Rhetorical precis

What is the purpose of writing a rhetorical analysis essay? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9s0LqAdqkV0 What are you responsible for mastering this quarter? What to remember: Do vs. DON’T DO!

R.I.P. Words Common words that do not tend to provide academic papers strength. Get (gotten or got) A lot Thing Stuff It Better (as a verb) Also avoid beginning your sentences or clauses in the following manner: It is/was That shows There is/are This is/was This shows That is/was A general rule for using pronouns in rhetorical analysis: Third person pronouns (they, him, her, their, etc.) are acceptable. However, personal pronouns (I, we us, our, me, mine, you, etc.) are unacceptable unless they have a specific stylistic purpose.

What exactly is it? The precis is a highly structured four-sentence paragraph that records the essential elements of a unit of spoken or written discourse. Each of the four sentences requires specific information.

Key terms to use (you will get a copy of this later)  What (Genre) How (Rhetorical verb) (By) Why (In order to) To Whom News/magazine/journal article Book review, editorial, first-hand report, personal biographical essay, biography, research report Analyzes/analysis Argues/argument Asserts/assentation Discusses/discussion Focuses on/focuses Explains/explanation Comparing/contrasting Retelling, explaining, illustrating, defending, demonstrating, defining, describing, listing, arguing, showing, justifying, relating, reporting, noting, emphasizing, pointing out, highlighting the fact that… Argue, call attention to, define, deny, show, point out, prove, suggest, inform, persuade, disclose, report, convince Formal, impersonal, casual, informal   Humorous, emotional, friendly, reasoned, logical, exaggerated

PART 1 OF THE Four-step format the “What” of it Sentence 1 In a single coherent sentence give the following: Name of the author, title of the work, source and date (in parentheses); A rhetorically accurate verb such as “asserts,” “argues,” “refutes,” “proves,” or “explains.” A that clause containing the major claim (thesis statement) of the work. What (Genre) How (Rhetorical verb) (By) Why (In order to) To Whom News/magazine/journal article Book review, editorial, first-hand report, personal biographical essay, biography, research report Analyzes/analysis Argues/argument Asserts/assentation Discusses/discussion Focuses on/focuses Explains/explanation Comparing/contrasting Retelling, explaining, illustrating, defending, demonstrating, defining, describing, listing, arguing, showing, justifying, relating, reporting, noting, emphasizing, pointing out, highlighting the fact that… Argue, call attention to, define, deny, show, point out, prove, suggest, inform, persuade, disclose, report, convince Formal, impersonal, casual, informal   Humorous, emotional, friendly, reasoned, logical, exaggerated

Student sample – sentence 1 Bell Hooks, in her essay, “Women Who Write Too Much,” from Remembered Rapture (1999), suggests that all dissident writers, particularly black female writers, face enormous time pressures, for if they are not prodigious, they are never noticed by mainstream publishers. What (Genre) How (Rhetorical verb) (By) Why (In order to) To Whom News/magazine/journal article Book review, editorial, first-hand report, personal biographical essay, biography, research report Analyzes/analysis Argues/argument Asserts/assentation Discusses/discussion Focuses on/focuses Explains/explanation Comparing/contrasting Retelling, explaining, illustrating, defending, demonstrating, defining, describing, listing, arguing, showing, justifying, relating, reporting, noting, emphasizing, pointing out, highlighting the fact that… Argue, call attention to, define, deny, show, point out, prove, suggest, inform, persuade, disclose, report, convince Formal, impersonal, casual, informal   Humorous, emotional, friendly, reasoned, logical, exaggerated

Part 2 of the four-step format the “how” of it Sentence 2 In a single coherent sentence give an explanation of how the writer develops and supports the major claim, a.k.a. the author’s thesis statement, in the same chronological order that the items were presented by the author (Note: use present tense verbs here) What (Genre) How (Rhetorical verb) (By) Why (In order to) To Whom News/magazine/journal article Book review, editorial, first-hand report, personal biographical essay, biography, research report Analyzes/analysis Argues/argument Asserts/assentation Discusses/discussion Focuses on/focuses Explains/explanation Comparing/contrasting Retelling, explaining, illustrating, defending, demonstrating, defining, describing, listing, arguing, showing, justifying, relating, reporting, noting, emphasizing, pointing out, highlighting the fact that… Argue, call attention to, define, deny, show, point out, prove, suggest, inform, persuade, disclose, report, convince Formal, impersonal, casual, informal   Humorous, emotional, friendly, reasoned, logical, exaggerated

Student sample- sentence 2 She supports her position first by describing her early writing experiences that taught her “not to be afraid of the writing process”; second by explaining her motives for writing, including “political activism”; and lastly by affirming her argument, stressing that people must strategically schedule their writing and “make much of that time.” What (Genre) How (Rhetorical verb) (By) Why (In order to) To Whom News/magazine/journal article Book review, editorial, first-hand report, personal biographical essay, biography, research report Analyzes/analysis Argues/argument Asserts/assentation Discusses/discussion Focuses on/focuses Explains/explanation Comparing/contrasting Retelling, explaining, illustrating, defending, demonstrating, defining, describing, listing, arguing, showing, justifying, relating, reporting, noting, emphasizing, pointing out, highlighting the fact that… Argue, call attention to, define, deny, show, point out, prove, suggest, inform, persuade, disclose, report, convince Formal, impersonal, casual, informal   Humorous, emotional, friendly, reasoned, logical, exaggerated

