Olivas 1

Sally Olivas
Rhetoric/Composition Portfolio
Spring 2015
Rhetorical Analysis Paper
The Test of Rhetoric
In the world that is now K-12 public education, standardized testing is the norm.
Politicians see these tests as a way to show whether students are learning or not. Unfortunately,
how some politicians and some administrators use students scores is very questionable from an
educational standpoint because the tests dont always show what people want them to whether
students are, in fact, learning because there are so many factors that impact learning that tests
dont show. Valerie Strauss of the Washington Post brings to light two scenarios where these
types of scores are debated publicly by Principal Carol Burris, Education Secretary Arne
Duncan, and Strauss herself. Rhetoricians ancient and modern would enjoy this conversation.
Socrates and the Sophists believed rhetoric should be used for justice and for change, and
Marshall W. Alcorn Jr. believed everything was fueled by desire. This educational controversy
offers all that and more.
In Strauss article Why an Award-Winning Principal Feels She Must Retire, Principal
Carol Burris has a lot to say about standardized testing, its impact on students and its use as a
tool for teacher evaluation, I am not sure why I was shocked when the legislature actually
adopted the nonsensical evaluation plan designed by a governor who is determined to break the
spirit of teachers, but I was (Strauss). She feels so strongly about this evaluation system being
the wrong type, she will retire early to fight the assault on our public schools and our teachers. I
will not participate in an evaluation system such as the one designed by the governor or

Olivas 2

legislature. It is morally and ethically wrong (Strauss). Burris uses her rhetoric to fight what she
sees as an enormous injustice, and the Sophists would approve of this tactic and of her words and
her intention, as Gorgias told Socrates, Well, then, I mean that kind of persuasion, Socrates,
which you find in the law courts and in any public gatherings, as in fact I said just now; and it
deals with what is just and unjust (Plato 92). Strangely, Socrates, who was not a fan of the
Sophists, agrees, If you make a man a rhetorician he must needs know what is just and unjust
either previously or by learning afterwards from you (95). Burris wants to right this injustice, as
she sees the people who make these laws as ignorant of what really happens in the classroom, so
much so, she has decided to get politically involved, another move the Sophists would like, . . .
we can appreciate the sophists as professional teachers when we see that the evolution of that
very category signaled major political and social change attendant on the democracy (Jarratt
84). Jarratt says the Sophists were interested in making everyone (who could pay) into
contributing members of society, and she believes many compositionists continue to explore the
role of the writing classroom in empowering students as participants in the democracy (85). At
the college level, yes, this is true, but its getting increasingly harder at the K-12 level to do this
because of standardized tests. When teachers teach to the test, which they do, and students are
preparing for test after test, which they are, there is less and less room for students to be part of
the democratic discussion and be empowered by that.
Alcorn would agree with the Sophists and Socrates, as he believes being part of a
democracy is important, though his view differs in that he approaches everything through how
desire drives all and everything humans do, and this clearly includes democratic participation,
In an ideal democracy, people express their own desires in some ethical relation to the desire of
others. An ideal democracy requires that people be able to recognize their own desires and those

Olivas 3

of others. In both cases, desire must circulate freely within and among people (66). This, Burris
would say, is whats wrong with the whole standardized-testing controversy: Politicians and
administrators are not getting what they want when test scores are poor, and teachers are not
getting what they want in being held accountable for factors they cannot control. Their rhetoric
will continue until they respect each others desires, Alcorn would say. Rhetoric should be used
to create political change, to better society and the community, and to respect one anothers
desires. It should not be used as its being used now to divide and to control.
The second text Strauss wrote, The Odd Thing Arne Duncan Told Congress, expands
on this issue of testing and what is called the VAM the value-added method of evaluation. The
bulk of the blog attacks this type of evaluation; its clear Strauss thinks its a horrible idea, VAM
purports to be able to take student standardized test scores, plug them into a complicated formula
(of which there are many) and measure the value that a teacher supposedly adds to student
learning. Her use of the verb purports is a clear sign she questions the validity of such a method.
Purports, Merriam Webster says, is to have the often specious appearance of being, intending, or
claiming (something implied or inferred): profess: intend, purpose (956). Strauss says the
method claims to do something, but in Strauss view, that doesnt mean it does what it claims.
Further, she says the formula is complicated, and if that wasnt bad enough, there are several.
That brings further ambiguity, which makes the method look less and less appealing and valid. If
the method is not valid, Strauss says, then why use it? Socrates would agree and say these
experts who are purporting to know so much are silly fools, Then, my friend, he who
knows not the truth, but pursues opinions, will, it seems, attain an art of speech which is
ridiculous, and not an art at all (Plato 158).
Strauss includes a short section of a transcript of an exchange between Secretary of

