(General) Nonfiction RRN
PART I: Rhetorical Situation
1. CONTEXT (will require brief research)
a. Who is the author/what is the author’s profession/background?
b. In which source text was the reading originally published/printed/produced?
c. What is the original date of publication?
d. Identify one or two significant historical circumstances of the text’s production.
2. STRUCTURE
a. Identify how and where the author(s) employs obvious (e.g., headings, subheadings, lists,
labels, bullets, etc.) or subtle structural cues (e.g., subject transitions)
b. Identify any narratives (stories, anecdotes) and state their purpose.
c. Identify any figurative language (e.g., metaphors, allusions, personification) and state its
purpose.
3. PURPOSE
a. What is the purpose of the work (e.g., argument, narrative, commentary, etc.) and how
does the author identify that purpose?
b. Identify and explain the original intended audience as stated (or implied) by the author:
i. Identify the pronouns that the author uses and identify to whom the pronouns
refer (i.e., who is who and to whom?).
ii. Identify four words or phrases that you used to identify the audience.
c. Identify three words or phrases (not “the,” “a/an,” prepositions) that are repeated
throughout the text and explain how they relate to the text’s main idea.
4. MAIN IDEA
a. State the topic (noun):
b. State the main idea in one sentence (must include an active verb):
PART II
(You must write 300 or more words here, excluding quotes.)
1. CENTER OF TEXT
Quote one or two lines that are central to your understanding of the text (punctuate and cite as
direct quotation in MLA Style, with a signal phrase) and explain why those lines are central.
2. YOUR REACTION TO THE TEXT
With what do you associate the text? What is your emotional reaction to the text? Why do you
think you react as you do?
3. #HASHTAG
Create a social media hashtag for this text that directly relates to the text’s main idea.
Rubric: Reading Notes
Part I - Rhetorical Situation
Responses to Part I are 70% or more
complete and thoughtfully answered
Responses to Part I are less than 70%
complete and/or lack thoughtfulness.
Part II - Reader Response
Writer completes all sections and writes a minimum of 300
words (excluding quotes) in Part II responses.
Writer fails to complete all sections and/or writes less than
300 words.
Rating
Credit
No Credit
Academic Nonfiction/Scholarship RRN
PART I: Rhetorical Situation
1. CONTEXT (will require brief research)
a. Who is the author/what is the author’s profession/background?
b. In which source text was the reading originally published/printed/produced?
c. What is the original date of publication?
d. What is the text’s citation style (if present) and how do you know that?
e. Identify one theme within the document’s citations, footnotes/endnotes, bibliography, or
works cited, marginalia, annotations, etc.
2. STRUCTURE
a. Identify how and where the author(s) employs obvious (e.g., headings, subheadings, lists,
labels, bullets, etc.) or subtle structural cues (e.g., subject transitions)
b. Identify the types of evidence that the author uses (e.g., literature, oral history, raw data,
etc.)
c. Identify the author’s method of gathering or collecting that evidence and provide some
examples of that evidence.
d. Identify any narratives (stories, anecdotes) and state their purpose.
3. PURPOSE
a. What is the purpose of the work (e.g., argument, narrative, commentary, etc.) and how
does the author identify that purpose?
b. Identify and explain the original intended audience as stated (or implied) by the author:
i. Identify the pronouns that the author uses and identify to whom the pronouns
refer (i.e., who is who and to whom?).
ii. Identify four words or phrases that you used to identify the audience.
c. Identify three words or phrases (not “the,” “a/an,” prepositions) that are repeated
throughout the text and explain how they relate to the text’s main idea.
4. MAIN IDEA
a. State the topic (noun):
b. State the main idea in one sentence (must include an active verb):
PART II
(You must write 300 or more words here, excluding quotes.)
1. CENTER OF TEXT
Quote one or two lines that are central to your understanding of the text (punctuate and cite as
direct quotation in MLA Style, with a signal phrase) and explain why those lines are central.
2. YOUR REACTION TO THE TEXT
With what do you associate the text? What is your emotional reaction to the text? Why do you
think you react as you do?
3. #HASHTAG
Create a social media hashtag for this text that directly relates to the text’s main idea.
