Overview and Thanks to Timm Frietas
Obviously, though anyone is welcome to use this page if they want to, the information is intended primarily for AP teachers. Students, though, might appreciate the information and find that it clarifies certain points or explains the reasons a teacher may use to emphasize a particular strategy. Though most of the information here is courtesy of Mr. Timm Freitas, some of it has been modified based on my own experiences using this information. |
Standards
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Almost any free-response rhetorical analysis question would work for this unit, but some likely possibilities include the Abigail Adams letter or the Lord Chesterfield selection.
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Struggling Students
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Students struggling with the Lord Chesterfield piece may need to rework their rhetorical analysis essays using this rubric and supplementary exercise:
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Step One: ATSQ (Answer the Stinkin' Question)
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One of the biggest obstacles students often face on the AP, particularly with regard to the rhetorical analysis essay, is the failure to ATSQ: Answer the Stinkin' Question. Students answer part of the question but not all, or (more often) fail to understand that the prompt itself needs to be "unpacked" and decoded before it can be answered effectively. A prompt may SAY, "Analyze the rhetorical choices Chavez makes to develop his argument about nonviolent resistance," but if a student's thesis looks like, "Chavez uses rhetorical choices to develop his argument about nonviolent resistance," then about the best grade they're looking at is about a 3 or 4 out of 9.
Therefore, students need a method of breaking down the rhetorical analysis prompt BEFORE they begin reading the selection or writing their essays. The reason why I have them break down the prompt the way I do is so they can create a purpose for reading the essay—besides having to write about it—and so that they can be empowered to write about what they know, as opposed to what they don’t. |
Step Two: Find the "Command" and "Conquer"
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I have students identify the standard elements in a prompt: exigence, speaker/author, audience, title of works (if there is one), genre/medium. This is pretty common, but what you will see below in my chart is that I also have students identify and create what I have titled the “Command” and the “Conquer.” I use this language because it allows my students to picture they are going to war with their rhetorical analysis essay; and once they receive their command, they can devise a way to conquer the territory: the excerpt for analysis. Of all of the things I do with my students, the most important step of this whole process—before they use my templates—is having them create the “Conquer Question” BEFORE reading the excerpt they need to analyze. If you check out what’s below, you’ll see how this question is generated:
Prompt: The passage below is from the opening of an essay, “On Seeing England for the First Time,” by Jamaica Kincaid. Kincaid grew up on the Caribbean island of Antigua before it became independent from England in 1981. Read the entire passage carefully. Then write an essay analyzing the rhetorical strategies Kincaid employs to convey her attitude toward England. |
Finding the "Command"
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The "Conquer": The Most Important Part
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Examples
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Prompt : Benjamin Banneker, the son of former enslaved people, was a farmer, astronomer, mathematician, surveyor, and author. In 1791 he wrote to Thomas Jefferson, framer of the Declaration of Independence and secretary of state to President George Washington. Read the following excerpt from the letter and write an essay that analyzes how Banneker uses rhetorical strategies to argue against slavery.
Prompt: Florence Kelley (1859-1932) was a United States social worker and reformer who fought successfully for child labor laws and improved conditions for working women. She delivered the following speech before the convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association in Philadelphia on July 22, 1905. Read the speech carefully. Then write an essay in which you analyze the rhetorical strategies Kelley uses to convey her message about child labor to her audience. Support your analysis with specific references to the text.
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I hope that the above examples are clear, and should you go look at the past rhetorical analysis prompts, you will find that all—except one, which is the Alfred M. Green prompt—can be broken down in this way. So, what is the point of me telling you all of this? You asked for templates, right? Right. Well, here is why I made you go through this: when students have the “Conquer” question, they now know what they need to comprehend once they are done reading the essay. If they can answer the question, they can write this paper, and they can do it well.
