Rhetorical Precis

Part summary, part analysis, this highly structured paragraph explains what a text says and does.

HOW TO STRUCTURE A RHETORICAL PRECIS:

Sentence 1: Name of author, genre, title, date in parenthesis; a rhetorically accurate verb (claims, asserts, suggests, explores, implies, examines, argues, etc.) and a THAT clause containing the major assertion or thesis statement.

Sentence 2: Explanation of HOW author develops and supports thesis.

Sentence 3: A statement of authors' intended purpose, followed by an "in order to" phrase.

Sentence 4: A description of the intended audience and/or relationship the author establishes with the audience.

Please write a rhetorical precis for the NEW article you received today, "A beastly kind of cruelty: drive-by shooters, often youths, are killing farm animals in a growing wave of violence. The culprits may face only vandalism charges."

I'm still at school as I write, and I am starting to worry about dinner for my dad, and all of that night time stuff...but sometime later this weekend, I will write a rhetorical precis on the Jeremy Rifkin article we've already read so you can see what it looks like. But don't wait around for me...get started when you're ready, and then check yours against mine on Sunday afternoon...

Have a lovely weekend, you hard-working students!