Rhetorical Analysis Timing Drill

Below is a letter by Harper Lee. Write an essay in which you analyze the rhetorical strategies Harper Lee makes to achieve her purpose. You have 40 minutes.

Monroeville, Alabama
January, 1966
Editor, The News Leader:
Recently I have received echoes down this way of the Hanover County School Board's activities, and what I've heard makes me wonder if any of its members can read.
Surely it is plain to the simplest intelligence that "To Kill a Mockingbird" spells out in words of seldom more than two syllables a code of honor and conduct, Christian in its ethic, that is the heritage of all Southerners. To hear that the novel is "immoral" has made me count the years between now and 1984, for I have yet to come across a better example of doublethink.
I feel, however, that the problem is one of illiteracy, not Marxism. Therefore I enclose a small contribution to the Beadle Bumble Fund that I hope will be used to enroll the Hanover County School Board in any first grade of its choice.
Harper Lee

Here is a time guide for writing this essay:

5 Minutes

Read the rhetorical piece. Diagram it, noting the occasion, the rhetor, audience, her possible exigence, and how this all ties into purpose.

10 Minutes

List 3 to 4 rhetorical strategies. Follow the line of reasoning Harper Lee makes, noting the evidence you would use. Move chronologically through the piece. Make sure the rhetorical choices are verbs, not nouns.

Rhetorical choice 1:

Evidence:

Rhetorical choice 2:

Evidence:

Rhetorical choice 3:

Evidence:

Rhetorical choice 4:

Evidence:

Now do an outline. If you have moved chronologically, your organization may be clear. Remove any redundant or weak options. Connect the rhetorical choices back to purpose. Rewrite your purpose statement if you need more clarification; after you have looked more closely at the piece, you may be able to deepen and strengthen your purpose statement.