Author Study – Tim O’Brien

Using one writer’s tools to make our writing more betterer

Background Music byOk Go

Previous Strategies

Concrete, Physical Detail Use of sensory descriptions can be helpful

Allusions Referencing other works says more with

less

Metaphors Explain the unexplainable

Intentional Sentence Fragments Add emphasis

What is a Rhetorical Question?

Any question asked for a purpose other than to obtain the information the question asks.

Purpose of Rhetorical Questions

Make a point Ex: Why are you so stupid?

Emphasis Ex: That was a heck of a hail storm,

wasn’t it?

Express Emotion Ex: Why me?!

Practice the First

RQ – Do you expect this room to clean itself? Declarative: Your room isn’t going to clean itself.

Start cleaning!

RQ 1 - The coach says, “Are we ever going to win that way?”

RQ 2 - The teacher says, “Do you really expect to get A’s without studying?”

RQ 3 – What do you expect me to do with all this mayonnaise?

Rhetorical Questions in Sequence

from “As Not Seen on TV” by Pete Wells

Guy Fieri, have you eaten at your new restaurant in Times Square? Have you pulled up one of the 500 seats at Guy’s American Kitchen & Bar and ordered a meal? Did you eat the food? Did it live up to your expectations?

What is the main idea of this paragraph?

Writing Rhetorical Questions

Revise the following paragraph to include at minimum 3 rhetorical questions. Bonus points if they are all rhetorical questions.

Be sure to keep the argument the same… just update the style.

Writing Rhetorical QuestionsI think we should be given a full forty minute lunch period. Lunch time should be about more than just taking in nutrition and satisfying hunger. It should be a time to relax and talk with friends. Students should be able to share experiences that happen in and out of the classroom. Sometimes I learn important things at lunch and make new friends too. Eating lunch at such a frenzied pace will make students feel like animals or even like prisoners. Cutting lunch time in half is my idea of cruel and unusual punishment. I can’t think of a worse way to promote healthy eating habits.