Free Sample of Rhetorical Analysis Warm Ups
Choice & Situation: 50 Ten-Minute Rhetorical Context Warm-Ups
Most students can name a rhetorical device. Far fewer can explain why that choice made sense for that speaker, on that occasion, in front of that audience. Choice & Situation builds that skill ten minutes at a time, until it becomes a habit.
Each warm-up pairs a short passage from a real speech, letter, sermon or essay with a situation card. The card names the speaker, occasion, audience and purpose, so students never need outside knowledge. Then students work through the same four steps every time:
Spot the Choice (2 min). Students underline the exact words the step points to, right in the passage. Every student starts from the same evidence.
Name What It Does (3 min). One sentence on what the choice does in the passage.
Connect It to the Situation (4 min). A four-part frame (Because… in order to… which…) that rules out “to persuade the audience” and requires a real fact from the rhetorical situation.
The Test (1 min). Change one part of the situation. Would the choice still work? YES or NO, plus a reason.
Five sets of ten. Each set focuses on one part of the situation: Who Is Listening? (audience), Why Now? (occasion), What Do They Want? (purpose), Who Is Talking? (speaker), and The Whole Situation. Passages span 1588 to 2015, including Frederick Douglass, Abigail Adams, Jonathan Edwards, Thomas Paine, Susan B. Anthony, Abraham Lincoln, Chief Joseph, Elizabeth I, Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama.
What’s included:
Student Warm-Up Pages (PDF): 50 one-page warm-ups with large, clear directions, plus a blank “Bring Your Own Passage” template for any text you already teach.
Google Doc Edition: all 50 warm-ups. Students underline in the passage and type their answers in click-and-type boxes. Post in Google Classroom with “Make a copy for each student.”
Teacher Guide & Answer Key (PDF): the routine, four pacing plans, a 3-point quick-check for Step 3 that takes about ten seconds per student, and a complete answer key with teaching notes.
Ways to use it: run one set every two weeks, one warm-up a day for ten weeks, or one a week all year. The warm-ups also work as emergency sub plans, partner activities and exam review.
Try it first: download the free preview for one complete warm-up and its answer key, ready to use in class tomorrow.
