This week we focused on the rhetorical elements of the novel All Quiet on the Western Front. You had an opportunity to divide into groups, focus on one, sometimes two elements, and then present your findings. At that time, I offered additional feedback to your comments to illustrate how an author uses rhetoric to convey the important themes of the work.
Post 1: Tell me why you think I had you do this exercise. What was the purpose. Did you have any revelations about, well, anything? How will your understandings change the way you approach literature?
Post 2: Please respond to another classmate's post.
As always, posts must evidence authenticity, reflection and original thought. Please spend some time with this.(20 points)
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Lauren Andreu
ReplyDeleteI think the purpose of this exercise was to show the class the work and effort an author has to put into their work. It also showed me the purpose of rhetoric in a novel and helped me identify rhetoric. The purpose of rhetoric in a novel is to allow the reader to see the novel from a certain perspective and allow the reader to feel a certain way. For example when Remarque started the novel off with the new Paul, but in chapter two the reader learned about the old Paul and how he has changed, there was a purpose to how Remarque set his writing up. Before this exercise I thought nothing of it, I did not see that plot was an element of literature in itself. By doing this exercise I was able to increase my enjoyment and appreciation of literature. I can now read a novel and understand the purpose of point of view, plot, setting and I can now better analyze a character. This exercise was very helpful to me and I believe it will help me in writing my essay since it helped me write my say, mean, matters.
This exercise helped me identify rhetoric in the chapters that we had to read. This exercise helped me with my say, mean, matters. But I still have some trouble doing the matter because I still get it mixed up with the mean. Hopefuly this exercise will also help me complete my essays easier. I understand the literary elements more now because of this exercise and it is easier to analyze a character and find the plot. Now when I read I can pick up on these elements and get the book better than I did when I would read just to read.
ReplyDeleteI think the purpose of this exercise was to show us in detail the many parts involved in rhetoric. You split us up so that each area could be seen in an equal light. I never really understood how rhetoric all came together in a story until now, this exercise helped me see rhetoric properly. I feel that this exercise helped me see the deeper meaning to literature as a message not a story.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jack because I used to not know what rhetoric was before we had this in class. I agree with Lauren also because it helped me with my say, mean, matters also.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Brennan's post. This exercise really did help us with say me matters. It definitely shed light on the deeper thoughts and messages in our quotes. I think I have written better S.M.M.s because of it.
ReplyDeleteI beleive we had to do this activity to help us go about reading a novel to a more in depth point. This particular activity points out the important events and hints that the author provides for the reader. Every novel contains these so therefore the group work in class was beneficial for every time we open a book or go to a movie like someone mentioned in class today. The purpose was to open our eyes to the work that goes into a novel and the key points that cannot be ignored. I haven't had any revelations yet since I've been absent, but the many different events that the other students pointed out had more significance to the novel than I realized. I'm open to hearing more. My new understanding is mainly that I'll have to pay more attention to the minor scenes in a novel because I seem to overlook them a bit and one of the most important things I realized is that when I read I'm going to give my full attention to the significance of the characters. I made the mistake of only looking at the story itself and at Paul.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Brennan that the activity will help with writing my essays and that Rhetoric became easier to understand and spot. I think that discussing the book the way we are is a perfect way to give people new ideas for their upcomming essay and it changes peoples opinions on the novel. Scenes I never would have looked at were brought to light in class which I might use in my essay. Over all the activity has made my S/M/Ms better.
ReplyDeleteI think you had us carry out the assignment in this way so that we were able to stay focused on a single element at a time. This made it easier for us to dig deeper into the meanings of the text without the distractions of other focus points. By putting all of our attention on just a few elements at a time, it also gave us more time to think about why those elements were used the way they were.
ReplyDeleteDuring this exercise, it amazed me how much time and effort an author spends on details that may seem small and unimportant but are actually deep and meaningful messages to the reader. It also helped me notice how the rhetoric was displayed in sundry aspects of the story, such as setting and point of view.
Now when I read in the future, I will ask myself why the author might have presented something in a certain way and how it further supports the message of the story. I will also try to recognize how I can incorporate the same techniques the author uses to display rhetoric in my essays to make my arguments even stronger.
I am in total agreement with everything that Lauren A posted. I can definitely relate to what she said about thinking nothing of simple details of the story before this exercise, but now I have a better understanding of why those details might have been included in the novel. Like Lauren, this activity has transformed how I read stories, as well as watch movies and listen to music. It also helped me fill out my Say Mean Matter chart too.
