1. Writing the Rhetorical Precis
Jean G. Ellerhoff
Central Academy
Des Moines, Iowa

2. The Rhetorical Precis
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.

3. The Rhetorical Precis Format
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.
THE WHAT

4. The Rhetorical Precis Format
Sentence 2
In a single coherent sentence give an explanation of how the writer develops and supports the major claim (thesis statement).
THE HOW

5. The Rhetorical Precis Format
Sentence 3
In a single coherent sentence give a statement of the author’s purpose, followed by an “in order to” phrase.
THE WHY

6. The Rhetorical Precis Format
Sentence 4
In a single coherent sentence give a description of the intended audience and/or the relationship the author establishes with the audience.
TO OR FOR WHOM

7. Sources http://www.teachand learn.org/rhetorical_precis.htm
es/rhetorical- precis/sample/peirce_sample_precis

8. Student Sample Rhetorical Precis
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.

9. Sentence 2 Student Sample Precis
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.”

10. Student Sample Sentence 3
Her two-pronged purpose is to respond to critics and to encourage minority writers to develop their own voice.

11. 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.