Get Mr. Hazeltine English / Writing Lab Rhetorical Prcis*

A rhetorical precis follows a very rigid format of four sentences that each have a specific purpose: Name of the author, genre and title of the work, publication date in parenthesis, a rhetorically accurate verb ("argues", "implies", "claims"), and a "that" clause containing the main argument or assertion of the piece.

A rhetorical précis analyzes both the content (the what) and the delivery (the how) of a unit of spoken or written discourse. It is a highly structured four-sentence paragraph blending summary and analysis.

In her article, "Who Cares if Johnny Can't Read?,” Larissa MacFarquhar (1997) asserts that Americans are reading more than ever despite claims to the contrary and that it is time to reconsider why we value reading so much, especially certain kinds of "high culture" reading.

The purpose of the précis is to give as much information about the written work as possible in four to five sentences. The précis answers the basic questions about the rhetorical situation of the writing. It will eventually serve as the introduction paragraph in a rhetorical analysis essay.

Parts of a Rhetorical Précis The first sentence identifies who wrote the text, where and when it was published, and what its topic and claim are. The second sentence explores how the text is developed and organized. The third sentence explains why the author wrote this, her purpose or intended effect.

Rhetorical Précis – description and examples Developed by Margaret Woodworth, 1 this method is designed to highlight key elements of the rhetorical situation and help students with reading comprehension and treatment of source materials in their writing.

A rhetorical précis, as developed by Margaret K. Woodworth and described in her 1988 article “The Rhetorical Précis” (published by Rhetoric Review), consists of four dense but direct sentences. The first sentence identifies who wrote the text, where and when it was published, and what its topic and claim are.