Olivas 4

Education Arne Duncan and Congresswoman Rose DeLauro, and the bulk of it is Duncans
speech with just three lines from DeLauro. Socrates said rhetoric is politics kind of, Rhetoric,
by my account, is a semblance of a branch of politics (Plato 97). Duncans rhetoric is, in fact, a
semblance of politics as its ambiguous and contradictory, The goal of great teaching is never
just to teach, but to have students learn (Strauss). What kind of teacher says she wants to teach
but doesnt want the result of that to be student learning? This is an excellent example of what
Socrates was talking about when he said, Then do you regard it (rhetoric) as a good, when a
man does what he thinks to be best, without having intelligence? Is that what you call having a
great power? (Plato 99). Duncans rhetoric certainly is not showing much intelligence or much
respect for teachers. Further, he says hes interested in student growth and gain, but one test on
one day does not necessarily reflect how much the student has grown or has gained because there
are so many factors tied into said growth. One could say Duncan demands this of teachers, and
he demands standardized testing be used to show results of it, but Alcorn would be completely
against Duncans approach, This analysis suggests, then, that demand is not the solution to
political problems. Demand, rather than the solution to a problem, is itself the problem (53). By
extension, Strauss would say, Duncan is the problem.
Taking these rhetorical moves into my classroom creates very exciting possibilities for
perspectives and discussions because of my students own experiences with standardized testing.
After working with both texts on testing, I think I would only teach the Burris speech. I like it
more, and I think its more accessible. I would start this lesson by asking on our class discussion
board my students thoughts on all the testing they did in K-12: their experiences both good
and bad, their thoughts, their feelings, their view of testing now that it is in the past. Id also
have them research their former school districts API scores from the last year they were

Olivas 5

published 2013 and find whatever information they could to help them make sense of the
scores. Bringing all that to class, a discussion on what it all means would ensue, including what it
all means to them now.
Next, Id like to break the text up into two parts: the part Strauss wrote and the parts that
are Burris words, as the article really does have two identities. This would lead into the structure
of the article and why Strauss chose to organize it the way she did, and why or why not that
rhetorical move works. After this, Id take from Reading Rhetorically by John C. Bean, Virginia
A. Chappell, and Alice M. Gillam the idea of what the text says/does (56-57). This strategy asks
students to explain what the text says give the quote and then analyze what that passage does
how does it connect to authors purpose, how does it relate to the text as a whole? Giving the
students a graphic organizer that has two columns, Says and Does, Id partner the students up
and have them choose five passages and analyze them with the Says/Does chart. The passages
can come from either Strauss section or Burris sections.
Next, Id have them look again at the Burris speech and do a rhetorical prcis, which is a
strategy I got from a colleague on the AP ListServe many years ago: The prcis is a:
type of writing that provides a condensed statement of the texts main point (the
summary part), followed by brief statements about the texts rhetorical elements,
authors purpose, methods, and intended audience (analysis part). It goes like this:

Sentence 1: Name the author, genre, and title of work (date in parenthesis), a
rhetorically accurate VERB (such as claims, argues, suggests, asserts, etc.), a
THAT clause containing the main idea or thesis statement of the work. Sentence
2: A section-by-section explanation of what the author does (VERB) and how he

Olivas 6

or she does it (METHODS). Sentence 3: A statement of the authors purpose

followed by an IN ORDER TO phrase. Sentence 4: A description of the intended
audience and/or relationship the author establishes with the audience.
(Woodward)
The prcis is a strong lead-in to a rhetorical-analysis essay, which would be the culminating
assignment for these texts. In that prompt, Id direct my students to focus on authors purpose
and audience: What do they want and from whom and why? How do we know that? Id suggest
they examine the authors diction and how that connects to their purposes and if it helps or
hinders them in achieving said purposes. In evaluating their essays, Id look for analysis that
shows the students understood the nuances of the authors rhetoric: inferences, irony,
implications. And, as always, Id evaluate their papers for clear organization, varied sentence
style, and clean grammar and mechanics, all of which my rubric reflects.
Discussing standardized testing with students who basically grew up with it could make
for a fascinating conversation. Integrating Burris and Strauss views, brings viewpoints my
students would have never been exposed to or considered. The most interesting part, however,
will be hearing their views. As Alcorn says, we need to have topics that engage our students
desires, and their education qualifies as that. I think this will make for an intriguing lesson.

Olivas 7

Works Cited
Alcorn, Marshall W. Jr. Changing the Subject in English Class: Discourse and the Constructions

of Desire. Illinois: Southern Illinois University, 2002. Print.

Bean, John C., Virginia A. Chappell, and Alice M. Gillam. Reading Rhetorically. 4th Edition.
New Jersey: Pearson Education, 2014. Print.
Jarratt, Susan C. Rereading the Sophists: Classical Rhetoric Refigured. Illinois: Southern Illinois
University, 1991. Print.
Plato. Gorgias. The Rhetorical Tradition: Readings from Classical Times to the Present. Ed.
Patricia Bizzell and Bruce Herzberg. New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2001. 87 138.
Print.
Purports. Entry 1. Websters Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary. 1985. Print.
Strauss, Valerie. The Odd Thing Arne Duncan Told Congress. Answer Sheet. The Washington
Post. 14 April 2015. Web. 20 April 2015.
Strauss, Valerie. Why an Award-Winning Principal Feels She Must Retire Early. Answer
Sheet. The Washington Post. 15 April 2015. Web. 20 April 2015.
Woodward, Margaret. Re: Rhetorical Precis. Message to the AP English Language Listserve.
10 June 2010. Email.