Download Rhetorical Preci

Rhetorical Précis
and Rhetorical
Analysis
AP English Language and Composition
Presented by Suzanne Houser
What is a Rhetorical Précis ?
• a highly specialized, specific type of
summary
• differs from a general summary in that
emphasis is placed upon providing the
rhetorical aspects of the work under
consideration
• Provides in clear, precise language, the
main points of a piece
Essential Elements of Précis
 name of the speaker/writer WHO
 the context of the delivery WHEN
 the major assertion WHAT
 the mode of development and/or support HOW
 the stated and/or apparent purpose WHY
 the relationship established between the
speaker/writer and the audience TO WHOM AND
IN WHAT MANNER
This information is presented in four very specific
sentences as outlined below.
Identify author, genre,
title of work date of
publication,
a rhetorically accurate
verb,
and a THAT clause
containing the major
assertion
SENTENCE 1 CONTENT:
Sentence 1
• The first sentence is probably the most crucial in
identifying the main argument.
• The THAT clause is designed to demand a complete
statement: a grammatical subject (the topic of the
essay) and predicate (the claim that is made about
that topic). It forces students to avoid using “about”
and “how” which understate the thesis:
• i.e., “Nicholas Kirstof writes about gun control” or
“…states how dangerous America is because of
guns,” neither of which reports what his argument
is.
Sentence 1 Format… What?
In his/her _________ ___________ _________
(genre*) title of work date
____________ ___________that ______________.
author
(Verb** )
(major assertion)
*Genres: article, book review, essay, column, editorial
**Verbs: argues, asserts, suggests, claims, explains
Sentence 1 Example
In his New York Times column
“Stranger, Danger, and Guns”
(September 27, 2014), Nicholas Kristof
argues that stricter gun control is
needed in the United States.
SENTENCE 2
The second sentence is chronologically
structured to show how the author
develops his/her argument for the claim
by identifying argument appeals (logos,
pathos, ethos) and rhetorical techniques.
Probably the most difficult!
Sentence 2 Content
• An explanation of how the author
develops and/or supports the claim,
in chronological order.
• Must identify and explain two
argument appeals and one additional
rhetorical technique with specific
quotations.
Sentence 2 Format
_________ ______ his/her ________ by ______.
(Author)
(verb**)
(*purpose)
(verb**)
* Purpose: argument, assertion, suggestion, questions,
explanation
**Verbs: arguing, asserting, suggesting, claiming,
defining, demonstrating, contrasting
Sentence 2 example
• Kristof begins his column with an anecdote about the time his phone was
stolen, and he went to a stranger’s house to get it back, which he posted
on his social media accounts and immediately drew criticism from
followers who felt his actions were dumb and dangerous, but others
“expressed bewilderment that it should be dangerous to knock on a door
and ask for one’s property,” which he uses as an introduction to the
dangers that the United States’ gun culture has created; then, he evaluates
the culture by looking at numerous statistics that show the dangers of
owning guns (“10 times as likely to commit suicide”), and he alludes to
many more stories that did not end as positively as his – he did successfully
retrieve his phone – to draw an emotional response through the horror of
the situation of a sixteen year-old Japanese exchange student who knocked
on the wrong door and was shot by the homeowner after the student did
not understand the word “freeze,” which “prompted the Japanese
government to teach its citizens traveling to the United States the word
freeze.”
A statement of the author’s
apparent subject followed by an
“in order” phrase(call to action –
what does he/she want the
reader to do?).
SENTENCE 3 … WHY?
Sentence 3… Content
• The third sentence begins by summarizing
the topic/subject of the piece.
• The “in order to” phrase keeps you from
falling back on “His purpose is to inform,”
and requires that you look beyond to
assess what the author wanted the
audience to do or to feel as a result of
reading the work – the CALL TO ACTION.
Sentence 3: Format
________________ _____________ ___________
(author)
(verb*)
(topic)
in order to/___________________.
(call to action)
Verbs: show, point out, suggest, inform, persuade…
Sentence 3 Example
• Kristof writes about his personal
experience to show people the dangers of
guns, especially when strong regulations
are lacking, and the ridiculousness of living
in a society where it’s dangerous to knock
on someone’s door in order to encourage
the government to step up and pass gun
control laws to improve the safety of our
society.
A description of the
intended audience and a
carefully chosen word to
describe the author’s
tone.
SENTENCE 4… TO WHOM? WHAT
MANNER?
Sentence 4 Content
 Makes students ask how the language of the
work excludes certain audiences (non specialists
would not understand the terminology; children
would not understand the irony) in order to see
that the author did not make certain
assumptions about the prior knowledge of the
audience.
 Do not assume that the audience is “anyone” or
“the general public.”
 This sentence also reports the author’s tone.
Sentence 4 Format
The author writes in a ____________ tone
(tone word*)
addressing _________________.
(intended audience)
*Tone word: see rhetorical packet for tone words
Sentence 4 Example
Kristof targets government officials,
particularly legislators, and uses a
serious, yet occasionally humorous,
tone.
Rhetorical Précis, Rhetorical Analysis,
and SOAPS
Use the student’s knowledge of rhetorical précis writing and SOAPS to
write a rhetorical analysis essay.
SOAPS
• Speaker –Who is the speaker and what rhetorical devices does he
use – style?
• The voice that is speaking. Identification of the historical person (or
group of people) who created the primary source.
