Bellringer

1
Bellringer

• Independently read the following excerpt
• The most famous of all campaign commercials, the
• Peace Little Girl, or Daisy Girl, ad, ran
  only once as a paid advertisement, during an NBC
  broadcast on September 7, 1964. Without any
  explanatory words, the ad juxtaposes a scene of a
  little girl happily picking petals off of a
  flower and an ominous countdown to a nuclear
  explosion. The frightening ad was instantly
  perceived as a portrayal of Barry Goldwater as an
  extremist. In fact, the Republican National
  Committee spelled this out by saying, This ad
  implies that Senator Goldwater is a reckless man
  and Lyndon Johnson is a careful man. This was
  precisely the intent in a memo to President
  Johnson on September 13, Bill Moyers wrote, The
  idea was not to let him get away with building a
  moderate image and to put him on the defensive
  before the campaign is old. It was replayed in
  its entirety on ABCs and CBSs nightly news
  shows, amplifying its impact.

2
Fair Balanced
3
Peace Little Girl

• Closely watch the Daisy Girl advertisement
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vuO0R4k1tVMs

4
QuickWrite

• Record your reaction to the Peace Little Girl
  ad in a quickwrite over the following prompts
• What images, sounds, or dialogue affected you?
  Why?
• What elements contribute to the power of the ad?
• Why do you think this ad was yanked from the air
  after only running once during the 1964 campaign?

5
Extreme, but not extraneous

• While the Peace Little Girl ad presents an
  extreme example, writers often use inflammatory
  rhetorical techniques, known as slanters, in
  place of logical arguments.
• Slanters are used to manipulate readers into
  accepting a position.
• Today, we will look at a number of different
  types of slanters, which will ultimately be
  applied to an analysis of an editorial text.

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Slanters

• Sometimes a writer compensates for a lack of
  evidence and logical argumentation by using
  slanted language and emotional appeals to present
  a prejudiced depiction of a subject.
• A slanter is a rhetorical
• devices used to present
• a subject in a biased
• way.

7
Labeling Euphemisms and Dysphemisms

• Labeling is the use of a highly connotative word
  or phrase to name or describe a subject or
  action. Its a technique also called using loaded
  language.
• When the connotations are positive (or less
  negative), the writer is using euphemism.
• Conversely, when overtly negative connotations
  are used, the writer is using dysphemism.
• For Example
• Consider the differences between the terms
  pre- owned vehicle and used car. Pre-owned
  vehicle is a euphemism while used car is a
  dysphemism.
• Think of the terms freedom fighter and
  terrorist. Freedom fighter is a euphemism while
  terrorist is a dysphemism.

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Labeling Euphemisms and Dysphemisms
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Rhetorical Analogy

• A rhetorical analogy is the use of a figurative
  comparison (sometimes a simile or a metaphor) to
  convey a positive or negative feeling towards the
  subject.
• For Example
• In the 2008 presidential race, Sarah Palin
  jokingly suggested that she was like a pit bull
  with lipstick.
• In another famous moment of the campaign, John
  McCain compared Barack Obama to Paris Hilton,
  thus suggesting he was an unqualified celebrity.
  

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Rhetorical Analogy
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Rhetorical Definition

• A rhetorical definition is the use of emotively
  charged language to express or elicit an attitude
  about something.
• A rhetorical definition stacks the deck either
  for or against the position it implies.
• For Example
• When arguing against capital punishment, many
  people define it as government- sanctioned
  murder.

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Rhetorical Definition
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Rhetorical Explanation

• A rhetorical explanation is expressing an opinion
  as if it were fact, and doing so in biased
  language.
• For Example
• You might say someone didnt have the guts to
  fight back when taunted by another person. This
  paints the person as motivated by cowardice. Or
  you might say the person took the high road,
  instead of taking a swing.

