AP LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION, 2017-18

MS. LEAPHART
Rhetorical Analysis Essay on excerpt from Ta-Nehisi Coate’s Between the World and
Me

Prompt: As we read Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me, each of you will be
responsible for leading discussion on one section of the book. In particular, you will focus on
the excerpt from that section that I give you as a photocopy to annotate. After reading and
discussing the entire book with your classmates, you will build a solid understanding of Coates’
purpose in writing this public letter to his son about what it means to navigate this world as a
black male. Write an essay that analyzes his use of rhetoric to support his purpose.

Requirements (use this checklist to help you as you write):

 Write an essay that is a under 1000 words.
 Clearly define what you see as Coates’ overall purpose in the excerpt (Your statement of his purpose
is your thesis).
 Examine at least 3 of the rhetorical strategies you notice in the excerpt (remember the WILDSTR
acronym) to determine how he uses language to accomplish his purpose
 Offer substantial textual evidence (direct quotations!) to illustrate your analysis
 Consider Coates’ organization as well as his rhetorical strategies
 Analyze the overall effect of rhetorical strategies and their arrangement and explain how he uses the
strategies to achieve his purpose.
 Arrange your analysis in an order that is both logical and strategic to showing the overall effect of
rhetoric
 Demonstrate a strong command of the English language in your writing; in particular, aim to use strong
verbs and active voice.

Deadlines:
 Annotated version of excerpt—due Day after you lead discussion
 Thesis statement—due Monday 12/11
 First Draft—due Thursday, 12/14 at 11:59 through Turnitin (hard copy due 12/15 in class)
 Revision—due Monday, 1/1/2018 at 11:59 through Turnitin (hard copy due 1/2 in class)
 AP LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION, 2017-18
MS. LEAPHART
Rhetorical Analysis Essay on excerpt from Ta-Nehisi Coate’s Between the World and
Me

Inadequate Developing Proficient Skilled Exceptional

1 2 3 4 5
Purpose: Does the writer
clearly define Coates’s
purpose in his narrative
and explain how he uses
rhetoric to achieve it? Does
the writer remain focused
on illustrating this purpose
throughout, returning to it
in the conclusion?
Evidence: Does the writer
develop the analysis with
direct textual evidence to
illustrate Coates’s rhetorical
choices? Does the writer
properly credit references
using signal phrases and
parenthetical citations?
Analysis: Does the writer
thoroughly explain his/her
analysis of Coates’s
rhetorical choices and their
overall effects? Are the
writer’s explanations
appropriate and
convincing?
Arrangement: Does the
writer arrange the essay in
an order that is both logical
and strategic to showing the
overall effect of Coates’s
rhetoric? Does the writer
follow the MEAL plan and
use clear topic and
concluding sentences to tie
paragraphs to the thesis?
Language: Does the writer
demonstrate control over
the wide-ranging elements
of effective writing
including sentence variety,
vocabulary, punctuation,
grammar, spelling etc?
Process: Does the writer
document the entire writing
process including an
annotated excerpt on
Coates’s rhetoric, a thesis
statement, a first draft with
instructor comments, and a
self-evaluation rubric? Does
the writer demonstrate
improvement throughout?