ASSIGNMENT: During your reading and Challenge questions, you learned about the art of persuading others, and how you can use rhetorical appeals to convince your audience of your position. Before you begin writing your own persuasive content, it would be beneficial to analyze the effectiveness of another writer.
Using what you have learned, write a 2-3-page (500-750 words) rhetorical analysis on the effectiveness of an article. Choose one of the following texts that interests you and that you would enjoy writing about. You may want to skim each before choosing.
Elie Wiesel – “The Perils of Indifference”
Barack Obama – “Yes We Can”
Martin Luther King, Jr. – “I Have a Dream”
Hillary Clinton – “Women’s Rights Are Human Rights”
Franklin Delano Roosevelt – “Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation”
Why speeches? A speech operates much like an essay: There will be an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. In addition, many speeches are given to persuade an audience: citizens, voters, etc. Some of the most memorable lines in history — even a few that we discussed in our tutorials — come from persuasive speeches. In each of the texts above, we can really see how powerful persuasion and rhetoric can be in the hands of a gifted writer and speaker.
Sample Touchstone 1.1
In order to foster learning and growth, all work you submit must be newly written specifically for this course. Any plagiarized or recycled work will result in a Plagiarism Detected alert. Review Touchstones: Academic Integrity Guidelines for more about plagiarism and the Plagiarism Detected alert. For guidance on the use of generative AI technology, review Ethical Standards and Appropriate Use of AI.
A. Directions
Step 1: Write a Narrative Essay
For the bulk of your assignment, you will want to include your analysis of the text. However, it will be beneficial to provide context for your reader. Consider the following when writing your essay:
Audience: Who was the original audience for this text?
Occasion: When/why was this text written?
Purpose: What is the author’s purpose? What does the author want the audience to learn?
Subject: What is this text about?
Tone: What is the tone? Is it formal? Celebratory? Casual? Somber?
Be sure to include the following:
1. Introduction
In your introduction, provide a brief overview of the article (consider the questions listed above). Consider the author’s purpose, and if the author is effective in achieving that purpose.
2. Thesis Statement
Your thesis statement is one sentence that provides an overview of your essay. A thesis statement is not a question, and is something that you will debate/argue in the paper. A thesis statement is never a question; instead, it is a declarative statement that states the central purpose of the essay. In a persuasive essay, such as this one, the thesis statement will state your main claim or central argument. For this essay, your thesis statement should state a clear claim about how the author uses rhetoric in the essay, and whether the essay is effective.
Sample Thesis Statement: In Smith’s article “On Recycling for the Future,” the author uses a combination of logical and emotional appeals to effectively convince the reader that all communities should promote and support recycling.
Note that this thesis states the author and the title, a position (the author is effective), and names some specific rhetorical devices.
3. Body of the Essay
In the body of your essay, find specific examples in the text to support your points. If you want to argue that the author is effective in using rhetorical questions, for example, then be sure to show the textual evidence in your paragraph. Direct quotes are often the best evidence. Identify the type of rhetorical device, and then explain how and to what effect the author uses this device. Identify the type of rhetorical device, and then explain how and to what effect the author uses this device.
4. Documentation
Remember that whenever we use information from a source, we must cite that source. As you include your quotes and examples from the essay, include your citation. You should also include complete citations following APA guidelines in a references section at the end of the paper. You are only required to use the one source, the article you are analyzing, but if you use other sources, be sure to cite these as well.
5. Conclusion
In any conclusion, we need to summarize our paper and include one of the following:
a call to action
a final appeal
a solution
Perhaps after reading and analyzing this article, we want to have a call to action because the author is so effective on the topic. On the other hand, we could include a solution that the author is not effective in his or her purpose.
Step 2: Reflection Questions
Below your assignment, include answers to all of the following reflection questions:
We use rhetoric all the time, perhaps without even realizing it, to persuade our audience to accept our point of view. These speeches were all historical events, but we use rhetoric in our daily lives as well. How have you used rhetoric in the past week? (2-3 sentences)
As we go through our course discussing the power of persuasion and write our own persuasive documents, what rhetorical strategies will you use to persuade your audience? (2-3 sentences)
What difficulties did you face while reading the text and analyzing for rhetorical effectiveness? How did you overcome these difficulties? (2-3 sentences)
Refer to the checklist below throughout the writing process. Do not submit your Touchstone until it meets these guidelines.
Introduction and Thesis
❒ Have you included an engaging introduction?
❒ Have you written a thesis statement with an overview of your paper and your purpose for writing?
Background and Context
❒ Have you included your background and context with the audience, purpose, and tone?
Analysis of Rhetorical Device
❒ Have you identified rhetorical devices?
❒ Have you analyzed how the author used these rhetorical devices?
Documentation and Conclusion
❒ Have you included your documentation?
❒ Have you included a conclusion with a call to action, a final appeal, or a solution?
Conventions
❒ Have you double-checked for correct grammar, punctuation, spelling, formatting, and capitalization?
❒ Have you proofread to find and correct typos?