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Rhetorical Explanation
15
Innuendo

• Innuendo is the use of language to imply that a
  particular inference is justified, as if saying
  go ahead and read between the lines!
• In this way, the speaker doesnt have to actually
  make a claim that cant be supported instead,
  the audience is led to make the leap on their
  own.
• For Example
• A presidential candidate might say, Think
  carefully about whom you choose you want a
  president who will be ready to do the job on day
  one. The implication is that the opposing
  candidate is not ready.

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Innuendo
17
Downplayers

• Downplayers is the use of qualifier words or
  phrases to make someone or something look less
  important or significant.
• Words like mere and only work this way, as
  well, as does the use of quotation marks, to
  suggest a term is ironic or misleading.
• Often these references are linked to concessions
  with connectors such as nevertheless, however,
  still, or but.
• For Example
• She got her degree from correspondence
  school..

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Downplayers
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Hyperbole

• Hyperbole is the use of extravagant
  overstatement, which can work to move the
  audience to accept the basic claim even if they
  reject the extremes of the word choice.
• Many of the other slanters can be hyperbolic in
  the way they are worded, but the key part is that
  the statement or claim is extreme.
• For Example
• In response to a dress code, a student might
  say This school administration is fascist!

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Hyperbole
21
Truth Surrogates

• Truth Surrogates hint that proof exists to
  support a claim without actually citing that
  proof.
• If the evidence does exist, the writer is doing a
  poor job of citing it meanwhile, the writer has
  not actually identified any source or made any
  claim that can be easily disproven or
  challenged.
• For Example
• Ads often say studies show, and tabloids
  often say things like according to an insider
  or theres every reason to believe that . . .

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Truth Surrogates
23
Ridicule/Sarcasm

• Ridicule or Sarcasm is the use of language that
  suggests the subject is worthy of scorn.
• The language seeks to evoke a laugh or
  sarcastically mock the subject.
• For Example
• This week, in the New York Daily News, Hank Gola
  says the following about Tony Romo The G-forces
  between those poles have Romo taking the faithful
  on a dizzying ride that often leads to nausea.
  The maddening things is that he doesn't stink. He
  just does dumb things.Gola is ridiculing Romo
  for losing a game in the fourth quarter, again.

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Ridicule/Sarcasm
25
Apply it!

• Now that you are familiar with the list of
  slanters, apply this knowledge to a reading of
  the editorial, Abolish High School Football! on
  pages 136-7 of your SpringBoard book.
• As you read, highlight or mark the words and
  phrases that show the writers feelings about the
  topic.
• Because the text is an editorial, it will
  obviously be biased towards a particular position
  on the issue.
• Your job is to focus on how the language helps
  construct that biased perspective.

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Identify it!

• Now that you have read and marked the text, go
  back to the beginning of the editorial, Abolish
  High School Football! on pages 136-7 of your
  SpringBoard book, and identify the following
  slanters as follows
• Labeling Highlight
• Rhetorical Definition Underline
• Innuendo Mark with an asterisk
• Hyperbole Underline with a swiggly line
• Ridicule/Sarcasm Circle

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SMELL it!

• I know, I know, SMELL is a strange name for a
  graphic organizer, but it actually stands for
• Sender-Receiver Relationship
• Message
• Emotional Strategies
• Logical Strategies
• Language
• SMELL is an effective strategy for analyzing a
  writers use of language in support of a
  position.
• Now that you have read the editorial Abolish
  High School Football! and identified the
  slanters used, you need to complete the graphic
  organizer on page 138 of your SpringBoard book.

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Generalize it!

• Ok, so now you have read the editorial Abolish
  High School Football! and identified the
  slanters used, youve SMELLED it by completing
  the graphic organizer on page 138 of your
  SpringBoard book.
• The last step is to use deductive reasoning to
  compose a generalization about the following
  essential question
• How does a writer use tone to advance an opinion?
• Write your generalization as a complete sentence
  on page 138 of your SpringBoard book.