### Question 2

Suggested time—40 minutes
(This question counts as one-third of the total essay section score.)

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.

[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
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
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
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
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
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
of faiths and colors and creeds—that is not a threat to
who we are, it makes us who we are. So the young
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.
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
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
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
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
about giving up, I want you to remember something
that my husband and I have talked about since we first
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
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
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
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<sup>1</sup> who fight to
discover their gifts and share them with the world. It’s
the hope of school counselors like Terri<sup>2</sup> 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
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
what moves this country forward every single
day—our hope for the future and the hard work that
hope inspires.

<sup>1</sup>a student who worked with school counselor Terri Tchorzynski
<sup>2</sup>Terri Tchorzynski, the 2017 National School Counselor
of the Year and honoree of the event

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