Last Name 1
Name
Instructor’s Name
ENGL 124
Day Month Year
Rhetorical Précis: Title of Source
Begin by annotating your texts; then follow the format for your précis, here. Your précis can be singlespaced to make each entry more succinct on the page. Each précis should include a) in a single coherent
sentence, the name of the author, author’s profession, and title of their work, a rhetorically accurate verb (e.g.,
assert, argue, deny, refute, prove, disprove, explain), and a “that” clause containing the main claim of the work;
b) in a single coherent sentence, an explanation of how the author develops and supports the major claim with
key subclaims that are specifically named, between commas or semi-colons, including a citation; c) in a single
coherent sentence, the author's purpose, followed by an "in order to" phrase; and d) in a single coherent sentence,
a description of the intended audience and/or the relationship the author establishes with the audience and/or
perceived biases of the author. Following each précis, respond to the following questions, then upload this
document and your annotated source texts to the submission site I’ll create for you each week.
How sound is this source and why? Response
What do you find strong or especially agree with based on your current understanding and
why? Response
What do you find weak, fallacious, or especially disagree with based on your current
understanding and why? Response
Has your thinking about your chosen topic changed as a result of this source and why/why
not? Response
How might this source relate to an essay you might write? Response
Works Cited (examples)
Dean, Cornelia. "Executive on a Mission: Saving the Planet." The New York Times, 22 May 2007,
www.nytimes.com/2007/05/22/science/earth/22ander.html?_r=0. Accessed 12 May 2016.
Ebert, Roger. Review of An Inconvenient Truth, directed by Davis Guggenheim. rogerebert.com, 1
June 2006, www.rogerebert.com/reviews/an-inconvenient-truth-2006. Accessed 15 June 2016.
Nordhaus, William D. "After Kyoto: Alternative Mechanisms to Control Global Warming."
American Economic Review, vol. 96, no. 2, 2006, pp. 31-34.
1
Last Name 2
Rhetorical Précis: Title of Source
Begin by annotating your texts; then follow the format for your précis, here. Your précis can be singlespaced to make each entry more succinct on the page. Each précis should include a) in a single coherent
sentence, the name of the author, author’s profession, and title of their work, a rhetorically accurate verb (e.g.,
assert, argue, deny, refute, prove, disprove, explain), and a “that” clause containing the main claim of the work;
b) in a single coherent sentence, an explanation of how the author develops and supports the major claim with
key subclaims that are specifically named, between commas or semi-colons, including a citation; c) in a single
coherent sentence, the author's purpose, followed by an "in order to" phrase; and d) in a single coherent sentence,
a description of the intended audience and/or the relationship the author establishes with the audience and/or
perceived biases of the author. Following each précis, respond to the following questions, then upload this
document and your annotated source texts to the submission site I’ll create for you each week.
How sound is this source and why? Response
What do you find strong or especially agree with based on your current understanding and
why? Response
What do you find weak, fallacious, or especially disagree with based on your current
understanding and why? Response
Has your thinking about your chosen topic changed as a result of this source and why/why
not? Response
How might this source relate to an essay you might write? Response
Works Cited (examples)
Dean, Cornelia. "Executive on a Mission: Saving the Planet." The New York Times, 22 May 2007,
www.nytimes.com/2007/05/22/science/earth/22ander.html?_r=0. Accessed 12 May 2016.
Ebert, Roger. Review of An Inconvenient Truth, directed by Davis Guggenheim. rogerebert.com, 1
June 2006, www.rogerebert.com/reviews/an-inconvenient-truth-2006. Accessed 15 June 2016.
Nordhaus, William D. "After Kyoto: Alternative Mechanisms to Control Global Warming."
American Economic Review, vol. 96, no. 2, 2006, pp. 31-34.
2
Last Name 1
Name
Instructor’s Name
ENGL 124
Day Month Year
Rhetorical Précis: Title of Source
Begin by annotating your texts; then follow the format for your précis, here. Your précis can be singlespaced to make each entry more succinct on the page. Each précis should include a) in a single coherent
sentence, the name of the author, author’s profession, and title of their work, a rhetorically accurate verb (e.g.,
assert, argue, deny, refute, prove, disprove, explain), and a “that” clause containing the main claim of the work;
b) in a single coherent sentence, an explanation of how the author develops and supports the major claim with
key subclaims that are specifically named, between commas or semi-colons, including a citation; c) in a single
coherent sentence, the author's purpose, followed by an "in order to" phrase; and d) in a single coherent sentence,
a description of the intended audience and/or the relationship the author establishes with the audience and/or
perceived biases of the author. Following each précis, respond to the following questions, then upload this
document and your annotated source texts to the submission site I’ll create for you each week.
How sound is this source and why? Response
What do you find strong or especially agree with based on your current understanding and
why? Response
What do you find weak, fallacious, or especially disagree with based on your current
understanding and why? Response
Has your thinking about your chosen topic changed as a result of this source and why/why
not? Response
How might this source relate to an essay you might write? Response
Works Cited (examples)
Dean, Cornelia. "Executive on a Mission: Saving the Planet." The New York Times, 22 May 2007,
www.nytimes.com/2007/05/22/science/earth/22ander.html?_r=0. Accessed 12 May 2016.
Ebert, Roger. Review of An Inconvenient Truth, directed by Davis Guggenheim. rogerebert.com, 1
June 2006, www.rogerebert.com/reviews/an-inconvenient-truth-2006. Accessed 15 June 2016.