ReplyDeleteLauren V:
ReplyDeleteI think this assignment was to help us gain a better sense of knowledge and understanding of the story by looking at the details and then putting them all together. When we discussed the metaphors the author uses in comparing small details of the story to the big picture and general ideas of war, it helped me to understand the purpose of why the story was written in this specific way. By splitting up into groups, I saw how each of the elements includes rhetoric in them and by breaking each element down, it helped me to clarify points and understand the story in a deeper meaning. This changes the way I approach literature because now I will be able to pay more attention to the history behind the story as well as the details of the story.
Lauren V:
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lauren A. when she says that she will be able to analyze characters better. I felt that this exercise helped us to see key ideas and motifs in the story. I feel that I am able to dig deeper with my matter in S/M/M because of this exercise and hope that we can continue collaborating as groups.
I think the purpose of this exercise was to help us better understand the novel and help us notice the rhetoric as use. When we shared information about characters, plot, and setting, it helped me understand more about certain aspects of the story. I was able to pick up more information that I may have missed in the presentations. The exercise was also a reflection on World War I as the author describes the gore and the dehumanizing effect the war can have on a soldier. New technology came about, such as poison gas which raised the death even more. My understanding now will help me look at literature in a different way as I will look out for rhetoric that brings up important themes or motifs.
ReplyDeleteDoing this exercise has helped me to write better S/M/M and see the importance of all the parts. I was also able to spot out the important parts of the story so that I can bring up the important parts of what is being analyzed. It has also helped me to put what I try to say in a more direct, short way. Instead of trying to make a longer explanation, I am simply writing down what matters.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Lauren A is saying. We have looked at mostly what the author is trying to tell the reader. Specifically in All Quiet on the Western Front, the author is trying to tell the world what war can do to a person. Focusing on all the elements and rhetoric in the novel helps see what is the between the lines, and deeper than the plot of a war novel.
ReplyDeleteI think the purpose of this exercise was to help us understand the big ideas of this book, instead of the obvious story and information. This was to help us understand the literary elements into a deeper level and help us gain more knowledge of rhetoric. It helped me with my say, mean, matters even though I still have some trouble with the difference between means and matters. This exercise helped me to identify the elements of literature and understand how the author incorporated them into the book. This has taught me that reading is not just reading and understanding the story, but the different aspects the author includes in the story and the matter within a book.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Robert and Lauren V. This exercise helped us to understand the purpose of why the story was written in a specific way. I learned to understand the literary elements better. For example, motifs like the "dehumanizing effect the war can have on a soldier" Robert mentioned.
ReplyDeleteThis exercise expanded my view on English literature. I have never actually focused on elements of rhetoric before and I was unsure of what they were. The first exercise that we did was difficult and confusing. I did not know what rhetoric support point of view, setting, or characterization. However, the confusion forced me to focus on the material and obtain some kind of answer. The discussions that we had after each presentation helped me a lot on say/mean/matter. It was easier to write the big idea for the quotes that I chose. I was surprised how one chapter can have so much meaning to the book. If I did not have this exercise I would have probably never have been able to figure out that there are many meanings put into each different element. This exercise has made literature interesting. I think now I would be able to read with more consideration for each element of rhetoric. I think the purpose of this exercise was to make us think more about the story. Not just read it but also go into more depth and detail that would help us understand the story better.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lauren V. as I also believe that splitting into groups helps us gain more knowledge of the book and sequencing all of the important plot details together. Also, I agree that it helped me understand rhetoric more and how to spot it as well as finding deeper meaning with chosen quotes from the book.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Brittney. I was able to learn a lot about literary elements and their importance in literature. This exercise allowed me to appreciate the art of literature that the author put into his story.
ReplyDeleteI think we did this exercise so that we would not be overwhelmed while trying to analyze the themes of the whole book. By breaking the story down by each chapter, we are able to see the figurative language, symbols, and big ideas the author wants to show us in that chapter. I feel that I had a breakthrough with this exercise because it showed me how to find the themes of the book by taking each chapter one at a time, instead of trying to rush through the book and be bewildered by all of the rhetorical language. This is going to change the way I read literature because I will take notes about the motifs and symbols of each chapter, and at the end, be able to recognize the most important elements in the book. I think that if I approach each book in this way, I will have a thorough understanding of it, which will help me complete S/M/M's and each essay with ease and less stress.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lauren S because doing this exercise helped us examine the small details that the author used to incorporate main ideas and his opinions. For example, when I read through chapter 4 the first time, I did not take much notice of the incident with the horses. In class though, I realized how the author cleverly used symbolism in this chapter to show how the horses and the soldiers are both innocent, however they are caught up in the middle of someone else's war. I am glad that we went over this in class because it gave me a better understanding of the theme in this book.
