新SAT写作备考修辞分析

新SAT考试在写作上与旧SAT考试有很大的不同，要求对所给的文章从修辞方面进行分析。那么，如何对文章进行修辞分析呢?

众所周知，英语文章中有大量的修辞现象，它们是作者独具匠心的创造，它们寓意于文章的字里行间，显示出作者的灵感和智慧。为了让同学们加清晰地识别分析和鉴赏英文文章中的修辞，CB将新SAT作文的落脚点放在了“写作技巧和英文修辞”上，意味着“写作技巧和英文修辞”在新SAT中是 基础的内容，大家不仅要熟悉每一种技巧和修辞，而且需要精准评价其作用。大家对于新SAT写作的认识不再仅仅是语法(表示结构规则)和逻辑(思维的规律和形式)，而且是阅读分析和文本鉴赏能力。

　　首先，我们一起来看一看OG中对于“stylistic and persuasive elements”的论述：

　　Your analysis of the author’s use of stylistic and persuasive elements can follow a number of paths. You may point out instances in which the author uses such devices and evaluate their role or their effectiveness in convincing an audience to action. You may also or in additionanalyze and evaluate the varying extent to which logic and emotion contribute to the persuasiveness of the text.

　　不难看出，我们对于文章的分析是按照两个步骤来走的：

　　1. 识别+引用：point out instances in which the author uses such devices

　　2. 分析+评价的两个维度：(基于说服的有效性)evaluate their role or their effectiveness in convincing an audience to action;(基于逻辑和情感)analyze and evaluate the varying extent to which logic and emotion contribute to the persuasiveness of the text.

　　步：识别与引用

　　让我们从新SAT写作考试范文“Let There be Dark ”中的这几句话说起：

　　Bogard starts his article off by recounting a personal anecdote – a summer spent on a Minnesota lake where there was “wood so dark that his hands disappeared before his eyes.”

　　Bogard’s argument is also furthered by his use of allusion to art – Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” – and modern history – Paris’s reputation as “The city of light”.

　　Finally, Bogard makes subtle yet efficient use of rhetorical questioning to persuade his audience that natural darkness preservation is essential. He asks the readers to consider “what the vision of the night sky might inspire in each of us, in our children or grandchildren?” in a way that brutally plays to each of our emotions.

　　这三句话选自新SAT写作篇范文。分别来自范文第二段、第三段、和第四段的句。文章分析部分的分数会按照这三段写的情况判分，再来看我们标记的三组重点词，它们就是各句的重点，相当于整篇文章就是按照这三组词去展开的。也就是说，识别这三种修辞是我们分析的前提。

　　第二步：分析与评价

　　在进行完识别和引用之后，下面我们重点挑选正文的 后一段来进行深入分析：

　　Finally, Bogard(作者)makes subtle yet efficient use of rhetorical questioning to persuade his audience that natural darkness preservation is essential. He asks the readers to consider “what the vision of the night sky might inspire in each of us, in our children or grandchildren?”(文本) in a way that brutally plays to each of our emotions. By asking this question, Bogard draws out heartfelt ponderance from his readers (读者)about the affecting power of an untainted night sky. This rhetorical question tugs at the readers’ heartstrings; while the reader may have seen an unobscured night skyline before, the possibility that their child or grandchild will never get the chance sways them to see as Bogard sees. This strategy is definitively an appeal to pathos, forcing the audience to directly face an emotionally-charged inquiry that will surely spur some kind of response. By doing this, Bogard develops his argument, adding gutthral power to the idea that the issue of maintaining natural darkness is relevant and multifaceted.

　　在这个分析修辞性问句的段落中，文学活动的三大要素“作者”、“文本”、“读者”都有所兼顾。修辞性问句的使用者不是要得到答案，答案在设问之前已经由作者精心安排给出了。设问只是为了唤出作者期望得到的，有把握得到的读者的回响，目的是使文章生动有力。读者在文本中感知到了什么情感，作者写文章的目的就是什么，文本的意义也就得以凸现。

　　 后，希望同学们通过学习新SAT写作，了解新SAT写作中修辞的运用，强化自己文章的理解力、分析力以及形成作文的构思与修辞能力，同时也祝愿考生们取得理想成绩。