Modes of Discourse

When analyzing a text, it is helpful to distinguish the type of writing used overall or in various parts of the text. Modes of Discourse refers to the writing style engaged by the author to convey his or her purpose. The main modes of discourse are narration, description, process analysis, cause and effect, classification, compare & contrast, argumentation, persuasion, exemplification, and satire. (I am completing this list by memory -- no notes -- so there are a few others that also qualify as a mode of discourse.)

• Narration - a story, usually in first person point of view, connecting the audience to the text
• Description - five senses and imagery to create a picture of a scene, a person, an object
• Process Analysis - directions to either complete a task or be able to understand a task's complexity
• Cause & Effect - the why and the result and how these intersect to comprehend an event, an action
• Classification - dividing a complicated idea into categories
• Compare & Contrast - how two subjects are alike and different
• Argumentation - with a focus on logos, presenting a logical position on a topic with claim, evidence, warrant, counterclaim, and rebuttal
• Persuasion - with a focus on pathos, attempting to gain audience's favor for your side
• Exemplification - examples from multiple subjects that create an understanding for the audience
• Satire - ridiculing the flaws of human behavior with an intent to change society

Hint: During the first week of class, you will have your first chance to identify modes of discourse. And, the best writers use multiple modes in one passage to further their purposes. 

Welcome to AP Lang

AP Lang is a unique course in the English realm: it relies on in-depth study of shorter passages, writing with a collegiate voice and level of analysis, and varying writing styles to encompass rhetorical analysis (what techniques the author uses and why), argumentation (claim, evidence from a variety of subjects, warrants, counterclaims, rebuttals), and synthesis (sourcing evidence and citing it properly).

Over the course of the summer, I will be writing bonus blogs with background, hints, and tips for the course. To start, improving your vocabulary is helpful for your comprehension and your own writing. On Day 1 (or 2), we will start a vocabulary book that has definitely helped my own diction and, as I have been told, has helped with reading passages in class and on the ACT exam.

A way to improve comprehension is learning root words. This link will take you to a root word site: https://www.learnthat.org/pages/view/roots.html. While this is a lengthy list, it does give you the sense of how the small syllables of our daily language meet together to form our common vernacular.
For instance, bellicose or bimanous are two words from my root word studies.

I haven't decided on next week's topic as of yet. Ergo, I will head to the pool and figure it out!