Rhetorical Précis (Annotation)

In 1988, Margaret Woodworth reported on a reading/writing method that demonstrated significant success with her students at various levels, particularly in their reading comprehension and preparation for using source materials in their own academic writing. That method, which Woodworth calls “the rhetorical précis,” will be a central part of our writing this semester as we seek to know more about topics for our major projects. I reprint the basic outline here from Woodworth’s article:

Sentence 1:
Name of author, [optional: a phrase describing the author], the genre and title of the work, date in parentheses (additional publishing information in parentheses or note), 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.

Sentence 2:
An explanation of how the author develops and/or supports the thesis usually in chronological order.

Sentence 3:
A statement of the author’s apparent purpose, followed by an “in order” phrase.

Sentence 4:
A description of the intended audience and/or the relationship the author establishes with the audience. (54)

Woodworth included this example, as well, in her article:

Sheridan Baker, in his essay “Attitudes” (1966), asserts that writers’ attitudes toward their subjects, their audiences, and themselves determine to a large extent the quality of their prose. Baker supports this assertion by showing examples of how inappropriate attitudes can make writing unclear, pompous, or boring, concluding that a good writer “will be respectful toward his audience, considerate toward his readers, and somehow amiable toward human failings” (58). His purpose is to make his readers aware of the dangers of negative attitudes in order to help them become better writers. He establishes an informal relationship with his audience of college students who are interested in learning to write “with conviction” (55).

Notice that Woodworth’s example follows her pattern exactly. The first sentence identifies the author (Baker), the genre (essay), the title and date, and uses an active verb (asserts) and the relative pronoun that to explain what exactly Baker asserts. The second sentence explains the first by offering chronological examples from Baker’s essay, while the third sentence suggests the author’s purpose and WHY (in order to) he has set out that purpose (or seems to have set out that purpose — not all essays are explicit about this information and readers have to put the pieces together). The final sentence identifies the primary audience of the essay (college students) and suggests how this audience is brought into/connected to the essay’s purpose. (For some other examples, click here.)

The rhetorical précis is useful for students to master as they are often asked to read a great deal of information, particularly as juniors, seniors, and graduate students, and are expected to retain what articles, essays, book chapters, and books are about. This method makes for an excellent annotation of such texts, and I encourage you to use it for other classes. Then, reviewing information involves reading a few short paragraphs, rather than trying to skim 20 – 30 page articles the night before tests. Such précis are also useful as you write longer, researched papers because you may have read so many sources that you’ve forgotten them all; with the précis, you can organize your thoughts by sources AND because you wrote these (mostly) in your own words, you don’t have to worry about plagiarism.

For this course, however, you will write only the first three (3) sentences from the model above (the audience for scholarly journal articles is pretty much the same across articles/journals when you’re in a single field). For the fourth (4th) sentence, you will write a reaction to the piece in the following model: “This article/chapter supports my project by …”

These extension ideas are meant to reflect the sort of writing that you’ll be asked to do in various areas of college, highlighting the sort of writing moves that teachers in most disciplines often expect even when they may not make it clear that they’re looking for a particular format/genre of response. Although these writings are short, they are quite challenging to do well. The benefit, as Woodworth points out in her article, are the following:

• After having used this method for a while, 76% of students found reading difficult texts easier and discovered that they retained information more effectively.
• 80% of those surveyed claimed that the précis helped them to become more “critical thinkers.”
• Likewise, 80% found that writing the précis helped them to organize longer projects for writing classes.
• Of those surveyed, 56% found the précis useful in other classes, particularly in regard to writing for other classes.
• The same number (56%) found that the précis helped them to write more sophisticated sentence structured (which are one sign of “A” writing to teachers across the disciplines).

Think carefully this semester about your writing and how it develops using this method and see if you, too, experience the growth that Woodworth’s students experienced!

---

 

Here are some other examples of similar précis:

In her article “Who Cares if Johnny Can’t Read?” (1997), Larissa MacFarquhar asserts that Americans are reading more than ever despite claims to the contrary and that it is time to reconsider why we value reading so much, especially certain kinds of “high culture” reading. MacFarquhar supports her claims about American reading habits with facts and statistics that compare past and present reading practices, and she challenges common assumptions by raising questions about reading’s instrisic value. Her purpose is to dispel certain myths about reading in order to raise new and more important questions about the value of reading and other media in our culture. She seems to have a young, hip, somewhat irreverent audience in mind because her tone is sarcastic, and she suggests that the ideas she opposes are old-fashioned positions.
from Bean, John C., Virginia A. Chappell, and Alice M. Gillam.  Reading Rhetorically, Brief Edition. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2004. p. 63.

Toni Morrison, in her essay “Disturbing Nurses and the Kindness of Sharks,” implies that racism in the United States has affected the craft and process of American novelists. Morrison supports her implication by describing how Ernest Hemingway writes about black characters in his novels and short stories. Her purpose is to make her readers aware of the cruel reality of racism underlying some of the greatest works of American literature in order to help them examine the far-reaching effects racism has not only on those discriminated against but also on those who discriminate. She establishes a formal and highly analytical tone with her audience of racially mixed (but probably mainly white), theoretically sophisticated readers and critical interpreters of American literature.
from http://www.wam.umd.edu/~sapinoso/precis.htm

Sandra M. Gilbert, professor of English at the University of California, Davis, in her essay “Plain Jane’s Progress” (1977), suggests that Charlotte Brontë intended Jane Eyre to resemble John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress in that Jane’s pilgrimage through a series of events based on the enclosure and escape motif eventually lead toward the equality that Brontë herself sought. Gilbert supports this conclusion by using the structure of the novel to highlight the places Jane has been confined, the changes she undergoes during the process of escape, and the individuals and experiences that lead to her maturation concluding that “this marriage of true minds at Ferndean – this is the way” (501). Her purpose is to help readers see the role of women in Victorian England in order to help them understand the uniqueness and daring of Brontë’s work. She establishes a formal relationship with her audience of literary scholars interested in feminist criticism who are familiar with the work of Brontë, Bunyan, Lord Byron and others and are intrigued by feminist theory as it relates to Victorian literature.
from http://www.winthrop.edu/english/core/success/precis.htm

Charles S. Peirce’s article, “The Fixation of Belief” (1877), asserts that humans have psychological and social mechanisms designed to protect and cement (or “fix”) our beliefs. Peirce backs this claim up with descriptions of four methods of fixing belief, pointing out the effectiveness and potential weaknesses of each method.Peirce’s purpose 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 the product of such methods and to consider what Peirce calls “the method of science” as a progressive alternative to the other three. Given the technical language used in the article, Peirce is writing to an well-educated audience with some knowledge of philosophy and history and a willingness to other ways of thinking.
from http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl201/modules/rhetorical-precis/sample/peirce_sample_precis_click.html

Works Cited

Oregon State University Writing Program. “Sample Rhetorical Précis.” <http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl201/modules/rhetorical-precis/sample/peirce_sample_precis_click.html>. Accessed: 05/08/2004.

Sapinosa, Joy. “The Rhetorical Précis Form.” <http://www.wam.umd.edu/~sapinoso/precis.htm>. Accessed: 05/08/2004.

Winthrop College Writing Program. “The Rhetorical Précis.” <http://www.winthrop.edu/english/core/success/precis.htm>. Accessed: 05/08/2004.

Woodworth, Margaret K. “The Rhetorical Précis.” Rhetoric Review 7 (1988): 156-164. (pdf, password)