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Making Effective Rhetorical Choices 2
The final pieces of the essay-writing puzzle are the rhetorical choices you make. The
most effective arguments support a line of reasoning through coherent choices in dic-
tion and syntax. This coherence exists on several levels: everything from the order of
the paragraphs to the arrangement of the words in a single sentence can strengthen
and unify an argument. Just like in the arguments you have read and analyzed, you can
use moves like repetition and parallel structure to underscore or establish the relation-
ship among your ideas. The words, phrases, clauses, sentences, or even paragraphs
you use to highlight the relationships among ideas are all transitional elements.
These transitions can introduce evidence or establish the relation-
®
ship between evidence and the claim it supports. They can even AP TIP
draw a connection between a piece of evidence and the overarching Some common transition
argument of the essay. words and phrases include Section 2 / From Reading to Writing: Crafting an AP ® Argument Essay
Take a look at the following example of a body paragraph that “therefore,” “as a result,” “in
addition to,” and “similarly.”
effectively uses evidence, commentary, and transitions to support
the claim in our example topic sentence:

Studies have shown that lack of sleep can affect the health of young people which in turn
affects their academic performance. While a student’s health certainly depends on many
elements — nutrition, environment, and exercise — a foundational piece of human health
is sleep. Students learn about the importance of sleep starting in their elementary school
health lessons, and they grow up with parents, teachers, and doctors repeating over and
over again the importance of getting a good night’s sleep. Whether the information is
delivered in class or at home, young people are led to view sleep as important to their
health as eating vegetables, drinking water, and exercising. So while we don’t expect a
student deprived of food, water, or air to do well on a test, why do schools continue to set
start times that go against their biological sleep patterns, thereby depriving students of
enough sleep? Schools should work to create the best possible environment for students
to learn, and that environment must take students’ health into consideration as well.
This paragraph accomplishes a few key things. First, its topic sentence makes a claim
that relates to the example thesis statement. Multiple pieces of evidence support the
claim, and the author provides commentary for each piece of evidence. This commen-
tary doesn’t merely discuss the evidence at hand; it establishes a logical relationship
between the evidence and the claim it supports. For instance, characterizing sleep as
foundational to good health puts the ball in the court of school leaders whose job it is to
help students do as well as possible in their classes. It’s a good first paragraph because
it relies on logic: everyone knows that sleep is essential, especially for teenagers. It pro-
vides smooth transitions between ideas. For example, the word “So” that begins the fifth
sentence hints that the paragraph’s big idea is on the way. Here, it’s framed as a rhetorical
question that brings home the consequence of early start times: “depriving students of
enough sleep.”

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