Rhetorical Precis

A précis is a concise summary of a work. When the work is

rhetoric, the precis is called a rhetorical precis.

It comprises four coherent sentences following this format:

1. In a single, coherent sentence give the following:

          -name of the author, title of the work, genre, date in

parentheses and…

1. (contd.) -a rhetorically accurate transitive verb (such as

"assert," "argue," "deny," "refute," "prove,"

disprove," "explain," etc.) and

1st (contd.) …and a that clause containing the central claim

(thesis statement) of the work.

In the essay “Get A Knife, Get a Dog, But Get Ride of Guns”

(1993) Molly Ivins argues that guns pose a serious threat to

Americans and should be banned.

2nd sentence: summarizse the strategies the author employs to develop the central claim, followed by the phrase “in order to” which…

2nd (contd.) which introduces a very brief summary of the effect the author seems to be trying to create in the hearts and minds of

the audience.

2. Ivins develops her thesis by using examples, an analogy and a counterargument regarding the Second Amendment in order to persuade her audience to feel concern about gun violence in

America.

3rd sentence: gives a statement of the author's purpose

3. Her purpose is to ridicule the notion that the Second

Amendment gives ordinary citizens the right to bear arms and

use them against each other.

4th sentence gives a description of the intended audience and/or the

relationship the author establishes with the audience.

4. Her audience seems to be people who do not own guns and are

concerned about gun violence.