Nordhaus, William D. "After Kyoto: Alternative Mechanisms to Control Global Warming."
American Economic Review, vol. 96, no. 2, 2006, pp. 31-34.
1
Last Name 2
Rhetorical Précis: Title of Source
Begin by annotating your texts; then follow the format for your précis, here. Your précis can be singlespaced to make each entry more succinct on the page. Each précis should include a) in a single coherent
sentence, the name of the author, author’s profession, and title of their work, a rhetorically accurate verb (e.g.,
assert, argue, deny, refute, prove, disprove, explain), and a “that” clause containing the main claim of the work;
b) in a single coherent sentence, an explanation of how the author develops and supports the major claim with
key subclaims that are specifically named, between commas or semi-colons, including a citation; c) in a single
coherent sentence, the author's purpose, followed by an "in order to" phrase; and d) in a single coherent sentence,
a description of the intended audience and/or the relationship the author establishes with the audience and/or
perceived biases of the author. Following each précis, respond to the following questions, then upload this
document and your annotated source texts to the submission site I’ll create for you each week.
How sound is this source and why? Response
What do you find strong or especially agree with based on your current understanding and
why? Response
What do you find weak, fallacious, or especially disagree with based on your current
understanding and why? Response
Has your thinking about your chosen topic changed as a result of this source and why/why
not? Response
How might this source relate to an essay you might write? Response
Works Cited (examples)
Dean, Cornelia. "Executive on a Mission: Saving the Planet." The New York Times, 22 May 2007,
www.nytimes.com/2007/05/22/science/earth/22ander.html?_r=0. Accessed 12 May 2016.
Ebert, Roger. Review of An Inconvenient Truth, directed by Davis Guggenheim. rogerebert.com, 1
June 2006, www.rogerebert.com/reviews/an-inconvenient-truth-2006. Accessed 15 June 2016.
Nordhaus, William D. "After Kyoto: Alternative Mechanisms to Control Global Warming."
American Economic Review, vol. 96, no. 2, 2006, pp. 31-34.
2
Rhetorical Précis Introduction
A rhetorical précis (pronounced “pray-see,” whether singular or plural) is a summary of the essential points of an academic
source. It includes four sentences which allow us to academic texts closely, analyze them carefully, and produce a succinct
summary of them.
Preparing to Write a Rhetorical Précis
To write a rhetorical précis, the first step is to understand a source text very well. This requires annotating each source
text, highlighting, underlining, circling and making notes like “main claim,” “subclaim 1,” “evidence,”
“counterargument,” “rebuttal,” “key term” in the margins, and noting questions.
The Rhetorical Précis Format
1. In a single coherent sentence, write the following:
a. the name of the author, author’s profession, and title of their work,
b. a rhetorically accurate verb (e.g., assert, argue, deny, refute, prove, disprove, explain),
c. a “that” clause containing the main claim of the work.
2. In a single coherent sentence, explain how the author develops and supports the major claim with key subclaims
that are specifically named, between commas, including a citation.
3. In a single coherent sentence, state of the author's purpose, followed by an "in order to" phrase.
4. In a single coherent sentence give a description of the intended audience and/or the relationship the author
establishes with the audience and/or perceived biases of the author.
Rhetorical Précis Sample
The following sample illustrates the précis format. (It also provides a useful theory about the ways we form beliefs.
You can see that in this class, we favor the “method of science,” as does Pierce. Note that you do NOT need to use
numbers in your précis.)
In “The Fixation of Belief,” scientist and philosopher Charles S. Pierce asserts that we possess
psychological and social mechanisms designed to protect and cement (or “fix”) our beliefs. Pierce
supports this claim with descriptions of four methods of fixing beliefs and their limitations, namely:
the method of tenacity, or holding closely to what one already believes, which may be shaken in the
presence of others’ beliefs; the method of authority, or holding to beliefs those in authority hold,
which may limit what one may believe; the a priori method, or holding to what “sounds good”; which
is a matter of personal taste or intuition; and the method of science, or relying on the following
assumptions: there is a real world out there existing independently of what we think about it, the real
world has certain real characteristics and operates according to real and regular laws, and that if we
understood these ways we could discern the truth of the real world out there (2, 5, 7, 9). Pierce’s
purpose in writing this essay is to point out the ways that people commonly establish their belief
systems in order to jolt the awareness of the reader into considering how their own belief system
may be the product of such methods and to consider what Pierce calls “the method of science” as a
progressive alternative to the other three. Given the technical language used in the article, Pierce
is writing to a well-educated audience with some knowledge of philosophy and history and a
willingness to consider other ways of thinking.
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Evaluative Questions to Follow Each Précis:
Following each rhetorical précis, respond to the following questions to evaluate each source:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Using the CRAAP test, how sound is this source and why?
What do you find strong or especially agree with based on your current understanding and why?
What do you weak, fallacious, or especially disagree with based on your current understanding and why?
Has your thinking about your chosen topic changed as a result of this source and why/why not?
How might this source relate to an essay you could write?
Videos About Rhetorical Précis:
The Rhetorical Precis - Alice Myatt (4:40)
Rhetorical Precis Sample - Cate Miller (4:39)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc9SzYuJJds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6bYoOWEGso
Rhetorical Precis model adapted from Oregon State “Sample Rhetorical Precis” http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl201/modules/rhetoricalprecis/sample/peirce_sample_precis_click.html and https://www.csuchico.edu/lins/handouts/eval_websites.pdf
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