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Rhetorical Précis Examples In her online article “Who Cares if Johnny Can’t Read” (1997), Larissa McFarquhar asserts that Americans are reading more than ever despite claims to the contrary, and it is time to reconsider why we value reading so much, especially certain kinds of “high culture” reading. MacFarquhar supports her claims about American reading habits with facts and statistics that compare past and present reading practices, and she challenges common assumptions by raising questions about reading’s intrinsic value. Her purpose is to dispel certain myths in order to raise new and more important questions about the value of reading and other media in our culture. She seems to have a young, hip, somewhat irreverent audience in mind because her tone is sarcastic, and she suggests that the ideas she opposes are old-­‐ fashioned positions. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., world-­‐renowned civil rights activist and philanthropist, emphasizes in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech “The World House” (1967) that all people, regardless of skin color or ethnic background, are negatively affected by the plague of racism and the decline of spiritualism that results. Dr. King begins his speech with an allusion to a famous author that ends up being the theme for his whole speech; his pre-­‐dominant use of examples of past actions are bolstered by several other testimonies from philosophers, historians, and writers as well as an allusion to a well known story. Dr. King is attempting to make people realize the need to correct their self-­‐destructive behavior in order to force society to take up the morals they had lost as well as alleviate the social tensions of the time period. While Dr. King’s intended audience is obviously the black community as a whole, he also tries to get in touch with anyone prejudiced against, black or not; also included are those of the period that had the power to or wanted to stop the decline of society by ending the hatred cultivated by the differences between people of the world so that world would change to be a superior place. Oingo Boingo’s song “Nothing Bad Ever Happens” inspirers the listener to think about his/her feelings towards other people’s problems. They give examples of terrible events or tragedies, such as armed robbery, unemployment, and suicide and follow them with the question, “Why should I care?” The purpose is to show the rash realities of life and make people realize what is going on everyday in order to force them into thinking about whether they care or not. Oingo Boingo intended this song to be heard by all of their fans across the globe hoping that because it is their song, the people will consider asking themselves the question, “Why should I care?” as well as answer it. In the article “End Homework Now” (2001), Etta Kralovec and John Buell claim that the practice of assigning homework is not an effective teaching method because its negative effects outweigh its benefits. Kralovec and Buell support their claims by providing examples of how homework disrupts families, overburdens children, and limits learning; and while dispelling myths about the benefits of homework, the authors provide alternative practices that would lead to improvement in student achievement. The authors’ purpose is to make the reader question a practice that is a trademark of the U.S. education system and decide whether it is conducive to creating a “smarter” student. They seem to be speaking to the entire educational community: administrators, teachers, students, and parents. Sheridan Baker, in his essay "Attitudes" (1966), asserts that writers' attitudes toward their subjects, their audiences, and themselves determine to a large extent the quality of their prose. Baker supports this assertion by showing examples of how inappropriate attitudes can make writing unclear, pompous, or boring, concluding that a good writer "will be respectful toward his audience, considerate toward his readers, and somehow amiable toward human failings.” His purpose is to make his readers aware of the dangers of negative attitudes in order to help them become better writers. He establishes an informal relationship with his audience of college students who are interested in learning to write "with conviction.”