Rhetorical Analysis of a Newspaper/Magazine Article Essay 15% of course grade, minimum 750 words, excluding title and headings and Works Cited page MLA formatted; Check Course Outline for due dates for drafts and final For this assignment, you will craft a rhetorical analysis essay for the article “The Media Botched the Covington Catholic Story,” by Caitlin Flanagan, published in The Atlantic on Jan. 24, 2019. Students should use class discussions, homework practices, and the above section: Critically/Rhetorically Analyz- ing a News/Magazine Article Might Involve Any of the Following Questions to guide them. This assignment as- sesses your skill at evaluating a source, analyzing the rhetorical strategies used by the author/creator, and assesses your ability to articulate what you perceive as strengths or weaknesses of the evidence and strategies. Further, this assignment assesses your ability to choose relevant information/ideas from a text to achieve the objective you are seeking and to cite borrowed material using MLA guidelines appropriately. Moreover, this assignment assesses your ability to follow instructions, organize information, and use the conventions of Standard Formal English. ORGANIZATION FOR THIS ESSAY You should organize your Rhetorical Analysis Essay in a common design organization flow for this genre: Introduction, Evaluation, Analysis of Evidence with Points of Agreement/Disagreement/Strengths/Weaknesses, and Conclusion. Intro: is audience and purpose included. Brief concise summary of text captures idea of work. Clear thesis statement of flangans article Evaluation: Author timeline evaluation paragraphs concise only about background Analysis clear topic paragraph to know what′s focused on. Clear explanation of topic sentence the claim, does it include evidence and is the evidence explained Introduction paragraph: College 101: Know What Your Prof. Wants: First, I want you to begin this essay by intro- ducing the source: credentials, authors’ name(s), the title of the article, and what the main idea of the article (this is the first sentence). Second, explain who you believe is the intended audience for this ARTICLE and the purpose that the writer(s) had for creating this article. Third, briefly summarize the article by explaining at least three or more ideas from the text that creates an understanding of what the entire article is about. You will need to be judicious in choosing the best information/ideas from article to capture an overview of the article in your brief summary. (Use direct quotes, paraphrases, or summary as needed, and use signal phrases and/or parenthetical citations.) Last, end this paragraph with a thesis statement that indicates if the news article was successful in achieving its purpose and connecting with its audience and why. Evaluation paragraphs: Evaluate the source as discussed in class, homework, and in the Critically/Rhetorically Analyzing a News/Magazine Article Might Involve Any of the Following Questions section. Decide what informa- tion needs to be evaluated and if it should be in one paragraph or multiple paragraphs. Analysis paragraphs: Discuss what you perceive as effective/ineffective/strong/weak/or other characterizations in the article by analyzing any perceived biases and the rhetorical strategies used in the article. Keep in mind you are supporting your thesis statement that takes a position on whether the author/creator/article is successful/effective at conveying the information and/or achieving the purpose.
