Nonfiction Devices

Audience• Readers who already agree with the writer’s ideas and are

reading mainly for reinforcement or encouragement.• Readers who are interested in and are included to agree with

the issue the writer is discussing but want to know more.• Readers who are neutral on an issue and want explanation

and arguments based on evidence and logical reasoning before they make up their mind.

• Readers who are skeptical about an issue and will not take a stand until they hear both sides of an argument explained in complete detail.

Thesis• A comprehensive sentence, usually coming in the first paragraph or

so of an essay, that summarize and previews the main idea the author is going to develop in the essay.

• Example of an analytical thesis statement:• An analysis of the college admission process reveals one challenge

facing counselors: accepting students with high test scores or students with strong extracurricular backgrounds.

• Example of an expository (explanatory) thesis statement:• The life of the typical college student is characterized by time spent

studying, attending class, and socializing with peers.

• Example of an argumentative thesis statement:• High school graduates should be required to take a year off to pursue

community service projects before entering college in order to increase their maturity and global awareness.

Claims • Claim-general Assertion about the argument the author

intends to make • Something stated as true

Scientific Reasoning

Social Reasoning

Political Reasoning

Claim The sun is hot.

My mom is mad.

Japan should join our international organization.

Evidence/Support• Evidence-specific information that support the claims of the

argument• Example-a specific incident, object, or anecdote used to illustrate

and support• Facts-often supported by numbers and is difficult to refute• Judgments-conclusion that are inferred-effective because they

result from carful reasoning• Testimony-statements that affirm or assert facts

• Eyewitness=someone who has first hand experience • Expert=someone who is a recognized authority in the subject or

topic

Warrant/Explanation/Reasoning • Warrant-justification

• Links the claim to the evidence • Explanation or reasoning- a statement offered in connecting

the proof to the claimScientific Reasoning

Social Reasoning Political Reasoning

Claim The sun is hot. My mom is mad. Japan should join our international organization.

Evidence Warm or tan skin Shouting & glaring

Japan needs to increase food supply.

Reasoning Skin becomes warmer and darker when exposed to the sun.

She did this before and said she was mad.

Countries in the organization will send food to other countries.

Appeals• Ethos-Ethical appeals

to character of the writer relying on reputation and competence• Pathos-Emotional

appeals to feelings with figurative language and imagery• Logos-Logical appeals

to reason with facts and testimony

• http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=41007

Logic-Inductive Reasoning• draws inferences

from observations in order to make generalizations. • Small details lead to

a reasonable conclusion• Ex. All the

assignments have low grades. I must be failing.

• Look at how those people are behaving. They must be mad.

Logic-Deductive Reasoning• starts with a general

case and deduces specific instances• Use a known fact or law

and apply to small details• I have a failing grade. I

must have not turned in an assignment, or not done well on an assignment.

• Gravity makes things fall. The apple that hit my head was due to gravity.

Allusion• Reference to a

person, place, thing, event, or idea in history, classical literature, or even pop culture (mostly biblical)• e.g. Clockwork

Orangehttp://moviescreens.tripod.com/clockwork/http://templepoetry.blogspot.com/2009/10/intertextuality-allusion.html

Analogy• compares two things, which

are alike in several respects, for the purpose of explaining or clarifying some unfamiliar or difficult idea or object by showing how the idea or object is similar to some familiar one

• "There are obvious layers of allegory [in the movie Avatar]. The Pandora woods is a lot like the Amazon rainforest (the movie stops in its tracks for a heavy ecological speech or two), and the attempt to get the Na'vi to 'cooperate' carries overtones of the U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan."(Owen Gleiberman, review of Avatar. Entertainment Weekly, Dec. 30, 2009)

Repetition• simple repeating of a

word, within a sentence or a poetical line, with no particular placement of the words, in order to emphasize. This is such a common literary device that it is almost never even noted as a figure of speech.

• Duty does not trump honesty. Duty does not trump common sense. And duty, my friends, does not trump morality.

Parallelism• The use of similar

grammatical construction to express ideas that are related or equal in importance

• Love is not all: it is not meat nor drink/ Nor slumber nor roof against the rain;/Nor yet a floating spare to men that sink• -Edna S. Vincent

Millay, “Sonnet XXX”

Rhetorical Question• A question asked merely

for effect with no answer expected. The answer may be obvious or immediately provided by the questioner.

• "Hath not a Jew eyes?Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions?If you prick us, do we not bleed, if you tickle us, do we not laugh?If you poison us, do we not die?(Shylock in William Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice)