AP Language

Prompt Deconstruction
Below is the prompt for the 2016 rhetorical analysis free response. Read the prompt and answer the provided
questions about the rhetorical situation.
On June 11, 2004, Margaret Thatcher, the former prime minister of Great Britain, delivered the following
eulogy to the American people in honor of former United States president Ronald Reagan, with whom
she had worked closely. Read the eulogy carefully, then, in a well-developed essay, analyze the rhetorical
strategies that Thatcher uses to convey her message.
Based on the information provided in the prompt…
1. What do you know about the subject of the speech (Ronald Reagan)?
Ronald Reagan was president from 1980-1988, he was a conservative republican president. He oversaw
the much of the escalation of the drug war, the crack epidemic and the AID’s crisis.

2. What do you know about the speaker (Margaret Thatcher) of the eulogy?

I know she’s a British politician and she died not that long ago.

3. How would you describe the relationship between the speaker and the deceased?
I would describe the relationship between the speaker and the deceased as colleagues or coworkers. I’m not too
aware of the degree to which Margaret Thatcher and Roanld Reagan were familiar with one another, but just based
off assumption, you must know someone at least a little well in order to give a eulogy for them.

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Close Reading of a Eulogy

Now, read the eulogy and answer the questions in the right-hand margin, which will draw attention to the
rhetorical strategies Thatcher uses and helps to uncover her message.
Passage Close Reading Questions
1.Examine the descriptions provided
We have lost a great president, a great American, for Reagan in the first sentence.
and a great man, and I have lost a dear friend. a. Why is it important that the word
In his lifetime, Ronald Reagan was such a cheerful “great” is repeated?
and invigorating presence that it was easy to forget I think repeated usage of the world great
5 what daunting historic tasks he set himself. He sought sets us up for an eulogy singing the praises
to mend America’s wounded spirit, to restore the of the diseased president.
strength of the free world, and to free the slaves of
communism. These were causes hard to accomplish b.What is the effect of ordering
and heavy with risk, yet they were pursued with “president,” then “American,”
10 almost a lightness of spirit, for Ronald Reagan also and then “man”?
embodied another great cause, what Arnold Bennett The effect is that it shows that his greatness
once called “the great cause of cheering us all up.” intersected in different areas of his life. This
His policies had a freshness and optimism that won distinction is important because we often
converts from every class and every nation, and hear about people who excel at their careers
15 ultimately, from the very heart of the “evil empire.”1 but are terrible people in their personal
Yet his humour often had a purpose beyond lives. But Thatcher is trying to imply that
humour. In the terrible hours after the attempt on his Reagan was great when it came to many
life, his easy jokes gave reassurance to an anxious aspects of his life.
world. They were evidence that in the aftermath of
20 terror and in the midst of hysteria one great heart at c. What is the purpose of separating
least remained sane and jocular. They were truly him as a “dear friend” from the
grace under pressure. And perhaps they signified other descriptors?
grace of a deeper kind. Ronnie himself certainly Separating dear friend from the other
believed that he had been given back his life for a descriptors lets audience know there is
established intimacy between the speaker
25 purpose. As he told a priest after his recovery,
and deceased.
“Whatever time I’ve got left now belongs to the big
fella upstairs.” And surely, it is hard to deny that
d.What effect is created by
Ronald Reagan’s life was providential when we look
beginning the eulogy in this
at what he achieved in the eight years that followed.
manner?
30 Others prophesied the decline of the West. He
Im not sure what exactly this question is
inspired America and its allies with renewed faith in referring to but basically there is a
their mission of freedom. persuasive rhetorical effect that convinces
Others saw only limits to growth. He transformed a the reader of all the praises of Ronald
stagnant economy into an engine of opportunity. Reagan’s life. I mean I hate Reagan and
35 Others hoped, at best, for an uneasy cohabitation while reading this essay I was almost able
with the Soviet Union. He won the Cold War, not to forget that he said the AIDs crisis was
only without firing a shot, but also by inviting God’s punishment to gay people.
enemies out of their fortress and turning them into
friends. 2.Study the contrasts stated between
lines 30 and 39.
a. How are the “others”
categorized overall?
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 AP Language

Others are categorized as doubtful,

cowardly, in denial, foolish to doubt the
power of the west/American exceptionalism

b.How is Reagan categorized

overall?

