American Gothic / Logos / Parallel Structures

English 11 - Today, students were introduced to the American Gothic tradition.  The American Gothic tradition provides a stark contrast to the American Romantic tradition we have been studying.  While the American Romantics depicted a rational world filled with hope and optimism, the American Gothic writers painted an irrational world filled with darkness and depravity.  We started reading through Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Minister's Black Veil".  As part of reading this text, we are looking at how to analyze symbols in literature.  To do this analysis, students are closely following one object (the veil) and seeing how it crops up and operates throughout the text.  This activity while help students understand how items take on more than literal meanings, but it will also show them how to closely follow an idea throughout a text.  This technique can help them better grasp concepts in science, math, and other disciplines.

Here is an audio version of the text:



AP - We spent most of today putting together notes on the appeal to logos and parallel structures.  The appeal to logos is the final appeal in the set of appeals (ethos, pathos, logos) and focuses on primarily the logical argumentation that the speaker makes about the topic.  We went through the different types of logical argumentation and looked at how speakers can make use of different types of hard evidence and logical structures.  After covering logos, we turned to parallel structures.  Recognizing parallel structures will better help students do rhetorical analysis, but it also helps them spruce up their writing and make it stronger.  I posted the lecture notes here for both lessons.

Here's a video that might help students quickly review the rhetorical appeals and how to apply them: