AP English Language and Composition Unit 1: Rhetorical Situation Practice Exam

1. Questions 1–2 refer to the following excerpt from a letter written by Benjamin Banneker, a free African American mathematician and surveyor, to Thomas Jefferson, then Secretary of State, in 1791. “Sir, I freely and cheerfully acknowledge, that I am of the African race, and in that color which is natural to them of the deepest dye; and it is under a sense of the most profound gratitude to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, that I now confess to you, that I am not under that state of tyrannical thraldom, and inhuman captivity, to which too many of my brethren are doomed, but that I have abundantly tasted of the fruition of those blessings, which proceed from that free and unequaled liberty with which you are favored; and which, I hope, you will willingly allow you have mercifully received, from the immediate hand of that Being, from whom proceedeth every good and perfect gift. Sir, suffer me to recall to your mind that time, in which the arms and tyranny of the British crown were exerted, with every powerful effort, in order to reduce you to a state of servitude: look back, I entreat you, on the variety of dangers to which you were exposed; reflect on that time, in which every human aid appeared unavailable, and in which even hope and fortitude wore the aspect of inability to the conflict, and you cannot but be led to a serious and grateful sense of your miraculous and providential preservation; you cannot but acknowledge, that the present freedom and tranquility which you enjoy you have mercifully received, and that it is the peculiar blessing of Heaven.” [Skill: 1.A | Topic: 1.1] In the second paragraph, the writer mentions the “arms and tyranny of the British crown” primarily to

2. [Skill: 1.A | Topic: 1.1] Which of the following best describes how the writer appeals to the audience (Thomas Jefferson) in the first paragraph?

3. The following passage is excerpted from a speech delivered by Florence Kelley before the convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association in Philadelphia on July 22, 1905. 'We have, in this country, two million children under the age of sixteen years who are earning their bread. They vary in age from six and seven years (in the cotton mills of Georgia) and eight, nine and ten years (in the coal-breakers of Pennsylvania), to fourteen, fifteen and sixteen years in more enlightened states. No other portion of the wage earning class increased so rapidly from decade to decade as the young girls from fourteen to twenty years. Men increase, women increase, youth increase, boys increase in the ranks of the breadwinners; but no contingent so doubles from census period to census period (both by percent and by count of heads), as does the contingent of girls between twelve and twenty years of age. They are in commerce, in offices, in manufacturing. Tonight while we sleep, several thousand little girls will be working in textile mills, all the night through, in the deafening noise of the spindles and the looms spinning and weaving cotton and wool, silks and ribbons for us to buy. ...If the mothers and the teachers of Georgia could vote, would the Georgia Legislature have refused at every session for the last three years to stop the work in the mills of children under twelve years of age?' Which of the following best explains how the context of the speaker’s audience influences her rhetorical strategy in the final paragraph of the excerpt?

4. The following passage is excerpted from the essay 'Shooting an Elephant' by George Orwell, published in 1936. The narrator is a British police officer stationed in Lower Burma. 'I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys. He becomes a sort of hollow, posing dummy, the conventionalized figure of a sahib. For it is the condition of his rule that he shall spend his life in trying to impress the "natives," and so in every crisis he has got to do what the "natives" expect of him. He wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it. I had got to shoot the elephant. I had committed myself to doing it when I sent for the rifle. A sahib has got to act like a sahib; he has got to appear resolute, to know his own mind and do definite things. To come all that way, rifle in hand, with two thousand people marching at my heels, and then to trail feebly away, having done nothing—no, that was impossible. The crowd would laugh at me. And my whole life, every white man's life in the East, was one long struggle not to be laughed at.' In the passage, the writer analyzes a specific social constraint associated with the context of imperialism. Which statement best describes the effect of this constraint on the narrator's actions?

5. The following question is based on the excerpt below from Queen Elizabeth I’s 'Speech to the Troops at Tilbury' (1588). 'I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm; to which rather than any dishonour shall grow by me, I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field.' In the context of the rhetorical situation, the speaker’s contrast between her 'body' and her 'heart and stomach' serves primarily to:

6. The following question is based on the excerpt below from Queen Elizabeth I’s 'Speech to the Troops at Tilbury' (1588). 'My loving people, We have been persuaded by some that are careful of our safety, to take heed how we commit ourselves to armed multitudes, for fear of treachery; but I assure you I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people. Let tyrants fear. I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good-will of my subjects...' Which of the following best describes the rhetorical function of the speaker’s opening rejection of the advice to 'take heed' of 'armed multitudes'?

7. The following question is based on the excerpt below from Benjamin Banneker’s letter to Thomas Jefferson in 1791. 'Sir, I freely and cheerfully acknowledge, that I am of the African race, and in that color which is natural to them of the deepest dye; and it is under a sense of the most profound gratitude to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, that I now confess to you, that I am not under that state of tyrannical thralldom, and inhuman captivity, to which too many of my brethren are doomed, but that I have abundantly tasted of the fruition of those blessings, which proceed from that free and unequalled liberty with which you are favored...' In the opening sentence, the writer’s tone is best described as

8. Refer to the excerpt from Benjamin Banneker’s letter in the previous question. The writer’s choice to describe his liberty as proceeding from the same 'Supreme Ruler' and 'Being' as the recipient's serves to establish a persona that

9. The following question is based on an excerpt from a speech delivered by Florence Kelley before the convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association in Philadelphia on July 22, 1905. 'To-night while we sleep, several thousand little girls will be working in textile mills, all the night through, in the deafening noise of the spindles and the looms spinning and weaving cotton and wool, silks and ribbons for us to buy.' In the context of the rhetorical situation, the speaker’s inclusion of the phrase 'for us to buy' at the end of the sentence is primarily engineered to:

10. Read the following excerpt from a speech delivered by Florence Kelley before the convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association in Philadelphia on July 22, 1905. Then answer the question that follows. 'We have, in this country, two million children under the age of sixteen years who are earning their bread. They vary in age from six and seven years (in the cotton mills of Georgia) and eight, nine and ten years (in the coal-breakers of Pennsylvania), to fourteen, fifteen and sixteen years in more enlightened states. No other portion of the civilized world fetters its children and drags them into industry while still so young. What is this but the most shameful form of race suicide? ... Tonight while we sleep, several thousand little girls will be working in textile mills, all the night through, in the deafening noise of the spindles and the looms spinning and weaving cotton and wool, silks and ribbons for us to buy.' Which of the following best describes the rhetorical function of the sentence, 'Tonight while we sleep, several thousand little girls will be working in textile mills, all the night through'?