← English Language syllabus

New YorkEnglish Language

Literary and Rhetorical Devices

5 dot points across 5 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do you analyze characterization and point of view, and how do they shape what a literary text means?

Characterization and point of view: analyzing how a writer builds and changes a character (direct and indirect characterization) and how the choice of narrator and perspective (first person, third limited, third omniscient) shapes meaning, two of the strongest writing strategies for the Part 3 response.
How to analyze characterization and point of view on the Regents: direct and indirect characterization, how a character changes, and how the choice of narrator and perspective (first person, third limited, third omniscient) shapes meaning. Two of the strongest writing strategies for the Part 3 text-analysis response.
9 min answer →

How do you identify figurative language and imagery and analyze the effect it creates, on every part of the Regents?

Figurative language and imagery: identifying metaphor, simile, personification, symbolism, and sensory imagery, and analyzing the effect each creates, the toolkit you apply to Part 1 craft questions and as a writing strategy in the Part 3 response.
How to identify and analyze figurative language and imagery on the Regents: metaphor, simile, personification, symbolism, and sensory imagery, and the effect each creates. The toolkit behind Part 1 craft questions and a common writing strategy for the Part 3 text-analysis response.
9 min answer →

How do you recognize structural choices (order, contrast, foreshadowing, turning points) and analyze how they shape meaning?

Narrative and structural techniques: recognizing how a text is ordered and shaped (chronology and flashback, contrast, foreshadowing, repetition, turning points, framing) and analyzing how a structural choice develops meaning, distinct from word-level language.
How to recognize and analyze narrative and structural techniques on the Regents: chronology and flashback, contrast, foreshadowing, repetition, turning points, and framing, and how a structural choice shapes meaning, distinct from word-level language. A toolkit for Part 1 and a Part 3 writing strategy.
9 min answer →

How do you identify rhetorical appeals and persuasive techniques in an informational text, and analyze how they work on a reader?

Rhetorical appeals and persuasion: identifying ethos, pathos, and logos and persuasive techniques (rhetorical questions, repetition, anecdote, statistics, appeals to authority), and analyzing how a writer uses them to persuade, for Part 1 informational questions and the Part 2 sources.
How to identify and analyze rhetorical appeals and persuasion on the Regents: ethos, pathos, and logos, plus techniques like rhetorical questions, repetition, anecdote, statistics, and appeals to authority, and how a writer uses them to persuade. A toolkit for Part 1 informational texts and reading the Part 2 sources.
9 min answer →

How do you distinguish tone, mood, and diction, and analyze how word choice creates each, on the Regents?

Tone, mood, and diction: distinguishing tone (the writer's attitude), mood (the atmosphere felt by the reader), and diction (word choice), and analyzing how a writer's diction creates a particular tone and mood, for Part 1 questions and as a Part 3 writing strategy.
How to distinguish and analyze tone, mood, and diction on the Regents: tone (the writer's attitude), mood (the atmosphere felt by the reader), and diction (word choice), and how diction creates tone and mood. Tested in Part 1 craft questions and usable as a Part 3 writing strategy.
9 min answer →