AP Language
Name: _____________________
The Declaration of Independence
Period: _______
1. After reviewing the text and your annotations, work together to analyze the text using the
following model:
Claims and Evidence
Exigence:
Audience:
Purpose:
Tone:
Questions on Rhetoric and Style
2. What is the function of the first sentence? In other words, identify a major assumption
underlying the first sentence. What is the rhetorical principle at work?
3. What effect does the phrase “self-evident” have in sentence 2? How does that phrase help
support the speaker’s position in the first sentence?
4. Identify the parallelism in the final sentence of the essay. Considering your answers to questions
2 and 3, what is the effect of this parallelism on Jefferson’s first two sentences?
5. Contextualize Jefferson’s final paragraph. The major premise are your answers to questions 2
and 3. What are the specific examples (i.e. the minor premise) that help Jefferson arrive to his
call to action statement in the final paragraph?