The Rhetorical Précis for AP III - Georgetown ISD



The Rhetorical Précis for AP III: Instructions

Overview: In order to concisely describe the argument and context an author presents in a text, academic writers sometimes use a format called the rhetorical précis. In AP III, this takes the form of a highly structured paragraph that highlights the essential rhetorical elements in any text. The précis includes the name of the speaker/writer(s), the context or situation in which the text is delivered, the major assertion, the rhetorical strategies used to support the main idea, and the stated and/or apparent purpose of the text. The following is a breakdown of the information to include in each of the three sentences.

|SENTENCE 1 – include the following: |EXAMPLE: |

|the name of author, |Toni Morrison, in her essay, “Disturbing |

|the type and title of work, the date of work (inserted in parentheses), |Nurses and the Kindness of Sharks,” implies |

|a rhetorically accurate verb (such as “assert,” “argue,” “suggest,” “imply,” “claim,” |THAT racism in the United States has |

|etc.) that describes what the author is doing in the text, |affected the craft and process of American |

|a THAT clause in which you state the major assertion (thesis statement/claim) of the |novelists. |

|author’s text. | |

|SENTENCE 2 : An explanation of the rhetorical strategies the author uses to develop |EXAMPLE: |

|the thesis (for instance, comparing and contrasting, defining, narrating, |Morrison supports her implication by |

|illustration, using humor or sarcasm, relating personal experience, depending on facts|describing how Ernest Hemingway writes about|

|/statistics /opinion, etc.). Consider the author’s organization, use of evidence, |black characters and by illustrating his |

|and/or strategies used to construct his/her argument. In a précis, the explanation is |strategies for plot development seen within |

|usually presented in the same chronological order that the items of support are |his novels and short stories. |

|presented in the work. | |

|SENTENCE 3: A statement of the author’s apparent |EXAMPLE: |

|purpose, followed by an IN ORDER TO phrase in which |Her purpose is to make her readers aware of the cruel reality of racism |

|you explain what the author wants the audience to do |underlying some of the greatest works of American literature IN ORDER TO |

|or feel as a result of reading the work. |help them examine the far-reaching effects racism has not only on those |

| |discriminated against but also on those who discriminate. |

Example #2

Maureen Dowd, in her Op-Ed column for the New York Times, “Don’t send in the Clones” (Aug. 10, 2010), champions the idea that having college roommates unlike oneself is essential to becoming prepared for the working world. Dowd supports her claim using humorous anecdotes from her own experiences with college roommates, sarcasm, and the application of old saws. Her purpose is to make her readers aware of the trend for college students to use Internet resources to select roommates similar to themselves IN ORDER TO help readers examine the flaws in avoiding the random selection of roommates and understand the value of daily experiencing competing ideas and attitudes as excellent preparation for the workplace after college.

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