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Step Three: Collect at Least Six Pieces of Evidence
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The next step is to read the passage carefully, LOOKING FOR ANSWERS TO THE "CONQUER" question as they read, and annotating or marking any and all evidence that pertains or seems to pertain to the question. Have students draw a line through the first 1/3 of the text, the second 1/3, and so on, because they will need to find six pieces of evidence that allowed THEM to come to the answer to the question. (I make my students find two pieces from the beginning, two from the middle, and two from the end.) This then becomes their textual evidence for their essay, and it all relates to what the prompt is asking them to analyze, because the prompt asks them to answer the question they generate from it.
Finding at least six pieces of evidence -- from throughout the text -- is crucial because one of the qualities that AP graders are looking for is "coverage": the ability of students to look at a text holistically, seeing the development of an idea throughout the text from the beginning to the middle and to the end. |
Step Four: Set up a Claim Chart
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How to Do the Claim Chart
Your claim chart allows students to look at the distribution of evidence, look for "holes" in their coverage of a text, and most of all, look for "clumps" of evidence. For example, consider the Portia rhetorical analysis prompt: In Act II, scene i of Julius Caesar, Shakespeare details a conversation—that happens on “the Ides of March”—between Brutus and his wife. Read the conversation carefully; then, analyze how Portia uses rhetorical strategies to evoke her intended emotional response from Brutus. Set up the chart as follows in three columns headed this way: |
Rhetorical TACTIC
(What is the speaker DOING?) |
Examples that show ME the answer to the "Conquer" question
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OVERALL Strategy (Give it a name!)
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Always get students to start with the evidence. When they write in their six pieces of evidence, make sure they also label the line numbers as well.
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Label the Tactics
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Ask, "What is S/He DOING?"
For EACH of the major pieces of evidence, students should ask, "What is s/he DOING here?" Their answers will be essentially a label for that particular tactic the speaker is using in that piece of evidence. For example, when Portia says, "Upon my knees..." and demands that Brutus tell her what's wrong, what is she DOING? Here are some possibilities. Begin with a strong verb.
Tactics and Strategies HAVE TO BE Action Verbs...but not "Uses"!
In the above example, I want to just draw your attention to the rhetorical tactic column. This is where most students think they need to “bust out” all of their rhetorical terms and whatnot, but what really needs to happen here is that kids need to clearly, and for some, simply, say what the speaker is doing. So, please note that there are many ways to say what Portia is doing for the first tactic that I labeled. Someone may say she, “Questions her husband’s love,” or someone else may say—for the second piece of evidence—something as simple as she “calls herself a prostitute.” The point is that tactics are action verbs, not nouns (which most terms are). Because students are so used to finding the nouns—or just ethos, pathos, and logos (which aren’t even devices)—and linking them to the verb “uses,” no wonder they struggle with providing analysis. Think about it. If I were to ask someone, “How did you build that house?” and the response was, “Well, I used a hammer, wood, and nails.” I would never know HOW it was built. Using powerful verbs, and kissing rhetorical jargon goodbye is a powerful way to empower students. Using these powerful verbs, and linking them to a strong thesis template—that includes the answer to the “Conquer Question”—is an even better way to empower students, because they are no longer writing about what they think their English teacher wants to hear, but rather what they know. |
Step Five: Label the Strategies
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Key Skill: Look for "Clumps"
After coming up with the list of tactics -- what the writer/speaker is DOING -- students will often find more than one piece of evidence that provides evidence of a speaker's intended goals or purposes or which essentially are "grouped together" because they're similar. For example, look in this (fictional) "Tactics" column. Suppose these were a student's labels for what the speaker, a father writing to his son, actually DID:
At this point, the student should say, "Which one of these tactics are clumping together? Which tactics are similar to each other or like each other in some way?" Obviously, ridiculing and mocking are similar, as are blaming Mom and the friends. At this point, direct the student to put a label on these tactics to describe both of these clumps. "Ridicule" and "Blame" work just fine.
These are Strategies... and They Answer the Conquer
Strategies are LARGE-SCALE maneuvers, a "big picture" game plan. Not surprisingly, the strategies are usually the answer to the "conquer" question.
