Transcript The Synthesis Essay

The Rhetorical
Analysis Essay
AP English Language and
Composition
What is the purpose?

To demonstrate your facility with reading,
understanding, and analyzing challenging texts

To assess your ability to manipulate language to
communicate your written analysis of a specific topic

How do the parts (rhetorical devices/ strategies) make
up the whole (meaning/ purpose)?
What Kinds of Analysis Essays Can
You Expect?







An author’s view on a specific subject
Rhetorical devices to achieve a purpose
Stylistic elements and their effects
Author’s tone & how it is conveyed
Compare/contrast with regard to style, purpose, or
tone
Recreation of an experience
Intended and/or probable effect of a passage
Different Types of Analysis











Speaker
Audience
Tone
Diction
Syntax
Strategies/ Approaches/ Reasoning
Types of Evidence
Structure/ Organization
Logical Fallacies (errors)
Aristotelian appeals (ethos, pathos, and logos)
Figurative Language
Planning the Analysis Essay



1-3 minutes deconstructing, reading and “working”
the prompt
5 minutes reading and making marginal notes
regarding the passage (Analyze/ SOAPStone)
5-8 minutes preparing to write




Outline
Key words
20-25 minutes writing
3 minutes proofreading
Example Prompt- from the Princeton
Review


The following paragraphs are from the opening of
Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood. After carefully
reading the excerpt, write a well-organized essay
in which you characterize Capote’s view of
Holcomb, Kansas, and analyze how Capote
conveys this view. Your analysis may consider
such stylistic elements as diction, imagery,
syntax, structure, tone, and selection of detail.
How do you mark up the prompt?
Practice Marking up the Prompt

Florence Kelley (1859-1932) was a United States
social worker and reformer who fought
successfully for child labor laws and improved
conditions for working women. She delivered the
following speech before the convention of the
National American Woman Suffrage Association
in Philadelphia on July 22, 1905. Read the speech
carefully. Then write an essay in which you
analyze the rhetorical strategies Kelley uses to
convey her message about child labor to her
audience. Support your analysis with specific
references to the text.
Writing the Introduction




Include the author and title of the text
Address the elements you will refer to in
your essay- specifically or vaguely
Address the second part of the promptspecifically or implicitly
DO NOT REPEAT THE WORDING IN THE
PROMPT- AP SUICIDE!!! Ahhh!!
Sample Introductions


In the opening of In Cold Blood, Truman Capote presents a
picture of the town of Holcomb, Kansas. Through structure,
selection of detail, and a detached tone, he makes it clear
that he views Holcomb as dull and ordinary.
“Like the waters of the river, like the motorists on the
highway, and like the yellow trains streaking down the Santé
Fe tracks, drama in the shape of exceptional happenings had
never stopped here.” This is the town of Holcomb, Kansas.
Using a reportorial tone, specific structure, and selection of
detail, Capote introduces the reader to this unremarkable
town in the opening of In Cold Blood.
Writing the Body of the Analysis



Analyze the parts that make up the whole
Use specific references and details from
the passage (use quotation marks)
Use “connective tissue” to establish
adherence to the question


Echo words
Transitions between paragraphs
Sample Analysis Paragraph- Tone

Throughout the passage, Capote maintains a tone that resembles a
detached reporter who is an observer of a scene. Although the
impact of the passage is seeing Holcomb in a less than positive
light, the author rarely uses judgmental terminology or statements.
In describing the town, he uses words such as “float,” haphazard,”
“unnamed,” “unshaded,” unpaved.” Individuals are painted with an
objective brush showing them in “denim,” “Stetsons,” and “cowboy
boots.” Capote maintains his panning camera angle when he writes
of the buildings and the surrounding farmland. This matter-of-fact
approach is slightly altered when he begins to portray the
townspeople as a whole when he uses such words as “prosperous
people,” “comfortable interiors,” and “have done well.” His objective
tone, interestingly enough, does exactly what he says the folks of
Holcomb do. He “camouflages” his attitude toward the reality of the
place and time.
Writing the Conclusion




Be unique!
Offer insight: Answer the question, “So
what?”
BALANCE- a LITTLE bit of summary, and
A LOT of ingenuity!
Conclusion doesn’t have to be lengthy at
all- sometimes 1-2 sentences will work.
Qualities of a high-range paper







Complete understanding of the prompt and
passage
Mature diction
Integrates references to support the thesis of the
essay in a sophisticated manner
Grasps subtleties & implications
Uses “connective tissue”
Creates original and insightful comments
Unique, insightful conclusion
Some Advice….The Do Nots





Do not use first person—remember, you are being asked to deconstruct
and analyze someone else’s words…it isn’t an argument, they don’t
necessarily want to hear your personal opinion, just your analysis.
Do not refer to the reader “paints a picture in the reader’s mind” or “it
makes the reader….” for example
Use strong verbs- do not use “this shows”…So out of style, so
sophomore year!!
Please edit- simple, unnecessary grammar mistakes distract
DO play with language- try something new, take risks, and learn to
enjoy writing!!! It’s fun, I swear!! (repetition, parallel structure, strong
diction…find YOUR voice, not Jane Schaffer’s or Step-up-to-writing
voice! Break free from your rigid, suffocating writing handcuffs)