Description
In assignment 2, the rhetorical analysis, you will be tasked with analyzing the rhetorical effectiveness of an artifact. In other words, you will look a piece of communication and determine how effective its author is in persuading their audience to take action.
Some types of artifacts for this assignment are:
Text
Letters or addresses
Opinion/Editorials (in newspapers/magazines)
Audio/visual
Speeches
Song lyrics
TV Documentaries
TV Advertisements
As you select your artifact, you’ll want to consider a few things….
First, recall the page length of this assignment (3-4 pages). I am not asking you to write a standard five paragraph essay; this will likely be twice that length. Given this, you will need more than 3 elements (quotes, images, lines) to analyze in this artifact. To reach your target, and to keep your project in scope, you’ll likely need between 5-8 elements.
Second, think about what catches your attention. This is a longer paper, so you’ll want to write on something that is relevant or interesting to you. You might consider selecting something from within your academic field, or something to do with a hobby of yours.
As your primary reader, I would appreciate it if you avoided often examined topics, such as Op-Eds on abortion, same-sex marriage, gun control, etc. I think there’s a time and place to discuss these issues, but I don’t believe there’s enough space in this paper to adequately do this.