Virginia SOL 12.RI.1.B
The Standard
Evaluate the effectiveness of the structure(s) and rhetorical devices authors use in their exposition or argument, including how the structure advances their point of view.
Virginia Standards of Learning for English · Key Ideas and Confirming Details
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students analyze how an author organizes an explanation or argument and uses rhetorical devices. They judge whether those choices effectively support the author’s point of view and intended effect.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students identify specific structural choices and rhetorical devices in a text. They use evidence to judge how well those choices develop the argument, influence readers, and advance the author’s point of view.
Common Misconceptions
- Students often identify a device but do not explain its effect on the audience or argument. They may describe the order of ideas without judging whether that order supports the author’s point of view.
How to Assess It
- Give students a short editorial. Ask them to name one structural choice and one rhetorical device, then explain how each strengthens or weakens the author’s point of view.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Cut apart an editorial by paragraph, have groups arrange it, then compare their order with the original and explain which is more effective.
Discuss this prompt: Which author choice most shapes the reader’s view, and what evidence proves its effect?
Play a matching game using cards with rhetorical devices, text examples, intended effects, and possible audience responses.
Compare two public service announcements on the same issue, then judge which structure and rhetorical choices better support its message.
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