RhetoricalAnalysis

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1.Introduction:RhetoricalSituation:
Theaspectsofwhotherhetoris,themedium,thegenreandthe
purposeofthetextwereallcoveredverywell.Youintroducedthetopicsthatyouwillbediscussing
horrorgenre,rhetoricalstrategies,pointofviewandplotstructureverywellandalsoprovidedthe
purposeofthetextinaverymeaningfulway.Theonlythingthatneedstobeaddressediswhothe
intendedaudienceis.Youintroducedthewordswe,buttrytosqueezeinwhothisweisandwhoyou
believetheintendedaudienceofthepieceis.

2.Thesis
:Thethesisspecifiesthatyourargumentwillbeabouttheconventionsofthehorrorgenre,the
rhetoricalstrategiesofthepiece,theplotstructureandthepointofviewsoyes,thethesisisspecificto
theseaspects.Thethesisstatementissophisticatedespeciallyinyourconnectiontotheaspectofhopeand
optimismbecomingathreat.Thisargumentmostlikelyhasntalreadybeenmade,makingitagoodtopic
todiscussanditmostdefinitelyoffersacompellinginsight.Thestructureofthethesisdoesforeshadow
theorganizationbyspecifyingthetopicsofdiscussionintheorderthatyouwillapproachthem.Theonly
thingthatIwouldrecommendrevisingwouldbethestructureofthethesis,althoughitisveryclear,itisa
littlewordyapproachingthesecondsentence,sothatwouldbetheonlythingtopossiblyrefigure.

3.ThesisFollowThrough
:
Thesis:SuchisthecaseinMaryGaitskill,TheOtherSideadisturbingnarrativeofanoutwardly
ordinaryman.Bysubvertinganumberofconventionsofthehorrorgenre,underthecriteriaespousedby
Louis
(Noel?)
Carrols
(Carroll)
essay,TheNatureofHorror,andbyemployingsuchspecificrhetorical
strategiesasuntraditionalnarrativepointofviewanduniqueplotstructure,theshortstoryforcesits
audiencetoperceivetheprotagonistasbothamanandamonster.Theseconflictingcharacterizations
developintoGaitskillsmetaphorforthetimesinwhichourhumanisticinclinationtoviewourworld
withhopeandoptimismbecomesathreattoourexistence.
1.InCarrols
(Carrolls)
TheNatureofHorrortoexaminethetermsoftheargumentwithrespectto
thedefinitionofmonsterinthehorrorgenre,Carrollidentifiesthat,inworksofhorror,thehumans
regardmonstersthattheyencounterasabnormaldisturbancesofthenaturalorder.
Mainpoint:
todevelopofftheideasofCarrollsstatementthatmonstersareviewedasabnormalandhow
thisplaysalargeroleinhowthemaincharacterisviewed.

2.Withregardtothegenreofhorror,GaitskillsubvertsoneconventionofthehorrorgenrewhichCarrol
(
Carrolls)
identifiesasthetheaffectiveresponsesofthecharactersinthestoriestothemonstersthey
meet.
Mainpoint:ThemainpointofthisparagraphistoidentifythegenresubversionGaitskillusesandthe
importancebehindit.Providingspecificexamplesofthissubversionwithadetailedexplanationhelped
strengthentheargument.

3.Additionally,GaitskillsubvertstheaudiencesexpectationsinwhatCarrol(
Carroll)
identifiesasthe
discoveryplotstructure,inwhichthemonsterarrives,unbeknownsttoanyonegraduallythe

protagonistdiscover[s]thatamonsterisresponsibleHowever,theauthoritiesdismissthevery
possibilityofthemonstertheenergiesofthenarrativearethendevotedtoprovingthemonsters
existence.
Mainpoint:Themainpointofthisparagraphistoagain,usespecificexamplesofgenresubversionto
buildonyourthesis.

Beingthatyourthesisintroducesthedifferentelementsthatyouwillbeusingtoproveyourclaimof
Gaiskillsmetaphor,youdidintroducethefirstelement,theuseofgenresubversionverywell.However,
atleastfromwhatIhavereadsofarIhaventseentheconnectionastohowyouwillusethesegenre
convictionstodevelopyourmainargumentGaitskillsmetaphorforthetimesinwhichourhumanistic
inclinationstoviewourworldwithhopeandoptimismbecomesathreattoourexistence.Iwould
recommendgoingthroughyourargumentsandidentifyhowthisapplies.

