Reading the Reasoning

You’re a detective. Look for these 7 clues.

When you read for line of reasoning, your teacher will have you pinpoint the writer’s logical strategy. For the time being, it’s best not to get caught up in the jargon of rhetorical devices. Don’t be tempted just to check off the boxes of tropes and figures of speech, of syntax, of types of evidence. Look instead for the spine of the argument itself. What does the writer want you to believe or do? Once you learn how to pinpoint the strategy of an argument, the rest will come much more easily. 

But that strategy isn’t always so easy to spot. Often, the writer will take a while to reveal the intent of an argument. Take Frederick Douglass’s famous Fourth of July speech, for instance. He starts off by saying how daunted he is in his distinguished company. Then he walks his audience through the history of the American revolution while talking about how brave and patriotic they were. What’s his strategy? What’s he trying to talk his audience into? Is Douglass just sucking up?

Here are some clues to look for in any argument.

1. Try to know the speaker and the audience.

Frederick Douglass was a former enslaved person who campaigned against slavery. You may not know that in advance, but he mentions his background in the beginning of his speech. 

2. Look for the context.

That is, the setting and the occasion. Douglass is speaking to a crowd celebrating American independence. But you also need to think: Why are you reading this today? Clearly, it’s a famous speech. Would it be famous if Douglass were merely saying “Hooray for America?” There’s an agenda here. Which somehow has to do with a former enslaved person.

3. Watch for unusual words.

Especially words that may have special meaning for this particular speaker. Douglass says, “Oppression makes a wise man mad.” How often do you read the word “oppression” in a history about the rule of Great Britain over the American colonies? Why would a former enslaved person use that particular word? Hmmm. Later on, Douglass uses even stronger words to describe British rule. He talks of “bondage” and even “slavery.” (See more on figures of speech.)

4. Look for analogies.  

Douglass was speaking in 1852 when flowery language was in vogue. That meant lots of spicy metaphors and analogies. Douglass mentions that “Pharaoh and his hosts were drowned in the Red Sea.” If you know your Old Testament or Jewish scripture, the Egyptians were chasing the Jews as they escaped slavery. Clearly, Douglass is onto something. He’s connecting the oppression by the British government with slavery.

5. Watch for a shift in tone.

Douglass makes this easy. He splits his speech from the past to “THE PRESENT,” using capital letters in case we miss the point. And then, after flattering his audience by talking up their forebears, Douglass begins hammering that same audience for their failure to live up to their forebears’ ideals. In the past, the American forefathers broke the bonds of slavery—the bonds, that is, that the Brits had over the colonists. Now, in the present, Americans were using enslaved people to build monuments to those very freedom-loving forebears.

6. Try to spot the key sentences.

The best arguments boil down their essence to just a sentence or two. You could nominate several in Douglass’s speech, but here’s an obvious one:

“The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me.”

Congratulations on your freedom, white people. Can’t wait to celebrate some of that myself. Here’s one that’s even clearer:

“To him [the enslaved American], your celebration is a sham…”

7. Zero in on the peroration.

Yeah, we said not to worry about jargon. But the peroration is the emotional finale to a speech—the ending that hammers the audience over the head with the conclusion or call to action. After saying what miserable hypocrites Americans are, and how their beloved Independence Day just reminds enslaved people how much they’ve been denied their freedom, Douglass suddenly gets sunnier. “I do not despair of this country,” he says. The very ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence hold the promise that Americans might finally live up to them. 

Now: let’s try to boil Douglass’s argument down to a syllogism and an enthymeme. (No, you don’t have to throw around those terms on the AP Lang test. It’s just good to know the logic behind them.)

Syllogism:

America honors our forefathers who freed it from British oppression.

Americans continue to oppress millions of enslaved people.

Therefore, America dishonors its forefathers.

Enthymeme:

Americans celebrate their freedom while enslaving millions. Americans are hypocrites until they live up to their forefathers’ ideals.

What if you hadn’t followed any of these techniques? You might be inclined to say something like, “Douglass is arguing to a bunch of abolitionists that slavery is bad.”

So, we’re afraid, would be your grade. 

 (Want an example from an actual AP Lang test? Click here.)

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