Rhetorical Analysis Essay

Please complete by 8:00 PDT

Essay 1. Rhetorical Analysis: Explaining a Concept—

Final Draft: 1000 words minimum. MUST include Work Cited page

Final Essays will be uploaded to Canvas in VeriCite in MS Word format– NOT copy/pasted or pdf.

*No Late Essays will be Accepted*

Rhetoric is the study of how writers and speakers use words to influence an audience. A rhetorical analysis is an essay that breaks a work of non-fiction into parts and then explains how the parts work together to create a certain effect—whether to persuade, entertain or inform. A rhetorical analysis should explore the author’s goals, the techniques used, examples of those techniques, and the effectiveness of those techniques. When writing a rhetorical analysis, you are discussing how the author makes an argument and whether or not the approach used is successful. For this assignment, you will be discussing the essays found in Modules:

• “Shooting an Elephant”
• “The Myth of the Latin Woman”
• “Just Walk on By: A Black Man Ponders his Power to Alter Public Space”
• “Why Looks are the Last Bastion of Discrimination”

You will select ONE of the essays above and fully introduce the text you are analyzing and provide a brief summary of the author’s intent. Then identify and describe how well the author achieves his or her objective. In our weekly Discussion Board quizzes, we have explored the topics of identity, self-identity, and stereotypes. You may bring elements of those discussions into your analysis of your chosen essay. Make sure that your argument includes all of the Aristotelian appeals: Ethos, Logos, and Pathos. Please review the two lecture documents found in Modules: “Logos, Ethos, and Pathos” and “Power-point Lecture on Aristotelian Appeals.”

You must provide examples (specific textual references, paraphrases, and direct quotes) from the essay to support your claims.

Please note you are NOT agreeing or disagreeing with the author’s argument– ONLY

analyzing it.

This assignment involves the following objectives:

1. Read, Analyze, Discuss, & Evaluate a Text

2. Identify Arguments, Strategies, & Structures used in a Text

3. Complete the Entire Writing Process: Invention/Prewriting, Arrangement/Organization, Drafting/Revision, Editing/Proofreading, & Final Polished Paper

4. Create a Clear Thesis and Topic Sentences for Body Paragraphs

5. Compose an Essay in MLA Format

100 points possible. The following rubric will be used in grading your essay:

☑ Your paper MUST be typed and in MLA

☑ You MUST have at LEAST 3 quotes supporting your thesis. MUST USE ALL THREE QUOTE INTEGRATION TECHNIQUES (Colon, Comma, & Full Integration). More quotes are welcome.

☑ Be sure to edit out any lapses in grammar, spelling, word choice, and sentence

structure.

☑ YOUR FINAL ESSAY WITH WORK CITED PAGE NEED TO BE UPLOADED AS A WORD DOCUMENT (not copy/pasted-not a pdf) TO CANVAS.

REMINDERS:

This is not a research paper. You should have one source on your Works Cited page and that is the essay you select to analyze.

–Your paper needs to be written in third person impersonal (The author claims…).

–NO first person (I, me, we, etc.) or second person (you, yours, etc.).

—No contractions in academic writing (can’t=cannot).

–The essay title should be in quotes (“Shooting an Elephant”).

–Refer to full title of the essay and the author’s full name in your introduction ONCE.

–In the rest of your essay ALWAYS refer to the author’s last name (Orwell asserts…). Note: If the -author has two last names you need to refer to them by both last names throughout your essay.

–REVIEW MLA.