I would say Reagan is

categorized as both charismatic
and jovial while also being a
strong and tough leader

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40 I cannot imagine how any diplomat or any 3.What caused Gorbachev and
dramatist could improve on his words to Reagan to form a relationship
Mikhail Gorbachev2 at the Geneva summit. “Let me “rooted in trust” (lines 46-47)?
tell you why it is we distrust you.” Those words are I think the implication here is that Reagan
candid and tough, and they cannot have been easy to was able to meet the Soviet Union on
45 hear. But they are also a clear invitation to a new amicable terms and welcome them as allies
beginning and a new relationship that would be rooted when the Soviet Union fell, and so that
in trust. probably encouraged trust.
We live today in the world that Ronald Reagan
4. What is revealed about Thatcher’s
began to reshape with those words. It is a very
relationship (both personally and
50 different world, with different challenges and new
professionally) with Reagan in the
dangers. All in all, however, it is one of greater
paragraph starting at line 54?
freedom and prosperity, one more hopeful than the
world he inherited on becoming president. They worked together closely.
As Prime Minister, I worked closely with
55 Ronald Reagan for eight of the most important years 5. What is implied about Reagan
of all our lives. We talked regularly, both before and because of the word “instinctively”
after his presidency, and I’ve had time and cause to (line 64)?
reflect on what made him a great president. There is an implication that he had a
Ronald Reagan knew his own mind. He had firm natural inclination towards being a
60 principles and, I believe, right ones. He expounded president, an innate talent for leadership.
them clearly. He acted upon them decisively. When
6. Contrasts are utilized again from
the world threw problems at the White House, he was
line 73-81.
not baffled or disoriented or overwhelmed.
He knew almost instinctively what to do.
a. What are four ways he is
65 When his aides were preparing option papers for
characterized?
his decision, they were able to cut out entire rafts of
proposals that they knew the old man would never
Firm and unyielding
wear. When his allies came under Soviet or domestic
Clear (easy to understand) but not
pressure, they could look confidently to Washington
simple)
70 for firm leadership, and when his enemies tested
Refusing to back down but still
American resolve, they soon discovered that his
amicable/open minded
resolve was firm and unyielding.
Truthful/blunt but nuanced.
Yet his ideas, so clear, were never simplistic. He
saw the many sides of truth. Yes, he warned that the
75 Soviet Union had an insatiable drive for military
power and territorial expansion, but he also sensed
that it was being eaten away by systemic failures
impossible to reform. Yes, he did not shrink from
denouncing Moscow’s evil empire, but he realized
80 that a man of good will might nonetheless emerge
from within its dark corridors.
So the president resisted Soviet expansion and
pressed down on Soviet weakness at every point until
the day came when communism began to collapse

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 AP Language

85 beneath the combined weight of those pressures and 7. Examine the imagery in lines 73-89.
its own failures. And when a man of good will did
emerge from the ruins, President Reagan stepped a. What is one way the Soviets are
forward to shake his hand and to offer sincere described?
cooperation. Thirsty for military expansion and
90 Nothing was more typical of Ronald Reagan than conquering, slaves to communism
that large-hearted magnanimity, and nothing was
more American.
Therein lies perhaps the final explanation of his b. What is one way Reagan is
achievements. Ronald Reagan carried the American described?
95 people with him in his great endeavours because there Large hearted, emblematic of the American
was perfect sympathy between them. He and they spirit
loved America and what it stands for: freedom and c. How are the descriptions of the
opportunity for ordinary people. Soviets opposite of the
1
descriptions of Reagan?
A phrase used by Reagan to describe the Soviet Union
2 The leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 Basically Reagan is portrayed as a
to 1991 hero and/or aspirational while the
Soviets are portrayed as an enemy to
people.

8. After reading the eulogy, what might you add to the earlier description you wrote about the relationship
between Thatcher and Reagan?
I would probably assume that Thatcher and Reagan agreed on many different issues.

9. What details from the eulogy help you identify this relationship?
Her explicit condemnation of communism and the Soviet regime gave me an idea of her political axises
and how they might align with Reagans

10. The prompt reveals that Thatcher’s purpose is to honor Reagan. What is she honoring about him in this
eulogy?

She is largely honoring Reagan’s character in this essay and the things he was able to accomplish as
president while alive.

11. What message is the speaker trying to convey about the subject?

She is trying to convey that Reagan’s was worth praise, was something to be aspired to and he was able to
accomplish a lot of great things.

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