AP English Language The Analysis Question- The Function of Language in Action Dr. Don Stoll Rowan University

What the Analysis Question Assesses…. Student’s ability to: Demonstrate close reading skills Construct the rhetorical context in which language performs is function Identify rhetorical strategies clearly and effectively Analyze how rhetorical strategies are used individually and in concert to achieve the writer’s desired outcome Select and use appropriate textual evidence to illustrate and support the assertions they make

The Successful Response to the Analysis Prompt Contextualizes the argument Articulates a conceptual understanding of rhetorical strategies used by the writer in an effort to bring about a particular effect on a particular audience in a particular rhetorical situation.

Successful Responses Avoid a literary analysis of the passage, focusing on its repetitions, metaphors and allusions without recognizing the rhetorical purposes behind those structures A listing or description of rhetorical strategies without connecting them to the author’s purpose

2014 – The Abigail Adams Letter Successful essays understood the passage…. by demonstrating a more holistic understanding of the letter in its entirety Use her parental authority and superior experience to reconcile JQA to his journey and Urge him to embrace it as a means of moral and intellectual growth catching on to the double edge of Adams’ overall strategy Gently admonished JQA regarding his reluctance to go on the journey Encouraged him to see his own potential leadership role in the revolution and its aftermath

2014 – The Abigail Adams Letter Weaker essays Focused on only one side of Abigail Adams rhetorical strategy If they focused on Adam’s use of parental authority they made her in to the mother from hell If they focused on her encouragement to make the most of his journey and opportunities, they dismissed Adams as an overly doting mother Resulted in distorting Adams’s purpose, tone and strategies and fell into the lower half essays.

Advice to AP Teachers Clearly distinguish between rhetorical and literary analysis Traditional literary analysis focuses on aesthetic forms of language; rhetorical analysis, focuses on the functions of language in action Clarify the confusion that comes from using many of the same techniques of analysis in both areas Carefully define terminology

Analysis Class activities and Assignments Model Rhetorical Reading Identify word passages in which the writer is clearly trying to do something to the reader Read the passage aloud straight through Identify in clear, concise terms what the writer is trying to do to the reader Identify the specific rhetorical devices the writer employs Identify how the writer’s use of these devices is part of individual strategies to do something to the reader Identify how the individual strategies come together to achieve the writer’s purpose and characterize the overall strategies

Analysis Class activities and Assignments Model Rhetorical Reading 2 Work with another word passage in which the writer is clearly trying to do something to the reader Have a student read the passage aloud straight through Using Socratic dialogue Identify in clear, concise terms what the writer is trying to do to the reader Identify the specific rhetorical devices the writer employs Identify how the writer’s use of these devices is part of individual strategies to do something to the reader Identify how the individual strategies come together to achieve the writer’s purpose and characterize the overall strategies

Analysis Class activities and Assignments Classroom Rhetorical Reading Activity 1 Work with another word passage in which the writer is clearly trying to do something to the reader Have a student read the passage aloud straight through Move the class into 5-6-member groups, tasking them to Identify in clear, concise terms what the writer is trying to do to the reader Identify the specific rhetorical devices the writer employs Identify how the writer’s use of these devices is part of individual strategies to do something to the reader Identify how the individual strategies come together to achieve the writer’s purpose and characterize the overall strategies Report to the class

Analysis Class activities and Assignments Classroom Rhetorical Reading Activity 2 Task groups to find word passage in which the writer is clearly trying to do something to the reader Move the class into 5-6-member groups, tasking them to Identify in clear, concise terms what the writer is trying to do to the reader Identify the specific rhetorical devices the writer employs Identify how the writer’s use of these devices is part of individual strategies to do something to the reader Identify how the individual strategies come together to achieve the writer’s purpose and characterize the overall strategies Report to the class

Analysis Class activities and Assignments Model Writing a Rhetorical Analysis Using the first passage, compose an argumentative essay defending the claim “The writer’s purpose in Passage #1 is to urge the reader to do ‘X’.” Model an introductory paragraph which contextualizes the task in an holistic fashion and outlines the approach the essay will take Model using the most effective evidence to support the claim seeking to use at least three supporting elements Model a concluding paragraph which draws together the evidence into a unified whole

Analysis Class activities and Assignments Task groups to compose a Rhetorical Analysis of the second passage you selected following the process outlined in the modeling work Have groups present their efforts using a document camera Lead a class discussion of what the groups did

Analysis Student Assignment Using either one of the passages selected by the group or another passage selected by the student… Assign an at-home essay as a written analysis Peer edit the essay and ask for revisions Grade the essay offering one more opportunity for revision and include this written essay in the class portfolio

Analysis Student Assignment Follow-up Assignment Select a passage from a past AP English Language and Composition exam and have students read and write an analysis essay on the passage limiting the time to 50 minutes Have class score the essays and make suggestions about how they could be improved Repeat this assignment as necessary….