Example AP rhetorical analysis essays

Part 1: Rhetorical Analysis/Reading Comprehension Assessment (8 questions)

Please pick up the reading passage packet and the questions and gradecam packet.  Put your name on the gradecam packet.

Please hand both in when you are finished.

Then, pick up the Rhetorical Analysis essay prompt. 
It is worth 26 points, not 36.
Put your name on the packet. 
Read the rubric.  
You will read and annotate the packet today, perhaps create an outline, and then you will hand it in as you leave class.  
You will write the actual essay in class tomorrow. When using evidence directly from the text, please embed short quotes into the flow of your sentences.

Homework: Please read Part 2, chapter 5 (147-156) and practice writing your essay. You may bring in a notecard with a thesis statement to guide your paper, but no other notes.  Other than the thesis statement, the only notes you can are the ones you took in class today. If you wish to review the passage tonight, it is on pages 117 to 119 in your book.

1984, Part 2, chapter 2 Rhetorical Analysis Essay:

(36 points):  Read this, take notes, perhaps create an outline. Tomorrow you will write your essay. 

Write an essay explaining how Orwell uses various rhetorical elements to contrast the hope and beauty of a budding relationship with the darker realities of life in Oceania.  You might wish consider some of the following rhetorical/literary elements: his selection and arrangement of details; imagery; setting; and mood/atmosphere.   Please write legibly.

Part 2, Chapter 2

Winston picked his way up the lane through dappled light and shade, stepping out into pools of gold wherever the boughs parted. Under the trees to the left of him the ground was misty with bluebells. The air seemed to kiss one's skin. It was the second of May. From somewhere deeper in the heart of the wood came the droning of ring doves.

He was a bit early. There had been no difficulties about the journey, and the girl was so evidently experienced that he was less frightened than he would normally have been. Presumably she could be trusted to find a safe place. In general you could not assume that you were much safer in the country than in London. There were no telescreens, of course, but there was always the danger of concealed microphones by which your voice might be picked up and recognized; besides, it was not easy to make a journey by yourself without attracting attention. For distances of less than 100 kilometres it was not necessary to get your passport endorsed, but sometimes there were patrols hanging about the railway stations, who examined the papers of any Party member they found there and asked awkward questions. However, no patrols had appeared, and on the walk from the station he had made sure by cautious backward glances that he was not being followed. The train was full of proles, in holiday mood because of the summery weather. The wooden-seated carriage in which he travelled was filled to overflowing by a single enormous family, ranging from a toothless great-grandmother to a month-old baby, going out to spend an afternoon with 'in-laws' in the country, and, as they freely explained to Winston, to get hold of a little blackmarket butter.

The lane widened, and in a minute he came to the footpath she had told him of, a mere cattle-track which plunged between the bushes. He had no watch, but it could not be fifteen yet. The bluebells were so thick underfoot that it was impossible not to tread on them. He knelt down and began picking some partly to pass the time away, but also from a vague idea that he would like to have a bunch of flowers to offer to the girl when they met. He had got together a big bunch and was smelling their faint sickly scent when a sound at his back froze him, the unmistakable crackle of a foot on twigs. He went on picking bluebells. It was the best thing to do. It might be the girl, or he might have been followed after all. To look round was to show guilt. He picked another and another. A hand fell lightly on his shoulder.

He looked up. It was the girl. She shook her head, evidently as a warning that he must keep silent, then parted the bushes and quickly led the way along the narrow track into the wood. Obviously she had been that way before, for she dodged the boggy bits as though by habit. Winston followed, still clasping his bunch of flowers. His first feeling was relief, but as he watched the strong slender body moving in front of him, with the scarlet sash that was just tight enough to bring out the curve of her hips, the sense of his own inferiority was heavy upon him. Even now it seemed quite likely that when she turned round and looked at him she would draw back after all. The sweetness of the air and the greenness of the leaves daunted him. Already on the walk from the station the May sunshine had made him feel dirty and etiolated, a creature of indoors, with the sooty dust of London in the pores of his skin

Rhetorical Analysis Grading Rubric

	EFFECTIVE (8-9)	ADEQUATE (6-7)	STRUGGLING (4-5)	LITTLE-TO-NO SUCCESS (1-3)
POSITION	Clearly stated position; well introduced, a decisive thesis statement	Clearly stated position; adequately introduced; a clear thesis statement	Does not develop or state position well or clearly.  The position is not always clear.	The position is NOT developed; and/or the position fails to make a statement that responds to the prompt.
ARGUMENT	Convincing & well supported; logical	Generally convincing & generally supported; logical	An argument is attempted, but perhaps too simple or simplified	Fails to present an argument; may summarize text as a substitute for real argument
SUPPORT	Uses thoughtful, relevant evidence logically.  Evidence pertains perfectly to HOW the author uses language and what EFFECT this usage achieves.	Most examples are used effectively to support the position.  There is a satisfactory attempt to show HOW the author uses language and what EFFECT this usage achieves.	Uses examples, but may misunderstand, misrepresent, or oversimplify some of them.  The link between the argument & examples is weak.  There is a largely inadequate attempt to show HOW the author uses language and for what effect.	Merely alludes to examples in the text rather than citing them; completely misreads or misunderstands the author’s use of language and his/her intent, as well as the link between usage and effect.
PROSE	Demonstrates an ability to control a wide range of elements of effective writing; controls language	May contain lapses in diction or syntax, but is generally clear, with generally good control of language.	Immature control of writing; vague & imprecise phrasing; lapses in grammar, but still fairly readable.	Consistent weakness in writing; lack of development or organization; grammatical problems.

TOTALS