Analyzing Pollan

Respond to the following prompt in a minimum 200-word post.  Include direct quotes and/or paraphrase to illustrate and support your ideas.

POST: Due by Monday, 6/27, 10 pm.  

DISCUSS: Return by Tuesday, 6/28, 10 pm to comment on someone else's post, and return one final time to respond again by Wednesday, 6/29, 10 pm.

PROMPT: Try your hand at rhetorical analysis using Pollan's Part 1 as your text.  What rhetorical strategies do you see him using, where (provide some quoted examples), and how does the strategy work?  What "work" does the strategy do for his overall argument?

For example, if you see him citing a piece of research to support his argument, how does that work logically to lead the reader to a particular conclusion, and how does it also function to establish his credibility (as a person who does his research or uses quality sources)?  Alternatively, do you see him using a particular argumentative mode?  For example, does he spend a lot of time focusing on definitions, or cause/effect relationships?  If so, why?  What does that do for his argument?  If you want to discuss his use of emotional appeals, what specific emotions is he trying to get the audience to feel, and why is it advantageous for his argument to make the reader feel that way?

It would be impossible for you to discuss all of his strategies, so just go with what sticks out to you.  And also, this is probably the first crack at rhetorical analysis for most people in the class, so keep in mind that this is just practice for the Rhetorical Analysis Essay.

Rubric