• What do we know about this historic or contemporary person?
• What role does he play in an historic event?
• Occasion– What event or catalyst initiated writing?
• What is the time and place, the context in which the primary source
was created?
• What is the geographic and historic intersection at which this source
was produced?
• Audience—To whom is the piece directed?
• Is the writing intended to challenge a predicted point of view? To
build on a predicted shared point of view?
• Is the audience a peer group? Superiors? Other?
• Are there both intended and unintended audiences?
• Purpose – What is the reason behind text?
• Why was it written? What goal did the author have in mind?
• What is the reader supposed to think or do as a result of
reading/hearing this?
• Subject – What is the general topic or main idea?
• State the subject in a few words or phrases
• Tone – What is the attitude of author toward the subject?
• Examine the choice of words, emotions expressed, imagery, etc.,
(DIDLS) used to determine the speaker’s attitude.
D = Diction
L = Language Devices (tropes)
I = Imagery
S = Syntax Devices (schemes)
D = Details
Rhetorical Analysis
• Use SOAPS, rhetorical strategies (DIDLS), and
appeals (logos, ethos, pathos) to explain
1. HOW the strategies help the author achieve his
purpose
2. WHY the author chose those strategies
Students often have a difficult time with this
essay because they have not written one before.
Providing a “template” that incorporates SOAPS
and the rhetorical précis helps them.
Introduction
• Use SOAPS for the introduction
1. Speaker, Occasion, and Subject
(writer’s credentials), (writer’s first and last name), in
his/her (type of text), (title of text), (strong verb)
(subject)
2. Purpose
(writer’s last name)’s purpose is to (purpose)
3. Audience
He/she adopts a[n] (tone word) tone in order to (verb
phrase describing what the writer want readers
(audience) to do/think).
Sample Introduction
1. Well-know essayist and writer, Joan Didion, in her essay,
“The Santa Ana,” describes the dramatic mood altering
effects of the Santa Ana winds on human behavior.
2. Didion’s purpose is to impress upon readers the idea that
the winds themselves change the way people act and react.
3. She creates a dramatic tone in order to convey to her
readers the idea that the winds are sinister and their effects
inescapable.
STUDENTS CAN INCORPORATE SPECIFIC RHETORICAL
STRATEGIES IN SENTENCE 3.
She creates a dramatic tone in order to convey to her readers
the idea that the winds are sinister and their effects inescapable
by employing (strategies inserted here).
Body Paragraph Format - Analysis
I encourage students to move chronologically through the text.
To avoid writing about every paragraph individually, I have my
students “chunk” the text – group paragraphs into sections.
1. First sentence identifies which section of the text being
discussed and the main idea (purpose) of the section.
2. Second sentence conveys the writer’s support for the main
idea by identifying and providing a specific example for one
rhetorical strategy. (WHAT)
3. Third sentence explains how the rhetorical strategies you
discussed in the previous sentences help the writer achieve
the purpose by using an in order to statement. (HOW)
4. Fourth sentence identifies the effect of the writer’s use of
the strategy on the audience (why)
Body Paragraph Sample
• Sentence 1
(writer’s last name) (transition word) his/her (type of text) by
(strong verb) that (main idea of the section of the text).
Initially, Didion paints an uneasy and somber image of
“something uneasy in the Los Angeles air” when describing the
Santa Ana winds.
or
Didion begins by painting an uneasy and somber image of
“something uneasy in the Los Angeles air” when describing the
Santa Ana winds.
• Sentence 2
She establishes the atmosphere the winds create by using
words like ‘tension’ and vivid details of the winds making “The
baby [fret]. [The maid sulk].”
Body Paragraph Sample
• Sentence 3
Didion illustrates the effects of the Santa Ana winds on the
people of Los Angeles in order to emphasize how the winds
take control of people.
• Sentence 4 (concluding sentence of paragraph)
Her choice of words and details makes the reader feel uneasy
and anxious, especially when she says that the Santa Anas must
be accepted, “consciously” or “unconsciously”.
***Sentences 2 and 3 should be repeated within the
paragraph with each strategy or example discussed (I call
it a “chunk”).
Sample from an 8 essay 2014
• Adams encourages her son to be diligent by appealing to his
affection for her and flattering him in the first half of the
letter. She opens the letter with “my dear son” to establish
that she does not intend to scold him but to guide him. She
next establishes that her primary concern is his safety,
appealing to his emotions so that he will be receptive to her
advice, complimenting his language skills , qualifying her
compliment by asserting his need to improve. Her reference
to a discussion with an author in line 16 legitamizes [sic] her
argument, as a form of employing the “older and wiser” claim.
Her reference to the author’s metaphor in line 17 intends to
assure her son of the importance of the trip on which she
encouraged him to embark. She again flatters him in line 26
by emphasizing his vast natural talent, but again qualifies the
assertion by highlighting the necessity of employing his Godgiven gifts by showing effort. She instills a sense of guilt in
him for not capitalizing on his blessings in hopes that he will
become more diligent and mature.
Sources
• The précis idea was condensed from Woodworth, Margaret K.
"The Rhetorical Précis." Rhetoric Review 7 (1988): 156-164.
Retrieved online August 8, 2008.
http://english.ecu.edu/~wpbanks/eng8601/8601precis.html#
woodworth.
• The format for rhetorical analysis adapted from an Orlando
teacher docs.