如何向考官展示你的修辞分析能力之personal anecd

　　What the author does?(写了什么)

　　Why he or she does it?(什么目的)

　　What effect this is likely to have on readers?(什么效果)

　　精读细析：原文：

　　At my family’s cabin on a Minnesota lake, I knew woods so dark that my hands disappeared before my eyes. I knew night skies in which meteors left smoky trails across sugary spreads of stars. But now, when 8 of 10 children born in the United States will never know a sky dark enough for the Milky Way, I worry we are rapidly losing night’s natural darkness before realizing its worth. This winter solstice, as we cheer the days’ gradual movement back toward light, let us also remember the irreplaceable value of darkness.

　　Let There Be Dark (OG732)

　　分析：

　　Bogard starts his article off by recounting a personal story – a summer spent on a Minnesota lake where there was “woods so dark that [his] hands disappeared before [his] eyes.”(What the author does?) In telling this brief anecdote, Bogard challenges the audience to remember a timewhere they could fully amass themselves in natural darkness void of artificial light. (What effect this is likely to have on readers?)By drawing in his readers with a personal encounter about night darkness, the author means to establish the potential for beauty, glamour, and awe-inspiring mystery that genuine darkness can possess.(Why he or she does it?) He builds his argument for the preservation of natural darkness by reminiscing for his readers a first-hand encounter that proves the “irreplaceable value of darkness.” This anecdote provides a baseline of sorts for readers to find credence with the author’s claims.

　　常用句型：

　　What the author does?(写了什么)

　　The author starts his/her article off by recounting a personal story…

　　The author begins by relating a personal anecdote about…

　　He brings in his/her personal experience…

　　…uses his/her personal and professional…

　　The author writes ”I’ve witnessed …” /…was personally involved in the story…

　　In telling this brief anecdote,…

　　…shares an anecdote about…

　　By drawing in his/her readers with a personal encounter about…

　　Why author use personal story/ experience /encounter/anecdote?(什么目的)

　　...leads in... (The PS served as a lead-in to a discussion of more serious matters.)引出话题

　　…helps to intensify…强调作用

　　…constructs a sentimental common ground for readers to coincide with the author’s claims.引起共鸣

　　This anecdote provides a baseline of sorts for readers to find credence with the author’s claims.增强可信度

　　What effect this is likely to have on readers?(什么效果)

　　…evoke emotion in her readers and allow them to feel personally affected by…煽情、引发读者关注

　　The author makes a personal connection with the audience.引发读者关注

　　This anecdote provides a baseline of sorts for readers to find credence with the author’s claims. 增强可信度

　　…gives it more credibility over a story he/she obtains somewhere else. 亲身说法，增强可信度

　　This enables the reader to attach a specific image to a larger situation.以小见大，知微见著

　　…to draw the reader into the sense of…营造…氛围

　　…planted the sense of ownership in every reader’s heart, as well as, the desire to…营造…氛围，激发...欲望

　　总结一下：

　　作者在演讲或议论文中使用personal experience主要有引出下文，为下文做感情铺垫，强调或支撑某个观点的目的。而对读者产生的效果则包括：引起共鸣，增强可信度，营造某种氛围等。

　　以上是如何向考官展示你的修辞分析能力之personal anecdote的方法，更多SAT写作信息可以关注新航道SAT频道。