Essay #1 prompt:
As we have seen in the authors & ideas worked with over the first 5 weeks of the semester, there is much conversation about what rhetoric is & whether or not it can be used ethically or justly given the power it provides its practitioners to: shape opinions, beliefs, or actions; guide cultural identity or memory; or be used as a persuasive tool for politics & government. Given our readings, discussions, & reflections from weeks 1 – 5, your task for this essay is to respond to the following question:
In what ways do you think the practice of rhetoric is beneficial for society? In what ways do you think that it is harmful or misused? Be sure to connect your answer to a clear example.
Essay criteria:
In responding to the prompt, you should support your answer by connecting with one clear example from either personal experience or current events. For example, say you discuss discourse related to vaccine mandates. Instead of broadly or vaguely discussing vaccine mandates, be sure to locate specific language from news stories, tweets, or other examples into your essay. If you use personal experience here, try to be specific in sharing some of the language that was used & how it supports your answer.
Furthermore, this first essay provides a platform for you to practice & develop skills for critical thinking, theoretical analysis, & writing. Your answer should meaningfully incorporate concepts from at least 2 different sources from weeks 1 – 5 (i.e., Toye, Crowley & Hawhee, Gorgias, Plato, or Aristotle). Feel free to connect with other scholarly sources from outside of our class but you must be sure to connect with at least two from the class readings.
Essay #1 should be no fewer than 750 words & no greater than 1,000 (not including the references page). Essay #1 should include in-text citations & a references page formatted in accordance with 7th edition of APA style. Your paper should be in 12pt Times New Roman font, double spaced, with 1-inch margins on all sides. Please see the grading rubric on Brightspace for a description of the grading criteria.
Finally, essay #1 should be submitted to Brightspace as one of these formats: .pdf, .doc, .docx by no later than 11:59pm on Friday, March 3th to be considered for full credit.
use in-text citations and references from any of the readings in the attached files!
