Rhetorics is the art or means of persuasion.
Academic and critical writing includes analyzing the rhetorics of what you read. When you are engaged in this kind of analysis you are not reading passively, but instead are reading to examine the writer’s purpose for responding to the situation his text addresses, and you are actively examining the claims the writer makes and the support the writer uses to advance those claims. This act of analyzing the purpose, context, claims, and support of a text is called rhetorical analysis. When you do this work–you are performing a rhetorical analysis.
For this essay, I want you to write a rhetorical analysis of one of the texts we’ve read thus far. This means that you will be looking at the rhetorical situation of the text, the author’s purpose, and the claims that the author makes, as well as how the author is supporting those claims.
*Note: Please use Google Docs to write your assignment and put the link to the report in your comments. When you “save” your assignment in Google Docs, save/export it as a Word file and that is what you will submit as your assignment. Once you are done with your assignment, make sure to click share to get the link of your document, and put the link of the assignment into the Notes box of your assignment.
Pertinent Course Objectives
Analyze rhetorical strategies, content, and contexts in a variety of non-fiction texts written by authors representing and reflective of students in the classroom, including those written by Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and People of Color and the LGBTQ+ community.
Consider uses of tone in relation to audience and purpose.
Find and engage sources in writings, including thesis writing, summarizing, paraphrases, and integrating quoted materials.
Develop flexible strategies for reading, drafting, reviewing, collaborating, revising, rewriting, rereading, and editing.
Practice reading and composing in more than one genre to understand how genre conventions shape and are shaped by readers’ and writers’ practices and purposes.
Practice writing moves like problem-solving, posing questions, analyzing, interpreting, generalizing, without stereotyping, and generating examples.
Read
Select one of the texts we have read as your primary essay source.
In addition, please refer to the From Inquiry to Academic Writing 5th edition Chapter 2 in your text, particularly pgs. 53-79
Essay Prompt
For your essay you are not guided by any particular prompt, and instead you are to use one of the texts we have read to critically read and write a rhetorical analysis.
Your analysis must:
Identify the situation.
Identify the writer’s purpose.
Identify the writer’s claims.
Identify appeals to ethos, pathos, logos.
Identify the writer’s audience.
Some other things to consider:
How does the writers use of ethos, pathos, logos appeal to the audience and support the author’s goals/purpose?
What motivates the writer?
What does the writer want the reader to think about and/or learn about?
What is the writer’s main point or thesis?
Given the language and tone of the text, who do you think is the main audience?
What is stake or what is the “so what” factor of the text? What is at risk for the author, the audience, and/or the world at large?
Essay Guidelines
3 – 4 pages, not including Works Cited page
No more than 10% TurnItIn.Com matching content
If your matching content is higher than 10% I will not accept it. Please make sure to check you percentage and ensure that you do not have too much quoted material or matching material to others.
Of note: If it is flagging quoted material from your texts, this is a clue that you are not doing enough analysis. Your work in this essay is to analyze what the author is doing, and that means I should hear YOUR voice.
Your text should have zero AI generated material. I check this across multiple platforms, so please do not use AI–I will not accept your paper and you will receive a zero.
Let me be very clear: If your paper has any AI generated work according to Turnitin.com I will not accept it and you will receive a zero–this is not negotiable. I take AI generated work very seriously so do not attempt to slip it by. It is not worth it.
Use the text throughout your essay to support your analysis
This means if you are talking about the author’s claims, for example, you should include/show an example of what you think is the author’s claim. This should be quoted material using MLA citations. Please read the book that illustrates how to quote, follow the links I’ve provided in the Helpful Resources module, or use one of the suggested texts that support MLA guidelines.
Use 3rd person, this means do not use “I” at all in your paper.
Use present tense
Some other helpful guidelines regarding college level academic writing. These are all things you need to make sure you are doing in your paper.
Use different sentence lengths and sentence types
Avoid sentence construction errors (fragments, comma splices, run-ons)
Make sure your essay is thesis driven
Thesis at the end of your Introduction
Topic Sentence for each body paragraph
One topic/issue/idea per body paragraph
Use the quote sandwich: Introduce the quote, provide the quote, analyze the quote
No announcements: This essay will address, I will explain, my thesis, my essay will focus on, etc.
No “I” statements. This should be written as a 3rd person essay that does not rely on personal narratives.
Use transitions throughout
Use “signal phrases” to introduce your quotes
MLA-Signal-Phrases-for-Quotes-and-Paraphrases.pdf
MLA Format:
1” margins on all sides
Black, 12 pt. Font
Times New Roman
Works Cited page
Page numbers upper right corner
Heading
Original Title (centered)
Please write an original title that helps to express what your essay is about. It should be creative and reflective of the paper you are writing.
Please include all standard college header information:
Name
Professor Jimenez
English 1A
Date
Please note: You must have a proper, MLA Works Cited page with correctly formatted citations. If you do not have this, your paper will be marked incomplete and will not be graded until you have properly included a Works Cited page with correct citations. If you need help, please see the following:
Purdue OWL MLA Works Cited Page
Works Cited Help (Video Link)
MLA Citation Generator
Please use this generator responsibly. You MUST check to make sure you have used the correct format (MLA 9–the most updated version), and that you do not have any formatting issues as these happen often when using a citation generator.
I URGE you to create your Works Cited page and citations yourself. It is not hard to do, learn, or follow and once you do it a couple of times you will be able to write your own quickly and easily. You will not have to depend on a generator.
Generate/Write your assignment in Google Docs to protect yourself form AI. Google Docs has a feature that tracks the changes of your document, allowing me to see what changes you have done. This is the best way for you to protect yourself and prove that you generated/created your work yourself. If you do not use Google Docs to track your changes and your work is being listed as AI generated by Turnitin.com you will have no way to protect yourself against a zero.
