AP English Language and Composition
Unit 1: Education – Text Review
PART ONE: In one color: review and compile the following information from each text used
in this unit. You may use any materials you have produced so far (notes, rhetorical précis, etc.).
Your syllabus will also be a useful resource.
1. Author, title, type of text, date
2. Subject + central argument about subject
3. Rhetorical method:
a. patterns of development (LC p. 17-25)
b. rhetorical devices (CA p. 617-619; LC p. 1009-1013; flash cards)
4. Intended audience
List of Texts
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Malcolm X – “Learning to Read”
Prose – “I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read”
Alexie – “Superman and Me”
Talbot – “Best in Class”
Zinsser – “The Right to Fail”
Borkat – “A Liberating Curriculum”
Emerson – from Education
Example Format
Malcolm X
1. Malcolm X – “Learning to Read” – essay excerpted from autobiography (1965)
2. Subject: self-education. Central argument: Self-education positively increases one’s
awareness of the world.
3. Rhetorical method:
a. Pattern of Development: process analysis; narrative
b. Rhetorical Devices: anecdote, rhetorical question, imperative sentences, appeals
to logos, middle diction
4. Intended audience: proponents of black separatism; scholars of the American Civil Rights
movement
PART TWO: In another color: annotate your review. Identify similarities and differences
between texts; note commonly used rhetorical devices and add to your list; comment on any
notable absences in time period, intended audience, etc.