introduction into the clash of American and Vietnamese values. The film tells the story of an orphan child that is airlifted out of Vietnam in 1968 and raised in a small town in Tennessee. Similar to Pham, she returns to Vietnam in search of her identity, but is confronted with a family in Vietnam that expects more than she is willing to give. The fictional film Journey from the Fall traces the struggles of one Vietnamese family’s survival in the aftermath of the fall of Saigon. Many of the events in the film parallel Pham’s family’s experience and provide excellent background for students.
Discussion and Debate
Discussion and debate are effective ways of stimulating critical thinking, developing a greater understanding of the text, and clarifying information. Discussion topics would focus on theses of Pham’s memoir, and students would be encouraged to support their ideas with events from the text, as well as their personal experiences. Discussion can be conducted in a variety of formats. Two ways are classroom discussion or Socratic seminars. Sometimes students are reluctant to speak in front of an entire class, so small group discussions are an effective way to increase participation. After discussions, students will write a written response. These responses can be shared out with the entire class.
Another way of discussing the issues of otherness, identity, and cultural conflict is through four corners debate. A four corners debate requires students to show their position on a specific statement (strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree) by standing in a particular corner of the room. This activity elicits the participation of all students by requiring everyone to take a position. (See Appendix A.)
Rhetorical Analysis and the Rhetorical Triangle
Aristotle believed that from the world around them, speakers can observe how communication happens and use that understanding to develop sound and convincing arguments. In order to do that, speakers needed to look at three elements, graphically represented by what we call the rhetorical triangle. The three elements that formed the points of Aristotle’s original Rhetorical Triangle are: writer or speaker, audience, and subject. Context and purpose are additional elements added to the triangle.
According to this approach, these factors determine the persuasiveness of your argument. Your writing – and any other form of communication – needs to take all of these into consideration. Applying the rhetorical triangle to Pham’s text, students will gain a deeper understanding of how Pham using language to achieve his purpose. (See appendix B.)
The Speaker or Writer: Determining who the writer is helps the reader understand the writer’s point of view, credibility, and biases. What is the speaker’s background, profession, economic status, age, gender, etc.?
The Audience: When you communicate, in writing or verbally, you need to understand your audience. To whom is the writer speaking? How do you know? Does the audience already have a bias? Does the speaker already have credibility with the audience? The subject matter, tone, and word choice are all clues as to whom the writer is speaking.
The Context: When you read and write a text, think about the context in which the reading and writing takes place. When was it written? Is it historical or contemporary? Is it in response to an important or critical event?
The Subject: What is the speaker or writer speaking or writing about?
The Purpose: Why? What prompted the writer to write this article? What is the rhetor (speaker or writer) trying to accomplish? Does the writer propose something, convey specific information, convince you of something, or try to sell a product or idea? (See Appendix C.)
Rhetorical Analysis and Writing
Rhetorical Analysis and Writing Activity 1
Students may be familiar with some of the literary terms that they need to know to write an effective literary analysis, and some of the terms may be entirely new to them. And though they may be able to identify or define some of the terms they may be familiar with, they have little experience completing the key aspect of rhetorical analysis: analyzing why a writer chooses a particular literary technique and explaining how that effect helps him or her achieve that purpose. By isolating key terms, using short passages and having students answer guided questions in groups, students are able to become acquainted with these terms and how to analyze them before moving on to analyzing longer passages. (See Appendix D.)
Rhetorical Analysis and Writing Activity 2
Take the first two paragraphs of Chapter 15 of Catfish and Mandala and have students practice rhetorical analysis by having them analyze Pham’s attitude towards Saigon. This passage is a critical point in the book. Pham has returned to Saigon, his childhood home, in search of his identity. However, it is at this point that Pham realizes that he dislikes Saigon and its people and that he is nothing like them.
Give students a copy of the Saigon Passage (See Appendix E): Read carefully the passage from Andrew Pham’s memoir. Then analyze how Pham uses language to represent his attitude towards Saigon. Students might consider such elements as imagery, diction, syntax, figurative language and tone. Divide students into groups with three students in each group. Have each group read the passage and discuss Pham’s attitude towards Saigon. Assign each group a rhetorical strategy (imagery, diction, syntax, or figurative language) and have students annotate the passage focusing on their groups rhetorical strategy. Have students present their annotations and group work on the smartboard or on an overhead. Students will explain how the particular rhetorical strategies that they have identified convey Pham’s attitude towards Saigon. Other students will make the same annotations on their paper. Model for students the format for a rhetorical analysis essay using the Saigon passage that they just worked on.
Rhetorical Analysis and Writing Activity 3
After working with the Saigon Passage, students will write a summative assessment rhetorical analysis that mimics the strategies they employed as a class analyzing the Saigon Passage. (See Appendix F.)
Comments: