By Jessica B.—PhD English teacher.
If you’re reading this guide, our guess is you’re either getting ready to take the AP English Language and Composition exam (we’ll just call it AP Lang) or you’re thinking about whether or not you want to take this AP class.
Either way, congrats.
If you’re getting close to completing the course, yay you! And if you’re being proactive and scoping things out before you make the decision to commit to this class for a year, yay you, too!
As you’ve probably heard, the AP Lang exam is a lot—a lot of writing, a lot of reading, and a lot of questions to answer. In this guide, we’re going to walk you through one specific part of the test—the rhetorical analysis essay. What does this essay require, you ask? How long do I have to write it? What does rhetorical analysis even mean? We’re here to answer all of these questions, so read on!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
(click to skip ahead)What is the rhetorical analysis essay?
The rhetorical analysis essay is one of three essays the AP Lang exam requires you to write (the argumentative essay, the synthesis essay, and the rhetorical analysis essay). It asks you to analyze an argument in a text (more on that below).
These essays comprise 55% of your total score on the exam.
Argument essay
The argumentative essay asks you to craft an argument about a given topic that you must support with evidence. (For a full guide to the argument essay, head here.)
Synthesis essay
The synthesis essay also requires a lot of reading, and also asks you craft an argument, but with this essay you’ll read six texts that are all relevant to a given topic and then you must write an argument in which you synthesize (or bring together) at least three of the six texts to help you formulate and support your thesis. (For a full guide to the synthesis essay, head here.)
Rhetorical analysis essay
The rhetorical analysis essay is a different animal altogether. In this essay, you’ll be asked to analyze someone else’s argument by reading a non-fiction text, considering the strategies the writer uses, and then arguing about the effectiveness of those strategies. So, you’re still making an argument here, but in this essay, your argument is about another writer’s argument.
What does it mean to do rhetorical analysis?
We’ve been throwing the words “rhetorical analysis” around a lot, and chances are you’ve already done this in your English classes even if your teacher didn’t use this language, but let’s make sure you have a clear idea of what we mean when we say these words. (Especially for those of you who may be thinking about taking the test without having taken the class.)
“Rhetoric”usually refers to persuasive speaking or writing in which the speaker or writer uses specific strategies, types of arguments, deliberate language, and various argumentative forms to convince their listeners or readers of their viewpoint.
So, “rhetorical analysis” is the consideration and critique of these different forms to determine how effective the speaker has been.
When analyzing rhetoric, you’ll look at purpose and audience and then think carefully about things like whether or not
the speaker has made effective word choices
successfully employed emotional and logical appeals
and organized their argument in the way that packs the most punch.
Rhetorical analysis focuses on how the speaker makes their argument instead of just looking at what the argument is.
How is the AP Lang Rhetorical Analysis essay scored?
AP Lang Grading Rubric
AP Lang exam readers use a rubric as they read and assess student essays that focuses on three key areas:
the thesis
the evidence and commentary
and the overall sophistication of the writing/argument.
Each category is assigned a point value and all three categories equal a total of six points. That might feel confusing, so let’s look more closely at the breakdown.
Thesis Scoring
Your thesis counts for one point and is graded on a few things:
Does it relate to the prompt?
Does it make a claim instead of summarizing the prompt?
Is it actually “defensible?” (This is the term the College Board uses to describe whether or not you can support your thesis) Is there actually a thesis in there?
Evidence and Commentary Scoring
This is the big one when it comes to points, as it counts for 4 out of the 6 total points for the essay.
Essay readers will look at the support you’ve provided for your argument (the evidence) and your analysis of that support (the commentary).
They’ll consider whether or not your evidence is relevant, specific, and supportive of all parts of your thesis.
And then they’ll analyze your explanation of how the evidence supports your thesis, how thorough you are in exploring rhetorical devices, and how consistent your focus is throughout the argument.
Remember, the goal is for you to analyze the “how” of the argument, so graders will be looking for your clear understanding of argumentative strategies as opposed to just the content of the argument.
Sophistication Scoring
This one is a lot more subjective than the other two, but the good news is that it’s only worth one out of the six total points.
Essay readers want to see that you have a nuanced understanding of the argumentative strategies being used and that you resist “oversimplifying.”
You’ll get sophistication points if your own writing is “vivid and persuasive” and if you avoid using overcomplicated diction (word choice) or syntax (sentence structure) that can cloud your ideas instead of clarifying them.
(Side note: Using bigger words just for the sake of bigger words tends to lead to worse writing, not better. See this Princeton study for more.)
Example Rhetorical Analysis Prompt
At this point, you’re probably thinking it would be helpful to see an actual prompt.
We completely agree.
Luckily, the College Board happily shares past essay prompts so you can get a sense of what the exam looks like.
Here’s a question from the 2024 exam we can look at together:
Reshma Saujani is an attorney, author, and activist who founded Girls Who Code, an organization that works to advance opportunities for girls and women to find careers in the technology sector. The following passage is excerpted from Saujani’s contribution to American Like Me: Reflections on Life Between Cultures, a 2018 anthology of essays by prominent Americans with backgrounds in multiple cultures. The excerpt begins after Saujani discusses founding a multicultural student organization at her high school. Read the passage carefully. Write an essay that analyzes the rhetorical choices Saujani makes to convey her message about the nature of bravery.
In your response you should do the following:
Respond to the prompt with a thesis that analyzes the writer’s rhetorical choices.
Select and use evidence to support your line of reasoning.
Explain how the evidence supports your line of reasoning.
Demonstrate an understanding of the rhetorical situation.
Use appropriate grammar and punctuation in communicating your argument.
We’ll break down how to write your essay in detail in the next section.
How to write your Rhetorical Analysis essay
There’s a lot to unpack in this prompt, but let’s start with some general guidelines about how you might approach writing this essay (and really any rhetorical analysis essay on the AP Lang exam), and then we can get into some specifics related to this prompt.
Remember that these are only suggestions. If you have a different writing process that works for you, use it. (But in our experience, what is below can work well.)
Timing
You’ll get a total of 2 hours and 15 minutes to write all three essays (with a 15-minute reading period included in that time). So, you’re really looking at 2 hours for three essays, which means you should spend roughly 40 minutes on each essay.
We recommend you spend the bulk of those 40 minutes doing the actual writing, so here’s a potential plan for you to follow:
*5 minutes to pre-write (outlining, brainstorming, planning)
*30 minutes to write the essay
*5 minutes to revise (go back and look for clarity, make sure your thesis is relevant and persuasive, check for sufficient textual evidence)
We totally get the temptation to use the full 40 minutes to just write the essay, but since you won’t have much time to go back and revise, a little planning on the front end can save you the trouble of having to organize as you go.
Logos, pathos, ethos
Good old Aristotle. He gave us “formal logic,” created a method by which we could explore ethics, and most importantly for our purposes, he’s responsible for what is often called the “Aristotelian triangle.”
This is one of the first things you’ll learn in your AP Lang course (assuming you’re taking it), and it’s an excellent place to start when doing any rhetorical analysis.
Aristotle believed that the most effective arguments employed a balance of logos (appeals to an audience’s logic), pathos (appeals to an audience's emotions), and ethos (the ways a speaker can convince their audience of their credibility).
So, you can always use this framework as a way to analyze someone else’s argument:
HOW do they convince their audience to listen to them?
WHAT logical reasoning and evidence do they employ?
WHICH emotions do they pull on to persuade their listeners or readers?
Audience and purpose
Another tried and true method of rhetorical analysis is to identify the intended audience and purpose of the argument and then determine how effectively the speaker keeps that audience and purpose in mind.
For example, if a politician (or their speechwriter) has written a speech to convince voters from a different political party to vote in favor of their candidacy, they would need to use different appeals than ones they would use when speaking to people who have voted for them in the past. And they may appeal to things like sense of patriotism or the common good of the nation.
Other possible techniques to analyze
In addition to logos, pathos, ethos and audience and purpose, the prompt about Reshma Saujani’s essay invites some other possible methods of rhetorical analysis that point to techniques writers often use that you can keep an eye out for in your reading and analysis:
Definitions: How does she define bravery and does she consistently return to that definition?
Point of view: Does she consider perspectives other than her own?
Tone: What is her tone and is that appropriate for her audience?
Word Choice/Diction: What specific language does she use to convince her readers that her idea of bravery is one we should pay attention to? For example, she mentions her “election loss” several times—is that effective?
Rhetorical Devices: What rhetorical devices does she use—alliteration? metaphor? anecdotes? (Not to worry, you’ll learn a long list of these in your AP Lang class!)
The key to effective rhetorical analysis is to consider both the strategies that can apply to analyzing ANY non-fiction text and those that are specific to the text provided on the AP Lang exam.
So, have some tools already in your pocket AND be willing to be responsive and adaptable. We know, easier said than done. But you’ll hone these skills in your AP Lang class and will be ready for this exam!
Example rhetorical analysis essays with official scoring
We think the clearest way to understand the approaches and scoring we covered above is to look at some sample essays, examine how they build their rhetorical analysis, and understand how and why they are scored the way they are.
And rather than just taking our word for it, you can spend time examining 3 sample essays in response to an AP Lang rhetorical analysis prompt and their scores.
Here are 3 example AP rhetorical analysis essays with score explanations from the College Board (from 2021).
And if you want to try some practice, here’s a rhetorical analysis prompt from 2023.
Jessica B. has a Ph.D in English from the University of Southern California and teaches English at a Los Angeles-area independent school, where she has also been English department chair and a class dean. Sandra Cisneros is her hero, and she loves books, her awesomely-sarcastic family, the beach, cozy sweaters, and more books. Oh, and her sweet pitbull/lab mix named Ruby.
Top values: Curiosity, equity, wonder