Rubric: Reading Notes
Part I - Rhetorical Situation
Responses to Part I are 70% or more
complete and thoughtfully answered
Responses to Part I are less than 70%
complete and/or lack thoughtfulness.
Part II - Reader Response
Writer completes all sections and writes a minimum of 300
words (excluding quotes) in Part II responses.
Writer fails to complete all sections and/or writes less than
300 words.
Rating
Credit
No Credit
Narrative RRN
Title:
Part I: Rhetorical Situation
1. CONTEXT (will require brief research)
a. Who is the author and what is the author’s background?
b. In which source text was the reading originally published/printed/produced?
c. What is the original date of publication?
d. Identify one or two significant historical circumstances of the text’s production.
2. STRUCTURE
a. Identify the plot of the text.
b. Identify any main characters in the text and their most important relationships.
c. Identify the text’s point of view (e.g., first-person POV, omniscient, limited).
d. Identify the historical and geographic setting.
e. Identify at least two other notable devices (e.g., tropes, clichés, figures of speech,
archetypes, etc.).
f. Identify the text’s formal features (e.g., dialogue, numbers, sectioning, flashbacks) and
give two examples.
3. PURPOSE
a. How does the work (i.e., not the author) demonstrate its purpose?
b. Identify and explain the original intended audience as implied (or stated) in the text.
c. Identify three words, phrases, or images/metaphors (not “the,” “a/an,” prepositions) that
are repeated throughout the text and explain how they relate to the text’s main idea.
4. MAIN IDEA
a. State the topic (noun):
b. State the main idea in one sentence (must include an active verb):
PART II
(You must write 300 or more words here, excluding quotes.)
1. CENTER OF TEXT
Quote one or two lines that are central to your understanding of the text (punctuate and cite as
direct quotation in MLA Style, with a signal phrase) and explain why those lines are central.
2. YOUR REACTION TO THE TEXT
With what do you associate the text? What is your emotional reaction to the text? Why do you
think you react as you do?
3. #HASHTAG
Create a social media hashtag for this text that directly relates to the text’s main idea.
Rubric: Reading Notes
Part I - Rhetorical Situation
Responses to Part I are 70% or more
complete and thoughtfully answered
Responses to Part I are less than 70%
complete and/or lack thoughtfulness.
Part II - Reader Response
Writer completes all sections and writes a minimum of 300
words (excluding quotes) in Part II responses.
Writer fails to complete all sections and/or writes less than
300 words.
Rating
Credit
No Credit
Non-linguistic Object/Text RRN
Title:
Part I: Rhetorical Situation
1. CONTEXT (may require brief research)
a. Who is the creator and what is the creator’s background and from what sources have you
found this information? [Information may not be immediately available or a creator may not exist]
b. Identify the approximate period of the object’s production.
c. Who or what is the motivation/patron for the object’s production?
d. Identify one or two significant historical circumstances of the object’s production.
2. STRUCTURE1
a. Identify the elements that comprise the object
b. Identify the mode and/or medium of the object
c. Identify the historical and geographical setting of the object
3. PURPOSE
a. How does the work (i.e., not the author) demonstrate its purpose?
b. Identify and explain the original intended audience as implied (or stated) in the text.
c. Identify elements that are repeated throughout the text and explain how they relate to the
text’s theme.
5. MAIN IDEA
a. State the theme (noun):
b. State the main idea in one sentence (must include an active verb):
PART II
(You must write 300 or more words here, excluding quotes.)
1. CENTER OF THE OBJECT
Identify an element of the object that is central to the object’s theme and explain its centrality.
2. YOUR REACTION TO THE TEXT
With what do you associate the object? What is your emotional reaction to the object? Why do
you think you react as you do?
3. #HASHTAG
Create a social media hashtag for this text that directly relates to the text’s main idea.
Rubric: Reading Notes
Part I - Rhetorical Situation
Responses to Part I are 70% or more
complete and thoughtfully answered
Responses to Part I are less than 70%
complete and/or lack thoughtfulness.
1
Part II - Reader Response
Writer completes all sections and writes a minimum of 300
words (excluding quotes) in Part II responses.
Writer fails to complete all sections and/or writes less than
300 words.
Adapt structural questions to be specific to kind of non-linguistic object/text.
Rating
Credit
No Credit