Rhetoric at Work

This analytical reading worksheet supports students in Grades 10, 11, and 12 as they examine persuasive language in a political debate speech about income inequality. Through close reading and annotation, students identify ethos, pathos, and logos, evaluate how each rhetorical appeal strengthens the argument, and analyze author’s purpose, point of view, evidence, and persuasive effectiveness.

Academic Focus

• Rhetorical Appeals (Grades 10-12)
  Students identify and analyze ethos, pathos, and logos within a real-world speech excerpt.
• Author’s Purpose & Point of View
  Learners examine how rhetorical choices reveal the speaker’s goals and stance.
• Evaluating Arguments & Evidence
  Students assess how emotional language, credibility, and logic support claims.
• Critical Reading & Annotation
  The worksheet guides close reading through purposeful marking and explanation.

Instructional Support

• Teacher-Created Resource
  Designed by educators to align with upper high school ELA and rhetoric standards.
• Structured Analytical Prompts
  Questions scaffold students’ ability to move from identification to explanation.
• College & Career Readiness
  Builds essential skills for analyzing speeches, essays, and persuasive texts.
• Flexible Classroom Use
  Ideal for rhetoric units, test prep, discussion preparation, or independent analysis.

This printable worksheet helps students develop strong rhetorical analysis, critical reading, and argument evaluation skills using a relevant, real-world text. By closely examining how ethos, pathos, and logos function within persuasive speech, learners gain deeper insight into effective communication and argument construction. Suitable for classroom instruction or advanced homeschool use, this no-prep resource supports thoughtful analysis, annotation skills, and confident engagement with complex persuasive texts.

This worksheet is part of our Grade 12 Reading Comprehension collection.