Michelle Obama was the First Lady of the United States during the presidential administration of her husband, 
Barack Obama (2009–2017). During that administration, she led programs including the Reach Higher 
Initiative, which encourages students to continue their education after high school. One way it does so is by 
supporting high school counselors’ efforts to get students into college. On January 6, 2017, Obama gave her 
final speech as First Lady at an event honoring outstanding school counselors. The following passage is an 
excerpt from that speech. Read the passage carefully. Write an essay that analyzes the rhetorical choices Obama 
makes to convey her message about her expectations and hope for young people in the United States. 
In your response you should do the following: 
• Respond to the prompt with a thesis that analyzes the writer’s rhetorical choices. 
• Select and use evidence to support your line of reasoning. 
• Explain how the evidence supports your line of reasoning. 
• Demonstrate an understanding of the rhetorical situation. 
• Use appropriate grammar and punctuation in communicating your argument. 
Your essay should be in way that it:
Responds to the prompt with a defensible thesis that analyzes the writer’s
rhetorical choices.
Responds to the prompt rather than restate or rephrase the prompt, and
the thesis clearly takes a position rather than just stating that there are
pros/cons.
Provides specific evidence to
support all claims in a line of
reasoning.
Consistently explains how the
evidence supports a line of
reasoning.
Explains how multiple rhetorical
choices in the passage
contribute to the writer’s
argument, purpose, or message.
Uniformly offer evidence to
support claims.
Focus on the importance of
specific words and details
from the passage to build an
argument.
Organize and support
an argument as a line of
reasoning composed of
multiple supporting claims,
each with adequate evidence
that is clearly explained.
Explain how the writer’s
use of rhetorical choices
contributes to the student’s
interpretation of the passage. 
Demonstrates sophistication of thought and/or a complex understanding
of the rhetorical situation.
1. Explaining the significance or relevance of the writer’s rhetorical choices
(given the rhetorical situation).
2. Explaining a purpose or function of the passage’s complexities or tensions.
3. Employing a style that is consistently vivid and persuasive.
Don’t over-explain.
 Go easy on the prepositional phrases
Eliminate the filler words and phrases
Don’t pad weak words with adverbs.
Stick with simple words.
Throw away the grammar rule book . . . within reason.
Keep your sentences simple.
Read it out loud.
Infuse your personality into your writing

Source:
[A]s I end my time in the White House, I can think 
of no better message to send our young people in my 
last official remarks as First Lady. So, for all the 
Line young people in this room and those who are 
5 watching, know that this country belongs to you—to 
all of you, from every background and walk of life. If 
you or your parents are immigrants, know that you are 
part of a proud American tradition—the infusion of 
new cultures, talents and ideas, generation after 
10 generation, that has made us the greatest country on 
earth. 
If your family doesn’t have much money, I want 
you to remember that in this country, plenty of folks, 
including me and my husband—we started out with 
15 very little. But with a lot of hard work and a good 
education, anything is possible—even becoming 
President. That’s what the American Dream is all 
about. 
If you are a person of faith, know that religious 
20 diversity is a great American tradition, too. In fact, 
that’s why people first came to this country—to 
worship freely. And whether you are Muslim, 
Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh—these religions are 
teaching our young people about justice, and 
25 compassion, and honesty. So I want our young people 
to continue to learn and practice those values with 
pride. You see, our glorious diversity—our diversities 
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of faiths and colors and creeds—that is not a threat to 
who we are, it makes us who we are. So the young 
30 people here and the young people out there: Do not 
ever let anyone make you feel like you don’t matter, 
or like you don’t have a place in our American 
story—because you do. And you have a right to be 
exactly who you are. 
35 But I also want to be very clear: This right isn’t just 
handed to you. No, this right has to be earned every 
single day. You cannot take your freedoms for 
granted. Just like generations who have come before 
you, you have to do your part to preserve and protect 
40 those freedoms. And that starts right now, when 
you’re young. 
Right now, you need to be preparing yourself to 
add your voice to our national conversation. You need 
to prepare yourself to be informed and engaged as a 
45 citizen, to serve and to lead, to stand up for our proud 
American values and to honor them in your daily 
lives. And that means getting the best education 
possible so you can think critically, so you can 
express yourself clearly, so you can get a good job 
50 and support yourself and your family, so you can be a 
positive force in your communities. 
And when you encounter obstacles—because I 
guarantee you, you will, and many of you already 
have—when you are struggling and you start thinking 
55 about giving up, I want you to remember something 
that my husband and I have talked about since we first 2
started this journey nearly a decade ago, something 
that has carried us through every moment in this 
White House and every moment of our lives, and that 
60 is the power of hope—the belief that something better 
is always possible if you’re willing to work for it and 
fight for it. 
It is our fundamental belief in the power of hope 
that has allowed us to rise above the voices of doubt 
65 and division, of anger and fear that we have faced in 
our own lives and in the life of this country. Our hope 
that if we work hard enough and believe in ourselves, 
then we can be whatever we dream, regardless of the 
limitations that others may place on us. The hope that 
70 when people see us for who we truly are, maybe, just 
maybe they, too, will be inspired to rise to their best 
possible selves. 
That is the hope of students like Kyra 1 who fight to 
discover their gifts and share them with the world. It’s 
75 the hope of school counselors like Terri and all these 
folks up here who guide those students every step of 
the way, refusing to give up on even a single young 
person. Shoot, it’s the hope of my—folks like my dad 
who got up every day to do his job at the city water 
80 plant; the hope that one day, his kids would go to 
college and have opportunities he never dreamed of. 
That’s the kind of hope that every single one of 
us—politicians, parents, preachers—all of us need to 
be providing for our young people. Because that is 
85 what moves this country forward every single 
day—our hope for the future and the hard work that 
hope inspires. 
1 a student who worked with school counselor Terri 
Tchorzynski 
2 Terri Tchorzynski, the 2017 National School Counselor 
of the Year and honoree of the event