What the heck is Rhetorical Analysis?

The last AP Language prompt we're going to tackle is Q2--Rhetorical Analysis. This one can be confusing because it requires us to be quasi-mind-readers. Let me explain.

Imagine that you were a parent. Also, imagine you wanted to convince your teenage son to do his math homework. Notice I said convince. You're in the business of persuasion here. You want to use words to cause another person to do something...but how?

Let's say that you landed on these three options:

Tell your son a story about your own childhood demonstrating that you used to be resistant to doing your math homework, but that when you finally did it, you felt a great sense of accomplishment that helped you when you went to college.
Make an argument that the world is a competitive, difficult place and that only those people who are willing to push through to do things that are hard or less-than-fun will be successful and happy. Give examples of famous people who did this.
Play on your son's feelings of guilt and remind him that his parents have worked really hard to put a roof over his head and food on the table. Doesn't he owe them his own hard work in return?

Now, if this were a rhetorical analysis essay, you would have two jobs: identify the kind of argument the speaker is making AND explain why you think the speaker made that choice for this audience.

Try it. Go through the three options above and try to explain:

What kind of argument is this? What is the parent trying to do? What's their strategy? Describe what you think their plan is.
Why did they choose this plan for this audience? What does it reveal about the parent's beliefs about what motivates the son. Note: you don't need to evaluate their strategy and explain whether you think it will be successful. That's unimportant. What's important is that you can make a case for what they did and why they did it.