ReplyDeletethe exercise cleared up many elements of the literature for me. i used to not be clear on the meanings of rhetoric and motif and other literary elements, but the examples provided in our presentations cleared everything up for me. i learned how to really get everything i could out of the text and really analyze at a new level. the exercise really helped me get the big ideas and also see past the obvious parts of the story. i can now understand the almost hidden parts of the story. after this exercise, it is like seeing the book from a whole different perspective.
ReplyDeletei agree with catherine. i felt the same way about how the exercise helped clarify rhetoric for me. i also overlooked certain elements when reading before. i also think the discussion helped with say/mean/matter because we talked about the deeper meaning of the story.
ReplyDeleteThe reason why we did this exercise was to gain a better understanding of the book. Talking about the book in a small group makes it easier to understand the true messages and themes that are hidden in the text. Another reason why we did this exercise was to show us that it is not just about reading the book, it's also important to analyze it and gain a complete understanding of the author's message. I learned that the author has a hard job writing the novel. For example in All Quit on the Western Front uses the point of views of 1st and 3rd person. In different situations first person is better then 3rd and then sometimes 3rd is better than 1st. Also setting can relate messages that without this exercise I would have never got just by reading it alone. Next time I am going to look not just at the book like it's a good read, I am going to look at it in different ways and fully look at it in depth.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jason. This exercise did help me with my say/mean/matter. It made doing the matter easier. It also helped me find a way to put my thoughts into shorter more to the point thoughts in my say/mean/matter.
ReplyDeleteI think the point of the exercise is to show the power, not only of a fabulous story, but all the elements that contribute to it. Prior to this, I had a reasonable amount of knowledge for rhetoric. Now, I can see that rhetoric is expressed in various ways, some that I have never noticed before. Not only were the words powerful but the way they were arranged, how they were arranged, and how they all go together. I realize know that even those are rhetoric; how we get to know characters is part of rhetoric and the setting where the story takes place is also. Now I discover that powerful novels, like All Quiet on the Western Front, are those that have strong use of rhetoric all around.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Hayden, especially when she says now I need to take notes when reading. I would never have noticed the motifs that occur, unless they were the obvious ones. When I notice all the rhetoric, my understanding is more clarified. I am also glad that we did not have to rush through the book when analyzing it. I forgot to mention before that the exercise is also for us to practice how to explain our thoughts and opinions, analyze the literature, and get feedback from our peers.
ReplyDeleteI think the purpose of this excersize was to help us better understand each element individually. I was unable to understand all the elements at once but by examining them closer than usual. The deeper we dug into each indivual element the better i was able to understand what to look for when reading and writing a story. Now when i approach a story i will look for the little things we looked into in each section.
ReplyDeletei agree with catherine, i used to overlook everything and just look into the big picture. Now i know better when looking at each element.
ReplyDeleteI think the point of this exercise was to help us dig deeper into our mater. I think that identifying and discussing motifs and the purpose of characters revealed a whole new way to look at the book. I had a revelation of the motifs that concerned animal instincts and nature. I would never have completely understood theses metaphors if we had not done the rhetoric worksheets. Now that I have done them I will pay more attention to reoccurring events and try to find the meaning behind them. These worksheets have made it easier to dig deeper into a quote and made my matter easier to write.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Michelle when she talks about how she discovered different kinds of rhetoric that she had never heard of before. It also shocked me how a character is introduced was a type of rhetoric. Another point I never payed much attention to was how the author shows the reader the state of the protagonist and then back tracks to show you how they got there.
ReplyDeleteThe rhetoric groups allowed me to link all of the author's themes in a way that made the book more cohesive and comprehensible. This came because the stunning imagery that the author uses is sometimes so abstract that I could no longer connect the different themes into the big picture that the author tries to present. In the rhetoric groups I was able to hear everyone's opinions and that is what opened up a new way to look at the book which is what i believe was the purpose of his activity.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Jason said about the groups helping to realize what is important about the story and it gave me a better idea about what say/mean/matter requires.