Directions & Objectives:
1. Students will read Chapter 1 in Ideas in Argument, which describes the rhetorical situation and the rhetorical triangle and provides an overview of the four big ideas from the AP Language and Composition course.
2. Students will read President George W. Bush’s “9/11 Speech,” using the rhetorical triangle to identify the parts of the rhetorical situation, as well as the author’s understanding of the audience.  Dig deeper into each component than just identifying audience, speaker, and text/message.  Speak also to the exigence and context.
3.Then, in groups, discuss the components of the rhetorical situation addressed in the speech.  If given instructions to do so for an additional text, your group is responsible for that text as well. (Skill 1.A; CR3)
4. After a discussion in class of claim, evidence, commentary, student groups will then list in bullet-point form the major claim, evidence, and commentary in the text(s) they are responsible for. (Skill 3.A)
5. Next, students will develop a group paragraph that explicates the claim, rhetorical situation, one piece of evidence, and develops commentary analyzing the quote and rhetorical strategy (or strategies) from the text / speech.
6. Finally, each student will continue the group paragraph by adding an additional example of evidence, and commentary analyzing how the evidence functions to support of the claim.