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AP/GT Phoenix III Due: _______________

Student Choice From The Language of Composition Grade: _____________

Rhetorical Analysis

Introduction: In rhetorical analysis questions, remember that analysis refers to identifying features of a text and explaining how the author uses these to achieve a particular effect or purpose.

Assignment: With the above directive in mind, your task is to choose an essay from The Language of Composition that you think would provide material for a good analysis.

Once you have chosen an essay, you need to create an appropriate AP style rhetorical analysis prompt, which you will use at the top of your analysis and properly address in your paper.

Some actual AP rhetorical analysis prompts for reference follow:

1. In his Second Inaugural Address, given one month before the end of the Civil War, United States President Abraham Lincoln surprised his audience—which expected a lengthy speech on politics, slavery, and states’ rights—with a short speech in which he contemplated the effects of the Civil War and offered his vision for the future of the nation. Read the address carefully. Then write an essay in which you analyze the rhetorical strategies President Lincoln used to achieve his purpose. Support your analysis with specific references to the text.

2. 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.

3. In 1830, John Downe, a weaver, traveled to the United States from England and took a job so that he could earn enough money to enable his wife and children to join him. Read the following letter from Downe to his wife. Then write an essay in which you analyze the rhetorical strategies that Downe uses to convince his wife to emigrate to the United States.

4. On April 10, 1962, as the United States was emerging from a recession, the nation’s largest steel companies raised steel prices by 3.5 percent. President John F. Kennedy, who had repeatedly called for stable prices and wages as part of a program of national sacrifice during a period of economic distress, held a news conference on April 11, 1962, which he opened with the following commentary regarding the hike in steel prices. Read Kennedy’s remarks carefully. Then write an essay in which you analyze the rhetorical strategies President Kennedy uses to achieve his purpose. Support your analysis with specific references to the text.

5. In the following letter, Abigail Adams (1744–1818) writes to her son John Quincy Adams, who is traveling abroad with his father, John Adams, a United States diplomat and later the country’s second president. Read the letter carefully. Then, in a well-developed essay, analyze the rhetorical strategies Adams uses to advise her son. Support your analysis with specific references to the text.

The Requirements:

• Length: 2-3 pages exclusive of Works Cited Page

• Works Cited Page

• MLA style (format and documentation, including proper margins, fonts, and parenthetical documentation and works cited)

• Include your annotated article

Evaluation:

Your paper will be graded based on the following AP style rhetorical analysis rubric.

AP/GT Phoenix III

Sample Advanced Placement Rhetorical Analysis RUBRIC:

9 Essays earning a score of 9 meet the criteria for the score of 8 and, in addition, are especially sophisticated in their argument, thorough in their development, or impressive in their control of language.

8 Essays earning a score of 8 effectively analyze the rhetorical strategies the writer uses to convey his or her thinking. They develop their analysis* with evidence and explanations that are appropriate and convincing, referring to the passage explicitly or implicitly. The prose demonstrates a consistent ability to control a wide range of the elements of effective writing but is not necessarily flawless.

7 Essays earning a score of 7 meet the criteria for the score of 6 but provide more complete explanation, more thorough development, or a more mature prose style.

6 Essays earning a score of 6 adequately analyze the rhetorical strategies the writer uses to convey his or her thinking. They develop their analysis with evidence and explanations that are appropriate and sufficient, referring to the passage explicitly or implicitly. The writing may contain lapses in diction or syntax, but generally the prose is clear.

5 Essays earning a score of 5 analyze the rhetorical strategies the writer uses to convey his or her thinking. The evidence or explanations used may be uneven, inconsistent, or limited. The writing may contain lapses in diction or syntax, but it usually conveys the writer’s ideas.

4 Essays earning a score of 4 inadequately analyze the rhetorical strategies the writer uses to convey his or her thinking. These essays may misunderstand the passage, misrepresent the strategies the writer uses, or may analyze these strategies insufficiently. The evidence or explanations used may be inappropriate, insufficient, or unconvincing. The prose generally conveys the writer’s ideas but may be inconsistent in controlling the elements of effective writing.

3 Essays earning a score of 3 meet the criteria for the score of 4 but demonstrate less success in analyzing the rhetorical strategies the writer uses to convey his or her thinking. They are less perceptive in their understanding of the passage or the writer’s strategies, or the explanations or examples may be particularly limited or simplistic. The essays may show less maturity in control of writing.

2 Essays earning a score of 2 demonstrate little success in analyzing the rhetorical strategies the writer uses to convey his or her thinking. These essays may misunderstand the prompt, misread the passage, fail to analyze the strategies the writer uses, or substitute a simpler task by responding to the prompt tangentially with unrelated, inaccurate, or inappropriate explanation. The prose often demonstrates consistent weaknesses in writing, such as grammatical problems, a lack of development or organization, or a lack of control.

1 Essays earning a score of 1 meet the criteria for the score of 2 but are undeveloped, especially simplistic in their explanation, or weak in their control of language.

0 Indicates an off-topic response, one that merely repeats the prompt, an entirely crossed-out response, a drawing, or a response in a language other than English.

— Indicates an entirely blank response.

* For the purposes of scoring, analysis means explaining the rhetorical choices an author makes in an attempt to achieve a particular effect or purpose.

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