Reflection
❒ Have you answered all reflection questions thoughtfully and included insights, observations, and/or examples in all responses?
❒ Are your answers to the reflection questions included on a separate page below the main assignment?
Before You Submit
❒ Have you included your name, date, and course in the top left corner of the page?
❒ Is your essay between 500 and 800 words in length (2-3 pages)?
B. Rubric
Advanced (100%) Proficient (85%) Acceptable (75%) Needs Improvement (50%) Non-Performance (0%)
Introduction and Thesis (10 points)
Introduces the speech and delivers a strong thesis statement.
Introduction provides a brief overview of the speech. Thesis statement considers how the author uses rhetoric in the speech, takes a clear position on the author’s effectiveness, and is aligned with the body of the paper. Introduction and thesis accomplish 3 of the 4 items: provides a brief overview of the speech, considers how the author uses rhetoric in the speech, takes a clear position on the author’s effectiveness, and is aligned with the body of the paper. Introduction and thesis accomplish 2 of 4 items: provides a brief overview of the speech, considers how the author uses rhetoric in the speech, takes a clear position on the author’s effectiveness, and is aligned with the body of the paper. Introduction and thesis accomplish only 1 of 4 items: provides a brief overview of the speech, considers how the author uses rhetoric in the speech, takes a clear position on the author’s effectiveness, and is aligned with the body of the paper. Paper is missing an introduction and thesis, or so little work has been provided that no credit can be given.
Background and Context (10 points)
Considers the context of the speech.
Provides a detailed discussion of the audience, purpose, occasion, subject, and tone. Provides adequate discussion of the required elements. May be missing one element (i.e. purpose). Provides abbreviated discussion of the required elements. May be missing 2 elements. Provides discussion of only 2 required elements. Provides discussion of 0-1 required elements, or so little work has been provided that no credit can be given.
Analysis of Rhetorical Device (15 points)
Identifies and analyzes rhetorical devices in the speech.
Content is detailed and specific. Paper mentions at least two rhetorical devices used in the speech, provides textual evidence, and analyzes the effect on the reader. Paper mentions at least two rhetorical devices used in the speech and provides specific textual evidence, but may lack analysis of the effect on the reader. Paper mentions at least two rhetorical devices used in the speech and does not include specific textual evidence, but just general references to the text. Paper only mentions one rhetorical device used in the speech and does not include specific textual evidence, but just general references to the text. Paper does not mention rhetoric, or may incorrectly identify rhetorical devices, or so little work has been provided that no credit can be given.
Documentation (5 points)
Includes appropriate APA citation and reference.
Correct citations and source list in APA formatting with one or fewer errors. Mostly correct citations and source list in APA formatting with 2-4 errors. Citations and source list exist, but include 5-7 errors. Citations and source list exist, but include 8 or more errors. No citations or source list, or not completed according to APA formatting.
Conventions and Proofreading (5 points)
Demonstrates command of standard English grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, and usage.
There are 0-2 errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, formatting, and usage. There are 3-5 errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, formatting, and usage. There are 6-7 errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, formatting, and usage. There are 8-10 errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, formatting, and usage. There are more than 10 errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, formatting, and usage.
Reflection (5 points)
Answers reflection questions thoroughly and thoughtfully.
Demonstrates thoughtful reflection; includes insights, observations, and/or specific examples in all responses; follows or exceeds response length guidelines. Demonstrates thoughtful reflection; includes insights, observations, and/or specific examples in 2 of 3 responses; follows response length guidelines. Demonstrates reflection, but 2 of 3 responses are lacking in detail, specificity, or insight; follows response length guidelines. Shows limited reflection; all responses are lacking in detail or insight, with some questions left unanswered or falling short of response length guidelines. No reflection responses are present or so little work has been provided that no credit can be given.
C. Requirements
The following requirements must be met for your submission to be graded:
Composition must be 2-3 pages (approximately 500-750 words).
Double-space the composition and use one-inch margins.
Indent the first line of each paragraph by ½ inch.
Use a readable 12-point font.
All writing must be appropriate for an academic context.
Composition must be original and written for this assignment.
Use of generative chatbot artificial intelligence tools (ChatGPT, Bing Chat, Bard) in place of original writing is strictly prohibited for this assignment.
Plagiarism of any kind is strictly prohibited.
Submission must include your name, the name of the course, the date, and the title of your composition.
Include all of the assignment components in a single file.
Acceptable file formats include .doc and .docx.
D. Additional Resources
The following resources will be helpful to you as you work on this assignment:
Purdue Online Writing Lab’s APA Formatting and Style Guide
This site includes a comprehensive overview of APA style, as well as individual pages with guidelines for specific citation types.
Frequently Asked Questions About APA Style
This page on the official APA website addresses common questions related to APA formatting. The “References,” “Punctuation,” and “Grammar and Writing Style” sections will be the most useful to your work in this course.
APA Style: Quick Answers—References
This page on the official APA Style website provides numerous examples of reference list formatting for various source types.
