Rhetorical Precis: Writing Effective Summaries of Academic Works, Study Guides, Projects, Research of English Language

Download Rhetorical Precis: Writing Effective Summaries of Academic Works and more Study Guides, Projects, Research English Language in PDF only on Docsity! The Rhetorical Précis Woodworth, Margaret K. (1988). The rhetorical précis. Rhetoric Review, 7.1, 156-164. In a four sentence format, the rhetorical précis offers a short account of an article, essay, or resource that does more than summarize its content. The four sentences of the précis: 1. Name of author, [optional: a phrase describing author], genre and title of work, date in parentheses; a rhetorically accurate verb (such as “assert,” “argue,” “suggest,” “imply,” “claim,” etc.); and a THAT clause containing the major assertion (thesis statement) of the work. 2. An explanation of how the author develops and/or supports the thesis, usually in chronological order. 3. A statement of the author’s apparent purpose, followed by an “in order” phrase indicating the change the author wants to effect in the audience. 4. A description of the intended audience and the relationship the author established with the audience. Sample: Douglas Park, in his essay “Audiences” (1994), suggests that teaching audience is an essential but elusive aspect of teaching writing. Park develops this idea by exploring different definitions of audience, looking at how a text itself can delineate audience, and then discussing specific strategies writers can use to create contexts for audience. His purpose is to help teachers of writing understand and teach the different aspects of audience in order that they can help students improve the sense of audience in their writing. Park establishes an informal relationship with teachers who are interested in strengthening their students’ weak writing. Précis for the Historical Trace Project For our course readings, you and your colleagues will develop rhetorical précis as part of the historical trace project. These précis need not adhere to the strict four sentence guidelines advocated by Woodworth, but you should try to provide the content suggested by her. In other words, your précis should identify the thesis of the article, offer the author’s support for his/her thesis, state the goal of the scholarship, and suggest the article’s intended audience. All historical trace project components, including your ten précis, are due by 2pm Friday, September 8th. Please see the course project page for further details about the historical trace project and its components: http://www.u.arizona.edu/~kimmehea/engl510/cj.htm. Rhetorical Précis 1