Virginia SOL 9.RI.2

9.RI.2 is a Standards of Learning standard. These are the knowledge and skills expectations under it.

• 9.RI.2.A

  Compare characteristics of expository, technical, and persuasive texts, including their differences in purpose, format, and text structure.

• 9.RI.2.B

  Analyze an author’s word choice and use of rhetorical devices to persuade or convince an audience.

• 9.RI.2.C

  Analyze how authors use rhetorical devices to create ethos, logos, and pathos and impact the reader.

01

What Students Need to Do

Students distinguish among texts that explain, instruct, or persuade by examining purpose, layout, and organization. They analyze how word choice and rhetorical techniques build credibility, logic, and emotion.

02

What Mastery Looks Like

Students correctly classify unfamiliar texts and support each choice with evidence from purpose, layout, or organization. They explain how specific words and rhetorical devices build credibility, logic, or emotion for a particular audience.

03

Common Misconceptions

Students may label any text with facts as expository, even when it gives procedures or argues a claim. They often confuse ethos with emotion and identify a device without explaining its effect on the audience.

04

How to Assess It

Give students three short excerpts. Ask them to classify each text, cite one structural clue, and explain how one rhetorical choice shapes the audience’s response.

1. 01

   Give pairs mixed excerpt cards and feature cards, then have them sort and justify matches using purpose, format, and structure.

2. 02

   Ask students to compare a school policy notice with an editorial, then write which text is more persuasive and why.

3. 03

   Play Rhetorical Appeal Match, where teams pair quoted lines with ethos, logos, or pathos and explain each choice.

4. 04

   Have students annotate a local advertisement or public service message, identifying its audience, persuasive words, and strongest rhetorical appeal.

• 4.RI.2

  The 4th Grade version of this standard.

• 1.RI.2

  The 1st Grade version of this standard.

• 5.RL.2

  The 5th Grade version of this standard.

• 3.RL.2

  The 3rd Grade version of this standard.