Know Your Texts
Why does Juan originally decide to work for the censorship office in “The Censors”?
He wants to intercept the letter he sent to Mariana because he fears the government could find something suspicious in it and punish her or him.
Specific information from a text used to support a claim, inference, or analysis.
What is evidence?
An author describes a government restriction in such an extreme way that it seems almost ridiculous. What technique is the author using, and what is its effect?
Exaggeration. The exaggeration helps the reader to determine what the author is communicating about the government or its actions.
A student is writing an academic essay and writes:
“The government makes a bunch of rules that are really bad for people.”
What is the main problem with the style?
The diction is too casual and imprecise for formal writing.
Consider the sentence:
The teacher explained why the rule was necessary.
What is the noun clause?
What is "why the rule was necessary"?
How do the handicaps affect George and other citizens in “Harrison Bergeron” beyond simply making them “equal”?
How do the handicaps affect George and other citizens in “Harrison Bergeron” beyond simply making them “equal”?
The speed at which events or information develop within a text.
What is pacing?
A writer repeats the same sentence structure several times:
We will defend our rights. We will protect our communities. We will preserve our freedom.
What rhetorical choice is being used, and what effect could it have?
Parallelism and repetition. They emphasize the ideas, create rhythm, and can make the speaker’s message sound more forceful or memorable.
What two characteristics could you change to make a casual sentence sound more formal?
Possible answers include using precise vocabulary, removing slang, avoiding unnecessary contractions, using complete sentences, and using objective rather than conversational language.
Consider this sentence:
I know where she went.
What grammatical job does “where she went” perform?
Direct object. It answers what they know.
How does Juan change as he continues working as a censor, and why is this change significant?
Juan changes from someone trying to outsmart the censorship system into a devoted censor who participates in it. His transformation shows how an oppressive system can cause individuals to participate in their own oppression.
A contrast between what is expected and what actually happens, or between appearance and reality.
What is irony?
Suppose a story begins slowly by describing a character's fear, but then quickly moves through several major changes in that character's behavior.
Which narrative technique should you analyze to understand how the author develops the character's transformation?
Pacing
What does it mean to use varied syntax, and why might a writer use it?
It means using different sentence structures and lengths. It can improve flow, prevent repetitive writing, and emphasize important ideas.
Consider these two sentences:
A. What the government decided surprised the citizens.
B. The citizens understood what the government decided.
Both contain noun clauses. What different jobs do the noun clauses perform?
In A, “What the government decided” is the subject. In B, “what the government decided” is the direct object.
JFK connects freedom with responsibility throughout his speech. What does he suggest people or nations must be willing to do in order to protect freedom?
They must be willing to accept responsibility, make sacrifices, cooperate with others, and actively defend freedom.
A method an author uses to tell a story and shape the reader’s experience, such as pacing, characterization, dialogue, description, or point of view.
What is a narrative technique?
An author describes people as “trapped,” “silenced,” and “powerless” rather than simply saying they are “restricted.”
What author choice should you analyze, and why do those particular words matter?
Diction. The words have stronger negative connotations and create a more emotional or critical tone toward the restrictions.
A paragraph discusses two benefits of freedom of speech. The writer wants to introduce another, similar benefit.
Would however, additionally, likewise, or in contrast be the best type of transition?
Additionally if only adding another benefit; likewise could work if emphasizing similarity.
What is the difference between these two statements?
Citizens will challenge the rule.
Citizens might challenge the rule if they learn the truth.
The first presents the action as something that will happen. The second uses conditional mood because the possible action depends on a condition being met.
What is one important difference between the way government control operates in “Harrison Bergeron” and “The Censors”?
In “Harrison Bergeron,” the government directly restricts citizens through physical and mental handicaps. In “The Censors,” fear and surveillance cause people like Juan to begin policing themselves.
The way a text's theme connects to issues, experiences, or concerns that exist in society beyond the text.
What is the social relevance of a theme?
A student makes a claim:
“The story develops the theme that people can lose freedom when they stop questioning authority.”
What would the student need to do to turn this into an effective literary analysis?
Provide relevant textual evidence and explain how that evidence develops or supports the theme, rather than simply summarizing what happens.
A paragraph contains good individual sentences, but the ideas seem disconnected and the reader has difficulty understanding how one idea leads to another.
What writing quality is missing, and what could the writer add or revise to improve it?
Cohesion. The writer could improve transitions, organization, repetition of key ideas, or connections between sentences so the relationships among ideas are clear.
Create a sentence using the conditional verb mood that expresses a possible consequence of someone gaining or losing freedom.
If ________________, they may/might ____________.
Must contain a condition and a result that would, could, or might occur.