RA Intro

What are you NOT being asked to do no the RA essay?

• Take a position on a controversy or topic

• Analyze the writing

• Identify the persuasive tools and tricks an author uses

• Analyze how the author uses persuasive tools to interact with the audience

What is one of the most important things to remember when approaching the RA essay?

• Read the introductory info provided

• Have a pencil ready

• Why you are writing this essay

• The structure of a Rogerian argument

What do you learn from the background/introduction/context section of the prompt?

• Give you instructions and directions

• Who wrote the text

• Who the intended audience was

• Insight into their purpose

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.2

CCSS.RI.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

What should your thesis have in it in regards to this particular essay?

• a focus on 3 or 4 strategies

• focus on an overall strategy

• every single device the author uses

• your opinion on how good a writer they are

What do you do to show how your strategy is doing what you claim it is?

• provide your own experience with the strategy

• give an example of that strategy

• explain why the author chose that strategy

• how it worked on the audience

When you are explaining the strategy being used in the body of your essay, what three questions should you answer?

• what is the strategy?

• how is it working in the specific example?

• which strategy you prefer?

• why did the author or speaker use this strategy on this particular audience?

What phrases should you avoid using?

• "the author uses it on this audience to get his point across"

• "the author uses it on this audience to tell them what he wants them to know"

• "the author uses it on this audience to make his point"

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.6

CCSS.RI.11-12.6

CCSS.RL.11-12.6

CCSS.RL.9-10.6

CCSS.RI.8.9

What makes the best RA Essay?

• when students can summarize what the text is about

• when students provide their own personal judgement about the text

• when students get into interpreting and speak confidently about how this strategy makes the specific audience feel

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.10

CCSS.RI.11-12.10

CCSS.RI.8.10

CCSS.RL.11-12.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

How does the audience play a role in explaining strategies?

• they help you know what strategies the author used

• they are a strategy you can discuss

• they provide background context

• they help to show why the author used the strategies they did

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.6

CCSS.RI.11-12.6

CCSS.RL.11-12.6

CCSS.RL.9-10.6

CCSS.RI.8.6

What are the different strategies you can focus on? (Select all that apply)

• Rhetorical situation

• Figures of speech

• Ethos, pathos, logos,

• Sentence structure/style

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.6

CCSS.RI.11-12.6

CCSS.RL.11-12.6

CCSS.RL.9-10.6

CCSS.RI.8.6