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Rhetorical Strategy
CHALLENGING Brutus' devotion EMBRACING a submissive posture |
Examples
"Dwell[s]..but in the suburbs of [his] pleasure?"(II.i.285)
"Portia is Brutus' harlot, not his wife" (II.i.287) "Upon my knees, I charm you" (II.ii.270) |
Conquer Answer
Pity and guilt
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At this point -- you've given them a lot of information -- students will probably need to practice the fine art of writing an evidence chart, and they'll probably need to do this several times.
Work Through Examples Together
Work Through Examples in Houses
Work Through Examples Alone
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The Thesis Writes Itself
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Have students write a thesis according to a fairly structured thesis template, especially early in the year. Tell them they are to stick to it like grim death until they become super-skilled at writing thesis statements on their own that perform all of the necessary functions that the template compels them to do.
I think we can all agree that the example prompt reads much better than something along the lines of “Portia uses ethos, pathos, and logos in order to evoke her intended emotional response.” |
Point Out that the Essay Writes Itself
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When students have completed their chart with six (or more) pieces of evidence, six tactics, and (at least) two strategies, point out that they've basically written the entire essay.
Why?
Point out that the thesis will AUTOMATICALLY be supported by the data because this entire chart was driven by the data in the first place. Rather than pulling down rando quotes from somewhere to (maybekindasorta) fit the thesis, students have specifically started with the data FIRST, then used the data itself to name the tactics and name the strategies. In short, they have custom-tailored their thesis around their evidence, and the rest of the paper will fall into place. |
The Thesis Must Match the Claims
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In this crucial classroom step, especially the first time you do this with a class, it will be necessary to check the thesis and (when the claim sentences for the body paragraphs are written) to check that the thesis matches the claims (the topic sentences) both in content and in order. For example, if the thesis for the Lord Chesterfield prompt reads like this, then the key ideas highlighted in pretty colors MUST be featured in the claim sentences AND IN THAT SAME ORDER.
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The Claim Must Match the Thesis
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If this is the thesis, then a student's FIRST claim absolutely must have the words "Justin Bieber" in there. His or her SECOND claim absolutely must mention Nickelback, and the third claim has to have the words "tribal tattoo" or a close synonym. Students often have a hard time seeing that the thesis is a kind of itinerary for the essay itself, but it is: Just as an itinerary spells out "Monday: Paris, Tuesday; London, Wednesday: Lithuania," leading us to suspect that on Tuesday, we will be in London, so too does the thesis spell out the two to three major ideas we will be addressing. One of the key traits the AP graders are looking for is a reasonable sense of essay coherence, and having the thesis statement match the claims is a key skill.
Trade, Grade, Check Have students trade papers and then ask, "What is your writer's SECOND powerful verb and device?" Then have the student writer read the SECOND claim sentence following the directions for the body paragraph below. If they do not match, then point that out and explain why it is important. I usually emphasize this concept to my students by saying, "Your THESIS will match your CLAIM. Your claim will match your data. Your data will match your warrant, which will match your claim and thesis. In short, you will match as if you were a bridesmaid! Shoes, dress, nails, earrings...TINY LITTLE PURSE! |
Chronological Order: Let the Writer Do the Planning For You
One question students grapple with is, "What should I talk about first?" Overall, particularly with struggling student writers, students are far better off in following a basic chronological order. In short, whatever the WRITER discusses first is what the STUDENT should discuss first.
In the example above, although the student has listed Nickelback first (maybe because it was the first value he or she thought of when composing the chart), the Justin Bieber threat comes first. Therefore, the FIRST paragraph (and the FIRST idea in the thesis) should deal with Justin Bieber. Maybe you have Bieber evidence from line 3, line 13, line 25, and line 29. Discuss those pieces of evidence in that order. Then, the student should discuss the second idea, which is Nickelback at line 12. Supposing Nickelback was mentioned also in line 18, line 25, and line 34, the student should address the Nickelback information, in that order, in paragraph 2, and then proceed to discuss the tribal tattoo issue in the final paragraph because Lord Chesterfield mentions it last, in line 23. |
What, Why, Where, How?