4.RhetoricalElementsforAnalysis:
InwhatIhavereadofyourpiecesofaryoumainlyfocusedonthe
elementofgenresubversionbyusingquotesfromGaitskillspieceandexplainingthem.Ibelievethat
youaredoingverywellwiththewayyouareanalyzingthepiecesthatyouchose,andtheyaredefinitely
notsimplepieces.However,Iwouldpossiblytrytoincorporateotherperspectivesthatcouldbetaken
fromthepassagesyouusedbyintroducingaqualifier.TheconnectionbetweenGaitskillspieceandthe
discoverplotofCarrollspiecewasverywellexecutedanddefinitelywasnotaneasytopictotackleso
greatjob!Mymaincommentwouldbetoworkonthewaythatyoudescribehowthereadertakesthese
interpretationsintoaccount,itseemstobelackingabitinyourpiece.

5.Paragraphs:Cohesion:
Iamusingthethirdparagraphasmyreviewandyouestablishcohesionvery
wellbyfollowingastepbystepanalysisofyourmaintopicofthisparagraphthereactiontothereader
bythemonster.Youbeganbyidentifyingyouroutsidesource,Carroll,andestablishhowherideasrelated
tothetext.Thenyougoontoidentifyinghowthisplaysanimportantroleinthetext.Therearetransition
wordssuchashowevermakingtheparagraphflowverywell.Therearenoawkwardmomentsinthe
pieceandIdontrecommendsplittingitintotwoparagraphs,oneparagraphisdoingitjustice.Youalso
madesuretoonlykeeponeideainthisparagraphsothatwasalsogood.Theonlythingthatwouldneed
revisionisbringinginyoursowhataspectthatyoudevelopedinyourthesis.Youcouldaddthisatthe
endoftheparagraphalongwithgoodtransitionintoyournextparagraphanditwouldreallystengthen
yourpiece.

6.Structure:WithinParagraphorOverall:
Paragraph:
Ibelievethatyouwerestillworkingonthisparagraph,butIamgoingtobefocusingon
whatcanbeimprovedfromyourfourthparagraph.YourintroductiontoCarrollsideaoftheDiscovery
Plotandhowthatisimpliedtothistextwasagreatconnectionandyoubegantobuildoffthisargument
wonderfully.However,youdohaveafairlylargequoteandasMcCluresaid,thatwhenyouhavealarge
quoteyouhaveanalyzethequoteitselfandIdontbelievethatIsawthatinthisparagraph,soeither
analyzethequoteandthenintroducehowitrelatestothetextorsimplysummarizethequote(dontforget
tociteCarroll)thencontinuewithyourrelationtothetext.LikeIsaidbefore,imnotsureifyou
completedthisparagraphinyourdraft,butitseemstoendonanincompletethought,soIwouldconsider
addingatransitionintoyournexttopicwhichIamassumingwillbeontherhetoricalstrategiesusedin

Gaitskillspiece.Otherthanthatgreatjobandwithalittleediting,theparagraphwillcometogethervery
well.

Essay:
Allofyourparagraphsinyouressaysofarhavefocusedonthesubversionofthehorrorgenreand
youhavebuildoffCarrollsideasinordertosubstantiateyourreasoning.Becauseofthis,your
paragraphsareinalogicalorderandbuildoffeachother,butIwouldtrytoincorporateagoodtransition
betweenparagraphstomaketheflowsmoother.Also,asImentionedbefore,themainthingmissingin
yourparagraphsistheconnectionbacktoyourideathatGaitskillspieceisametaphorforthetimesin
whichourhumanisticinclinationstoviewourworldwithhopeandoptimismbecomesathreattoour
existence.Evenifthisideacanbeimpliedthroughyourreasoning,Iwouldtrytomakeitblatantlyclear
inyourpieceinordertoavoidconfusionandstrengthenyourargument.