Rhetorical Analysis; Advertising Sandy Hook

Description
Purpose
The arguments most people encounter in everyday life are
multimodal
arguments. That is, they are arguments that use more methods of communication than just words: usually this means the inclusion of added visuals, audio, or video. These arguments come to us largely through mass media and are an integral part of consumer culture, especially as it is delivered to us through professional and social media. This assignment ensures students have the skills to respond purposefully to such arguments and to create thoughtfully
multimodal arguments themselves when needed.
Learning Goals

Demonstrate the ability to understand and enter effectively into a discourse community focused on the issue of consumerism.

Understand the Toulmin argument theory and use it to critique arguments of others and to construct arguments yourself.

Select an advertisement appropriate to the rhetorical situation for analysis.

Demonstrate the ability to both critique and construct visual arguments.

Develop a research plan based on your own analysis and then effectively synthesize ideas from that research in support or your argument.

Employ APA essay format to avoid plagiarism and present ideas effectively.

Create a separate multimodal argument to present your findings electronically to the members of this class.
Assignment
Compose a formal essay for a college-level academic audience in which you analyze how the rhetoric of advertisement functions,
paying particular attention to its assumptions regarding consumerism in society. The final paper should be three to five content pages in length and have an additional cover page, abstract page, and References page. Your argument itself should incorporate support from among three to five outside sources, use visuals effectively, and demonstrate correct use of APA format and documentation.
Use the following steps (see course schedule for the timeline and due dates):
1.
Explore the discourse community and rhetorical situation through reading and discussion, and then select an advertisement to analyze.
2.
After receiving input from the professor back on your selection, analyze the rhetoric of the advertisement to develop a
tentative thesis and outline on how it functions and what it suggests about consumerism; submit this plan to the course dropbox folder for professor input.
3.
After receiving input back on your plan from the professor, construct a research plan and conduct research for the essay.
4.
Based on your work for the points above, write a complete draft of the essay and bring two printed copies to class.
5.
Receive informal input from class members and formal input from the professor on your draft. Use other resources such as
tutor.com, the Writing Lab, and the Rose tutors as needed.
6.
Based on the input, revise the essay, proofread it, and submit to the dropbox folder for grading.
7.
After completing the essay, create a multimedia document, post it electronically, and informally present it to the class.
Assessment Criteria
(100 points possible for the essay, 50 points for the multimedia presentation)
The essay should have the following qualities:

an intellectually complex thesis about consumerism in society that is based on a complex analysis of an advertisement's rhetoric

an introduction that creates a sense of purpose appropriate to the audience

three to five content pages consisting of a well-presented analysis that is unified throughout the document by the thesis

effective use of ethos, pathos, and logos

ideas that are detailed, well-developed, and supported with numerous specific examples

body paragraphs with clear topic sentences or sub claims and which include strong use of visuals in support of the argument

an overall document body that is developed using an organizational strategy appropriate to the rhetorical situation

appropriate transitional elements throughout the essay

a conclusion that provides effective closure by purposefully unifying all ideas presented in the document

material from sources that is well-integrated and supports claims argued in the paper, with the information logically placed to
enhance the argument

all source material integrated through introduction and commentary, and by a combination of paraphrasing, summarizing, and
direct quoting.

all citations are correctly done in APA format, and inclusion of a correctly formatted cover page and well-written abstract

all sources documented correctly on the References and the References page correctly formatted

no errors in areas such as spelling, punctuation, grammar, and mechanics;

appropriate use of formal language for a college-level essay throughout

timely submission of the assignment in D2L
Evaluation of the assignment will be posted as a rubric D2L.