Virginia SOL 12.C.2.A.iii
The Standard
Incorporating various rhetorical devices to enhance purpose and strengthening clarity of ideas.
Virginia Standards of Learning for English · Speaking and Presentation of Ideas
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students shape an oral presentation around a clear purpose, audience, and central idea. They use devices such as repetition, parallelism, analogy, and rhetorical questions to sharpen meaning and impact.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student presents a focused claim with relevant support and clear organization. Rhetorical devices sound natural, fit the audience, and make key ideas easier to follow or remember.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may add repetition or a rhetorical question without linking it to the main claim. They may overuse devices, ignore the audience, or mistake dramatic delivery for clear reasoning.
How to Assess It
- Give students the claim, "Graduation requirements should include community service." Ask for a 45-second response using two rhetorical devices, followed by an explanation of each choice.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give groups speech excerpts on sentence strips, then have them reorder the lines and add repetition, parallelism, and a rhetorical question.
Ask students to explain which device best clarifies a claim about school policy and why another device might distract the audience.
Run a device challenge where students draw a claim and a rhetorical device, then deliver a 30-second speech using both effectively.
Have students record a two-minute pitch for a community improvement, aimed at a named audience and using two purposeful rhetorical devices.
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Related Standards
- 11.W.2.A.v
Elaborating ideas clearly through purposeful and precise word choice.
- 12.W.2.A.vi
Elaborating ideas clearly and effectively through syntactic structure, subordination of ideas, sensory/ concrete details, diction, and purposeful word choice.
- 5.W.2.A.ii
Developing, selecting, and organizing ideas relevant to topic, purpose, and genre, using precise and descriptive language and tone-specific vocabulary to enhanc...
- 10.W.2.A.vi
Elaborating ideas clearly through intentional word choice and varied sentence structure.
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