AP Rhetorical Analysis Guidelines
The Prompt
Every rhetorical analysis prompt is comprised of two distinct tasks: a concrete one and an
abstract one. Look at the following rhetorical analysis prompt from a past AP exam. The
concrete task is underlined, and the abstract task is bracketed.
 The passage below is an excerpt from Jennifer Price’s recent essay “The Plastic Pink
Flamingo: A Natural History.” The essay examines the popularity of the plastic pink
flamingo in the 1950s. Read the passage carefully. Then write an essay in which you
analyze how Price crafts the text [to reveal her view of United States culture.]
Thesis Statement Elements
 The author’s name
 + an adjective (e.g., sophisticated, carefully crafted, flashy, inventive, etc.)
 + the rhetorical strategies you’ll use as topics for body paragraphs (focus on strategies
that help the author achieve ethos, pathos, and/or logos to fulfill his or her purpose) –
addresses the concrete task
 + a strong verb (e.g., demonstrates, creates, emphasizes, generates, fulfills, etc.)
 + the function (i.e., what the rhetoric does for the piece) – addresses the abstract task
Example: Douglass’s sophisticated use of diction, imagery and figurative language creates his
unfavorable attitude towards slavery.
Introduction Development
1. Use a “grabber” opening sentence that gives insight into the over-arching idea of the
piece or conveys an essential truth from it.
2. Write one or two sentences (NO MORE than two) that set a context for the paper by
describing what the writer is doing in a way that goes beyond the prompt—the
statement should from the critical thinking you’ve done while reading the piece and
should share an insight.
3. Write a short, “essential quote” that captures the “spirit” of the piece and signals a
direction for your paper.
4. Write your thesis statement.
Body Paragraph Development
Each body paragraph should consist of three parts:
5. Assertion (Answers “Why?”) – A particular insight you have about how the author
achieves his or her purpose (hint: this purpose is provided in the prompt’s abstract task).
 Use a similar formula to the one presented above for the essay’s thesis statement,
adding examples from text. Example: Andrist’s snazzy diction recreates the dynamic
personality of General Custer with choices such as “flamboyant” and “teetotaler.”
 OR you can use the following formula:
o Author’s last name
o + a verb
o + the term (e.g., diction, imagery, figurative language, etc.)
o + the function
Example: Barry uses antithetical ideas to illustrate the uncertainty that the true
scientist must learn to accept if he/she is to make sense of the unknown.
6. Textual evidence (Answers “How?”) – Quotations and/or paraphrases from the text.
Example: In the third paragraph, Barry contrasts the scientist’s work with the possibility
that all that work could be lost with one new “laboratory finding.” In paragraph four, he
contrasts the idea of the “unknown,” knowledge which “exist[s] on the frontier,” with
the “known,” knowledge which has already been tried and tested.
7. Analysis (Answers “So What?” or Explains Effect) – Further explanation and elaboration
of the assertion. Analysis, along with your assertion, is a crucial element in each
paragraph. In analysis, you explore the possibilities which connect your textual evidence
to the author’s meaning. This is the place to be creative, to allow your mind to forge
new ideas which express the author’s intent in using a particular rhetorical device.
Example: The antithetical ideas Barry uses help portray the characteristics of the true
researcher: a person willing to enter into the wilderness and endure the uncertainty and
humility required to obtain new scientific information. A true researcher must live on the
edge, in a sense—on the edge of new knowledge, on the edge of possible refutation of
everything he/she had always believed to be true. To reach the “known,” a researcher
will be willing to experience the confusing and frustrating nature of the “unknown.”
Conclusion Development
 Restate author’s name, verb, and function.
 One sentence recapping Body Paragraph 1, one recapping Body Paragraph 2, and so on.
 Finish with a fresh, brilliant insight that ties all of your ideas together and flows logically
from your analysis.