Name:______________________Date:____________Period:_____________
 
A “Reading Rhetorically” Assignment
 
Key Term
 
Rhetorical Précis: a method of description that enables one to quickly and
effectively describe the argument an author is making in a text; a highly
structured summary, usually a paragraph or two, which records the essential
rhetorical elements in any spoken or written discourse.  
 
Introduction
 
Based on the information presented in this handout and the Unsung Heroes unit,
you will write a rhetorical précis for Howard Zinn’s “Unsung Heroes.”  
 
Your rhetorical précis will only be comprised of four sentences.   
 
How to Write a Rhetorical Précis
 
Each sentence in a rhetorical précis has a specific purpose.  Read the
information below to learn the purpose of each.
 
Sentence #1:   
 
In the first sentence, provide the name of the author, a phrase describing the
author (if possible), the type and title of the work, the date the work was
published in parenthesis right after the title, a rhetorically accurate verb (e.g.
“asserts,” “argues,” “suggests,” “implies,” “claims,” etc.) that describes what the
author is doing in the text, and a THAT clause in which you state the major
assertion (the claim or argument) of the author’s text.
 
Example (indent the first sentence as it is the beginning of a paragraph):
 
In the introduction to his book The Nature of Prejudice (1954), Gordon
Allport, a Harvard psychologist, suggests that we need a better, more
comprehensive, working definition of the word prejudice.
 
Sentence #2:
 
In sentence number two, explain how the author develops, structures, and/or
supports the argument (e.g. comparing and contrasting, narrating, illustrating,
defining, etc.).  Present your explanation in the same chronological order that the
items of support are presented in the work.

Example (the sentence that follows “Example #1” above):
 
He gives readers a list of apparent instances of prejudices in the opening
passage, and, in the second half of the piece, he discusses various existing
definitions of prejudice, each one a little more complex than the one before.
 
Sentence #3
 
In the third sentence, state the author’s apparent purpose for writing the text,
followed by an “in order to” phrase which explains what the author wants the
audience to do, feel, or understand as a result of reading the text.
 
Example (the sentence that follows “Example #2” above):
 
Allport wrote this piece in order for readers to have a definitive definition of the
word prejudice.
 
Sentence #4
 
In the fourth sentence, describe the intended audience
 
Example (the sentence that follows “Example # 3” above):
 
His audience appears to be anyone who would be concerned about prejudice in
society and/or in themselves.
 
Example of a Rhetorical Précis:
 
In the introduction to his book The Nature of Prejudice (1954), Gordon
Allport, a Harvard psychologist, suggests that we need a better, more
comprehensive, working definition of the word prejudice. He gives readers a list
of apparent instances of prejudices in the opening passage, and, in the second
half of the piece, he discusses various existing definitions of prejudice, each one
a little more complex than the one before. Allport wrote this piece in order for
readers to have a definitive definition of the word prejudice. His audience
appears to be anyone who would be concerned about prejudice in society and/or
in themselves.