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Rhetorical analysis is conceptually the entire premise of the AP Lang class, so it can be a bit daunting to students. My goal is for this page to provide you with NUMEROUS resources for general rhetorical analysis (which could also help with MC), as well as specific RA essay help.
Remember that you can access student exemplars for a couple of prompts, as well as scoring notes for them in my google classroom.
There is a whole page of CAT Resources in this website with slides and videos to help you understand different options available for analysis! Go to RA Resources in the AP Lang dropdown in the menu.
RA Essay AP Lang.mp4Ms. Johnston's RA Essay Review Video
Ms. Johnston's RA Essay Review Video
In this video I talk through some of the key components of the rhetorical analysis essay, as well as talking through some choices for a sample prompt. Let me know if you want me to clarify anything!
RA Essay Basics
RA Essay Basics
The essay can be its own beast when it comes to rhetorical analysis. The slides here should guide you through some of the process, but here are some additional things to remember:
Your analysis needs to be CHRONOLOGICAL. That way you can discuss how the author/speaker uses one choice/technique to leverage into another! It helps with both analysis and flow.
Some good go-to things to analyze are ethos, pathos, and tone. There are variations of these in basically every text ever created.
Despite what I just said, don't use the TERMS ethos, logos, or pathos. The CB scorers hate to see them because they are not remotely specific enough. For instance, pathos encompasses an audience's interests, values, emotions, or senses, so just saying "pathos" is not good analysis.
How to Approach an Exam RA Passage
How to Approach an Exam RA Passage
The premise of reading and analyzing a rhetorical analysis passage is to apply your SPACECAT categories to the specific passage (without having or filling in the whole chart). Efficiency is key here- you have to spot things as you read through the passage. Here is a sample of my notes for two practice essays we did in class.
Things to note:
A LOT of my annotations consist of me just circling words. Sometimes when I circle words I don't even have a clear reason for why they stand out to me, but it's in my best interest to circle whatever I note so I can analyze it further later.
It's rare that any one choice in a text exists in a vacuum. Often the author strategically uses something that affects another thing later in the text.
Appeals to the audience are an easy thing to note as you move through the reading. Whenever I'm reading a passage, I'm always considering "What is the author/speaker doing here FOR the audience?"
You can look for the really technical terms (like anaphora, parallelism, analogy, etc.), but I wouldn't waste a ton of time looking for them, especially since not all passages have them. It's a bonus if they pop up and you can talk about them, but otherwise...focus on what you can build more with your analysis.
Johnston Notes Gandhi Prompt.pdfJohnston Notes on 2012 Lang RA Essay.pdfSPACECAT
SPACECAT
SPACECAT is a helpful tool for practicing more comprehensive rhetorical analysis for a text. You can pick almost any speech to practice with and "SPACECAT it".
Tips for Commentary/Analysis
Tips for Commentary/Analysis
Things you can (AND SHOULD) talk about for each set of RA commentary/analysis…
How does the choice affect the speaker?
How does the choice affect the audience (be specific about who the audience is)?
How does the choice affect the message in that part of the passage?
Why did the author/speaker choose that particular choice (instead of another one)?
Why did the author/speaker include that choice in that section of the passage (may overlap with effect on message)?
How does the choice support the author’s overall purpose?
Does this choice lead up to or build off of another choice?
Additional Ways to consider commentary/analysis:
Consider HOW the author/speaker is developing a rhetorical choice. This can sometimes overlap with evidence, because you may need to discuss how the author uses specific strategies like diction to develop a larger choice like tone or an appeal to a specific emotion.
Consider the location of the rhetorical choice in the passage and why the author chose this rhetorical choice. Why did the author/speaker use this strategy at this point in the passage (versus another part of the passage)? Why did they choose this rhetorical choice over another one?
Consider how the author/speaker’s use of the rhetorical choice affects their message in that part of the passage? Furthermore, how does the rhetorical choice affect the author’s overall purpose? Consistently connecting each strategy back to how it supports the overall purpose will help develop your line of reasoning!
Make sure to consistently discuss how the choices build on one another. It is not enough just to connect them by saying “the author also does __________”- that’s not a connection. Does the author/speaker’s decision to include a choice early in the passage influence the impact or audience reaction of a choice a bit later in the passage? How and why?
You can almost ALWAYS use more commentary/analysis. I would aim for at least 3 solid sentences of commentary for each piece of evidence- ideally more if you can.
RA Essay Plan of Attack
RA Essay Plan of Attack
This document can help you plan out steps for a gameplan for the essay! Let me know if you want to talk through it with me.
Gandhi Essay Prompt and Exemplars (with feedback from the College Board)
Gandhi Essay Prompt and Exemplars (with feedback from the College Board)
2019 Gandhi Letter RA Prompt.pdfMs. Johnston's Sample Banneker Essay
Ms. Johnston's Sample Banneker Essay
2010 Banneker Letter to Jefferson RA Prompt.pdfClick the button below to view the document with my comments!
REMEMBER: You can ALWAYS book a Bulldog Time Session or other time to talk through past assessments or go through a practice passage together. You just need to let me know in advance!
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