Body Paragraph Template
Warrant Template
How it Looks Like All Put Together
Now, although this essay is mechanical—and not finished, as it is an example—it clearly is driven by the thesis, it is centered around the purpose as directed from the prompt, and it allows students to explain what they know based on the evidence they found. Furthermore, and I can say this with surety as I was scoring RA papers last year, this paper would score at least a 7—if it were finished in like manner—for being considered adequate and thorough; it maybe even exhibits elements of an 8 because the analysis is effective.
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Example Prompt / Example Thesis and Body
In chapter 9 of his book, Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser’s explores how the fast-food industry produces and obtains its meat. After reading “What’s in the Meat?,” chapter 9 of Fast Food Nation, analyze how Eric Schlosser uses rhetorical devices in order to evoke the emotions of the audience as he argues against the deregulation of the meat-packing industry. Example Thesis Throughout his non-fiction piece, Fast Food Nation, author Eric Schlosser augments his argument against the greed and deregulation of the meat industry by presenting morbid truths and narrating tragic, graphic stories that force his audience to empathize with the victims of the industries’ practices. Example Body Paragraph Schlosser’s presentation of emphatic profanity in chapter 9 instills disgust, fear, shock and anger within the mind of the reader. After describing a tragic case of food poisoning, which in and of itself is an emotional appeal, Schlosser reveals the problem was due to the fact that “there [was] sh*t in the meat” (197).This use of vulgar diction gives a clear indication that the issues surrounding consumed tainted meat relate directly to hygiene, or a lack there of. It is commonly believed that the government and businesses would want to keep their products clean to promote healthy lifestyles and safety, but as demonstrated by Schlosser’s claim, the blatant truth is profane. Using such a negative, colloquial word—sh*t—to define waste establishes a relationship that reveals the baseness of the major corporations that are selling the questionable meat. Furthermore, this simple truth—much like his word choice—shocks and angers the readers due to the fact that they have probably eaten fast-food burgers; this instantly presents the idea that they may have consumed excrement before, and it doesn’t seem that the people in charge of the well being of the public seem to care. |
Not Just for Textual Evidence!
I know that my templates are mechanical, but every year my students outperform the global average on their rhetorical analysis essays. I also use my templates to then springboard into variation and ultimately—if we have time—voice development. The following is an example of methods I use to teach students to do more with the text than just use it as evidence. I have provided two examples of literary analysis; the second not only has textual evidence but simply exchanges some ideas in my original analysis with words from the text. Although this seems like a simple move, it demonstrates a control of the text, and as I say to my students, “Let your readers know that you have married the text and that you have a pathetic relationship: you even finish each other’s sentences.” Check out my examples that are completely derived from my thesis and body paragraphing templates Adding Quotes Without In the poem, “The Raven”—which was written shortly after the poet lost his wife—Poe develops an ominous symbol and a dark setting, while repeating eerie responses, in order to expose the ever-present grief of the speaker. Poe develops an ominous symbol in order to present the ever-present grief of the speaker. Take, for example, how the troubled speaker wakes—startled—in the middle of the night, only to find a “Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering” (Poe 108) into his house and, “Perch[ing] upon a bust of Pallas just above [his] chamber door” (Poe 95). This demonstrates the grief of the speaker because the raven is described as “ghastly and grim,” and these negative descriptions directly correlate with the negative thoughts of the speaker. Furthermore, the raven, as a bird, is considered to be a vicious scavenger that preys upon the defeated—a dead and/or dying animal—which directly reflects the emotional turmoil of the speaker as he is struggling with dealing with losing his lover. The speaker himself is in vulnerable state, and the raven recognizes this, so it preys upon his sorrow. The fact that the “Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting /On the pallid bust of Pallas just above [his] chamber door” (Poe 203-204) demonstrates the ever-present nature of the speaker’s grief because he can’t get rid of the raven, just like he can’t get past the idea that he’ll never again be able see Lenore. Because of this fact, of which the raven consistently reminds him, the speaker is forced to recognize that he will not recover from his depression. With In the poem, “The Raven”—which was written shortly after the poet lost his wife—Poe develops a dark setting and ominous symbolism, while repeating eerie responses in order to expose that the