While in your last essay, you were analyzing your own experience(s), in this essay you will be analyzing an original piece written by another writer. You will select a non-fiction text of your choosing and analyze it according to the rhetorical principles that we discussed thus far. Rhetoric is about how a writer attempts to communicate a message to an audience—you will weigh in on how effectively you think the piece communicates a message/argument via his/her/their text. You can choose from images (advertisements, paintings, political cartoons), websites, speeches (be sure to obtain an accurate transcriipt from a reputable source), commercials, newspaper articles, videos (under 3 minutes preferably)—the key is that you are interested in the text, want to examine it in detail, and figure out how it works and how/why it is successful in doing what it sought to do. You will use specific examples and quotes from the text to support a thesis on whether or not you think it successful or unsuccessful and why you feel this way. This essay is not about your views on the topic, it is not an informational essay about a topic, and it is not an examination of a work of fiction. You will objectively analyze details to understand how argument works. You must use the vocabulary of rhetorical analysis that we reviewed in lectures/powerpoints, textbook readings, and examples. The final draft will be 5-6 pages.
Some questions you might ask are:
What was the writer’s goal or purpose in creating the text?
What are some of unstated assumptions on which this argument rests?
What was the historical context or kairotic moment in which this text was created and distributed?
How do you think the writer adapted his or her message to this kairotic moment?
Are there any logical fallacies present in the author’s argument?
How does the writer employ particular stylistic techniques (repetition, figurative language, etc.) in order to persuade his or her audience?
