please see attachments with essay prompts and rubric*** Selecting one of the essays we have discussed so far in class (see below), perform a rhetorical analysis of approximately 650-700 words (about 2.5 -3 pages/double spaced/12 point font) in length. Your thesis should take a stance addressing if the text or some aspect of the text succeeds or fails in its purpose – i.e. is it effective or not in moving its audience – as well as the reasoning for how/why the argument works to convince/persuade or not convince/persuade the audience of the author’s claim. (Remember: Thesis = Claim + Reason.) In performing your rhetorical analysis you do not have to focus on the entirety of the text but only perform a close reading examining a particular aspect of the text and its effectiveness or ineffectiveness in fulfilling the author’s purpose/convincing or persuading its intended audience. In the body of your essay you will go on to analyze how well a key component(s) of the argument works to convince or move (or not convince or move) the essay’s audience, paying specific attention to the rhetorical devices and appeals discussed in class (ethos, logos, pathos; specific examples; logical and appropriate use of credible/unbiased evidence and reasoning; as well as style, word choice, tone, etc.) and how the author uses them to provoke the intended response from his audience. In performing your analysis, ask yourself specific questions, such as: What is the purpose of the argument? Who is its intended audience and what are its expectations? What is the time and place in which it was written? (ie. The context of the argument). What claim is it making? Does it serve a particular interest or does the author seem to have a hidden bias or agenda in making his argument? What appeals or techniques does the author use – ethos, logos, pathos – to support that claim? What is the genre of the argument (informational, definitional, proposal, evaluation, political writing, advertisement, etc.)? Who is making the argument, and what ethos does he create? How does the author establish credibility? Does the author come across as fair-minded and trustworthy? If the author appeals to pathos, does he do so fairly? If the author appeals to logos, is his logic rational or is it based on faulty reasoning or overgeneralization? What authorities does the argument rely on and are they creditable? Is the argument rational and feasible? What facts, reasons, examples, and evidence does the argument employ as support and are they effectively presented? Or does the author misrepresent his examples or take them out of context to fit his stance? Does the author intentionally leave out any relevant information – such as data that does not support his stance or opposing views – in making his argument? Does he proceed under any false assumptions? How is the argument organized and arranged? How does the language, tone, and style (humor, sarcasm, diction, formality, seriousness) of the argument work to convince or turn off its audience? Perform a close reading of the text in question and use specific examples/quotations in your analysis to demonstrate how the language and rhetoric work to form a competent, coherent (or incompetent, invalid) argument, explaining your reasoning by deeply analyzing your support. Your analysis should stay in the 3rd person and be structured effectively in adherence to the guidelines and conventions of scholarly writing as covered in the textbooks and discussed in class (formal diction, effective argument structure, grammatically correct, demonstrates flow and coherency in language usage, etc.). Your essay must be properly cited in MLA format (See relevant pages in The Little Seagulls Handbook) and include a one page works-cited as the last page of your paper (See pages 175-177, #19, in the Little Seagulls Handbook on citing a work from an anthology for formatting guidelines). For a model of an effective rhetorical analysis see the sample essay handed out in class. Remember: Whether you agree or disagree with an author’s argument does not matter in writing a rhetorical analysis essay, but it is rather your job as a fair-minded and unbiased reader and critic to analyze and prove how a text works (or fails) to convince its audience and fulfill its purpose (i.e. is the author’s argument valid/effective and why or why not?). Essays: “Shooting Guns: It’s Rather Fun Actually?” Pages: 543-544 “The Digital Divide Among Students During Covid-19” Pages: 604-608