Part 3 of the four-step format The “why” of it Sentence 3 In a single coherent sentence give a statement of the author’s purpose, followed by an “in order to” phrase. Use present tense verbs here again. What (Genre) How (Rhetorical verb) (By) Why (In order to) To Whom News/magazine/journal article Book review, editorial, first-hand report, personal biographical essay, biography, research report Analyzes/analysis Argues/argument Asserts/assentation Discusses/discussion Focuses on/focuses Explains/explanation Comparing/contrasting Retelling, explaining, illustrating, defending, demonstrating, defining, describing, listing, arguing, showing, justifying, relating, reporting, noting, emphasizing, pointing out, highlighting the fact that… Argue, call attention to, define, deny, show, point out, prove, suggest, inform, persuade, disclose, report, convince Formal, impersonal, casual, informal   Humorous, emotional, friendly, reasoned, logical, exaggerated

Student sample- sentence 3 Her two-pronged purpose is to respond to critics in order to encourage minority writers to develop their own voice. What (Genre) How (Rhetorical verb) (By) Why (In order to) To Whom News/magazine/journal article Book review, editorial, first-hand report, personal biographical essay, biography, research report Analyzes/analysis Argues/argument Asserts/assentation Discusses/discussion Focuses on/focuses Explains/explanation Comparing/contrasting Retelling, explaining, illustrating, defending, demonstrating, defining, describing, listing, arguing, showing, justifying, relating, reporting, noting, emphasizing, pointing out, highlighting the fact that… Argue, call attention to, define, deny, show, point out, prove, suggest, inform, persuade, disclose, report, convince Formal, impersonal, casual, informal   Humorous, emotional, friendly, reasoned, logical, exaggerated

Last part of the four-step format “Audience” or “To Whom” or “for whom” Sentence 4 In a single coherent sentence give a description of the intended audience and/or the relationship the author establishes with the audience. What (Genre) How (Rhetorical verb) (By) Why (In order to) To Whom News/magazine/journal article Book review, editorial, first-hand report, personal biographical essay, biography, research report Analyzes/analysis Argues/argument Asserts/assentation Discusses/discussion Focuses on/focuses Explains/explanation Comparing/contrasting Retelling, explaining, illustrating, defending, demonstrating, defining, describing, listing, arguing, showing, justifying, relating, reporting, noting, emphasizing, pointing out, highlighting the fact that… Argue, call attention to, define, deny, show, point out, prove, suggest, inform, persuade, disclose, report, convince Formal, impersonal, casual, informal   Humorous, emotional, friendly, reasoned, logical, exaggerated

Student sample – sentence 4 Although at times her writing seems almost didactic, Hooks ultimately establishes a companionable relationship with her audience of both critics and women who seek to improve the effectiveness of their own writing. What (Genre) How (Rhetorical verb) (By) Why (In order to) To Whom News/magazine/journal article Book review, editorial, first-hand report, personal biographical essay, biography, research report Analyzes/analysis Argues/argument Asserts/assentation Discusses/discussion Focuses on/focuses Explains/explanation Comparing/contrasting Retelling, explaining, illustrating, defending, demonstrating, defining, describing, listing, arguing, showing, justifying, relating, reporting, noting, emphasizing, pointing out, highlighting the fact that… Argue, call attention to, define, deny, show, point out, prove, suggest, inform, persuade, disclose, report, convince Formal, impersonal, casual, informal   Humorous, emotional, friendly, reasoned, logical, exaggerated

Another example:

Find the Errors – what is missing? Fitzgerald, an awesome author and one of my favorites, in the novel, The Great Gatsby, argues that what truly matters in life is not riches, but how one spends it. Fitzgerald began with the introduction of Jay Gatsby. Gatsby threw massive parties at his mansion to somehow win Daisy’s love. Through Gatsby, Fitzgerald tried expressing himself. The Great Gatsby was a great book, but it also had good morals and a valid argument. Even though the 20’s were roaring, Fitzgerald was not.

Corrected Format Fitzgerald, a depressed alcoholic American author, in his 1920’s novel, The Great Gatsby, argues that what truly matters in life is not riches, but how one spends their riches. Fitzgerald began with the introduction of Jay Gatsby, an overnight millionaire who spent his fortune trying to dazzle his lifetime love, Daisy. Through Gatsby, Fitzgerald tried expressing himself in order to show his faults and errors throughout his own life. Fitzgerald writes to the American public of the roaring twenties warning the public of their lifestyle and showing how a “party-like” lifestyle of fortunes and riches, although unhealthy, leads to a life of isolation. Fitzgerald, an awesome author and one of my favorites, in the novel, The Great Gatsby, argues that what truly matters in life is not riches, but how one spends it. Fitzgerald began with the introduction of Jay Gatsby. Gatsby threw massive parties at his mansion to somehow win Daisy’s love. Through Gatsby, Fitzgerald tried expressing himself. The Great Gatsby was a great book, but it also had good morals and a valid argument. Even though the 20’s were roaring, Fitzgerald was not.