speaker’s heart contains “Darkness there and nothing more” (Poe 22). Poe develops an ominous symbol in order to present the ever-present grief of the speaker. Take, for example, how the troubled speaker wakes—startled—in the middle of the night, only to find a “Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering” (Poe 108) into his house and, “Perch[ing] upon a bust of Pallas just above [his] chamber door” (Poe 95). This demonstrates the grief of the speaker because the raven is described as “ghastly and grim,” and these negative descriptions directly correlate with the negative thoughts of the speaker. Furthermore, the raven, as a bird, is considered to be a vicious scavenger that preys upon the defeated—a dead and/or dying animal—which directly reflects the emotional turmoil of the speaker as he is struggling with dealing with his “sorrow for the lost Lenore” (Poe 25). The speaker himself is in a vulnerable state, and the raven recognizes this, so it preys upon his sorrow. The fact that the “Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting /On the pallid bust of Pallas just above [his] chamber door” (Poe 203-204) demonstrates the ever-present nature of the speaker’s grief because he can’t get rid of the raven, just like he can’t get past the idea that he’ll never again be able “Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore” (Poe 185). Because of this fact, of which the raven consistently reminds him, the speaker is forced to recognize that “[his] soul […] Shall be lifted—nevermore!” (Poe 216-217). |
This last template is for students who really struggle with analysis. It lets them know that they need to bring what they “know” to the table. I use this ONLY as a springboard and mandate that students then remove all first-person references when they actually put it in their paragraphs. You will notice, however—should you try this with a struggling student—that when they remove the first-person element, there will be clear attempts at analysis. Check out my template and examples.
Simplified Analysis: If I were (insert actual audience), this would make me (answer to the conquer) because (explain how it would move you toward the answer to the conquer). To add this to your paragraph, GET RID OF THE FIRST PERSON NONSENSE!!!!! Initial Version If I were Brutus, this would make me feel pity towards my wife because I am supposed to love her, and she doesn’t feel loved by me. Actually, she feels like I’m just using her for pleasure, but I have a deeper bond than that, so I must really be doing something to hurt her, and I don’t want that. But, I could potentially repair these damaged feelings if I told her my secret. Analysis with First Person Removed Brutus would feel pity toward his wife because he is supposed to love her, but she doesn’t feel the love from him. Actually, she feels like she is being used for pleasure, but marriage is supposed to be about more than that. It’s about support. Brutus is led to consider that he must be the cause of her pain, and he shouldn’t want that for his wife. Because of this, he could be potentially moved to repair the damage by telling her his secrets. |
Thoughts
Rhetorical analysis can't necessarily be communicated in one lesson or even several. Students will often need specific help with more challenging concepts and will need some scaffolding through in-class practice and teamwork before they can successfully implement the skills by themselves. |
More Practice
Students will usually need repeated exposure to the evidence chart concept, specifically the idea of generating specific tactics. Students may also need help in writing the thesis, although if the chart is good, the thesis essentially writes itself. In-Class Essay #1 Students should already have done a FRQ for the George Bernard Shaw piece, but this is the first essay as an "after" picture, showing the difference between pre-instruction and post-instruction. A good place to go from this point is the 2004 Lord Chesterfield prompt , particularly if students have worked with the Abigail Adams letter or the Amy Tan piece before this point. Students should be instructed to do a chart with tactics and strategies in the first ten minutes of the exam. Give extended time beyond the allotted 40 minutes for students to practice this skill. They may also have access to notes, provided that they do not know the actual subject of the exam before the in-class essay begins. Help for Struggling Students As on the Shaw essay, students should be provided with an essay template to help them write the Chesterfield essay, and as with the Shaw, the grade on the essay template assignment can be used to offset a low grade here. This lecture on diction, syntax, and tone can be given here as we "drill down" into the tools authors use to create meaning and persuade audiences. Getting more specific about individual terms and tools, give the lecture on the rhetorical toolbox in order to get students to understand that ALL of these choices are tools. One specific assignment students can do from this point is to choose a selection of tools (e.g., parallel structure, irony, etc.) and find a recent example (which will reduce the risk of copying) and explain how that tool allowed the author to communicate her or his point. Why parallel structure? Why right there? |