1. Intro to Rhetorical Analysis
AP Language

2. Agenda: Rhetorical Device Bell Ringer Notes on Rhetorical Analysis
Practice with 2009 Rhetorical Analysis Prompt
I can explain what it means to analyze a text rhetorically.
I can analyze a text rhetorically.

3. Bell Ringer
Complete the Rhetorical Device Bell Ringer

4. Rhetorical Analysis Essay:
The AP Rhetorical Analysis Essay is essay #2 on the test.
You will be given a passage and asked to analyze the rhetorical strategies used to accomplish the author’s purpose.

5. Rhetorical Analysis
To analyze a text rhetorically, we have to consider 2 things as we read: intention and effect.
Intention/Purpose: The goal the author wants to accomplish by producing the piece of rhetoric.
To define an issue
To reflect on the importance of something
To persuade the audience
To evaluate the truth of a claim or another’s argument
To explain/inform about an issue/topic/event
To entertain
To clarify difficult material

6. Rhetorical Analysis
To analyze a text rhetorically, we have to consider 2 things as we read: intention and effect.
Effect: How certain choices made by the author contribute to the intention
Diction patterns
Rhetorical appeals
Rhetorical devices (repetition, allusion, figurative language)
Style
Tone/Mood
Syntax

7. Rhetorical Analysis: STEPS
Read the piece and ANNOTATE for intention/effect
Look for the thesis of the piece
consider the rhetorical mode (definition, process analysis, compare/contrast, etc)
Look for a call-to-action
Determine intention/purpose (remember that some could be unstated)
Determine at least three major choices made by the author that he/she uses to develop that intention.

8. Rhetorical Analysis: REMINDERS
Remember, when you talk about the author’s choices and how the effect the development of the intention, DO NOT say things like: “the author uses pathos/logos/ethos” or “the author uses diction.”
Instead: “The author builds her own credibility with her audience by referencing other Civil Rights experts such as Martin Luther King Jr.”
Instead: “Using colloquial diction, the highly-educated Smith makes herself more relatable to the general public she’s addressing by presenting her argument in a conversational way.”

9. Rhetorical Analysis: REMINDERS
YOU DON’T EVEN HAVE TO SAY LOGOS, PATHOS, OR ETHOS AT ALL.
If you want to talk about the author’s use of pathos—NAME THE EMOTION that he/she creates and explain HOW.
If you want to talk about the author’s use of ethos—JUST USE THE WORD CREDIBILITY and explain how he/she creates credibility.
If you want to talk about the author’s use of logos—JUST USE THE WORDS “FACTS” OR “LOGIC/LOGICAL” and explain how he/she develops that logic.

10. Rhetorical Analysis: REMINDERS
Do not forget about the rhetorical triangle!
Remember to always consider the context of this piece of rhetoric. What is going on in the world? What spurs the author to produce this piece of rhetoric right then?
Remember the audience. Is the author presenting to people that agree or disagree with them? Is the audience highly educated or more general public? Is the author addressing a certain age or gender? All this will matter in terms of author’s choices.

11. Rhetorical Analysis: REMINDERS
Do not forget about the rhetorical triangle!
Speaker
Context
Purpose/
Intention
Audience
Topic

12. Rhetorical Analysis: Practice
Easy: Starbucks Glen Commercial
Hard: Donald Trump Says “China”
What is/are the intention(s) of the video you chose? THINK DEEPLY!
What 3 strategies/effects would you pick out to analyze?

13. Rhetorical Analysis Group Essay: Reading
Break into groups of 4-5
Read the 2009 AP Rhetorical Analysis prompt and passage TWICE with your group.
1) First read: Just get a feel
2) Second read: annotate for purpose and strategies.

14. Rhetorical Analysis Group Essay: Intro
After you have read the passage and annotated as a group, your next job will be to write an introduction to your essay.
Choose the three most effective rhetorical strategies or devices you will analyze in your essay.
2) A good Rhetorical Analysis introduction begins with CONTEXT of the piece. Introduce your audience to the context.
3) Your thesis statement should introduce author’s purpose and strategies you will discuss in your essay.
Ex: “In order to (author’s purpose), (author’s name) (strategy 1), (strategy 2), and (strategy 3).”

15. Rhetorical Analysis Group Essay: Body #1
You now need to write the first body paragraph of the essay as a group.
The first body paragraph should focus on the first strategy you identified in your thesis statement.
Begin with a topic sentence that reminds the reader that you’ll be focusing on this strategy in this paragraph.
Then, you will need to prove that the author does, in fact, use this strategy intentionally by providing examples from the text. Remember: you can directly quote OR paraphrase.
Remember when you explain the effect, you will think about how this strategy helped the author achieve his/her purpose. Why was this strategy so convincing given the subject matter or intended audience?

16. Rhetorical Analysis Group Essay: Body #2
Following the same steps as body paragraph #1, write body paragraph #2 and #3.
The second body paragraph should focus on the second strategy you identified in your thesis statement.
Begin with a topic sentence that reminds the reader that you’ll be focusing on this strategy in this paragraph.
Then, you will need to prove that the author does, in fact, use this strategy intentionally by providing examples from the text. Remember: you can directly quote OR paraphrase.
Remember when you explain the effect, you will think about how this strategy helped the author achieve his/her purpose. Why was this strategy so convincing given the subject matter or intended audience?

17. Rhetorical Analysis Group Essay: Conclusion
Now, we need to conclude.
A conclusion has 2 major parts:
A summary of your main points
A “so what?”
When you think about the “so what?” you want to think “why does doing this whole analysis matter outside of just taking this test?”
In your conclusion, you can be evaluative, where you can think about the effect of this piece of rhetoric on the world outside the intended audience, for example.