1. 2005 AP Rhetorical Analysis

2. Prompt
The following article is a mock press release from The Onion, a publication devoted to humor and satire. Read the article carefully. Then write an essay in which you analyze the strategies used in the article to satirize how products are marketed to consumers.

3. What was the intent of this question? (from College Board)
This question called for rhetorical analysis. It offered students a mock press release from The Onion, a publication devoted to humor and satire, announcing a new product called “MagnaSoles shoe inserts.” The students were directed to write an essay analyzing the strategies used in the mock press release to satirize how products are marketed to consumers. The question asked students to examine and analyze a humorous text from the contemporary media, to base their analysis – at least in part – on their understanding of the role satire plays in the promulgation of ideas in their culture, and to write clear, correct, analytic prose.

4. Pros Stating purpose Integrating quotations
Recognizing and naming satirical devices
Finding good examples
Paragraph organization

5. Cons Ignoring the prompt Too much time/space spent on intro
The word “hyperboles” (it isn’t one)
Difference between USING ethos and MOCKING ethos
Saying author used “diction” without an adjective
Not using present tense
Unnecessarily discussing audience