Practicing Rhetorical Analysis Assignment
For this short writing assignment (that means it is worth more than a basic homework assignment; see the syllabus for more on that), write one body paragraph for a hypothetical Rhetorical Analysis Essay. Again, DO NOT WRITE THE INTRODUCTION; WRITE A BODY PARAGRAPH.
The purpose here is for you to practice rhetorical analysis in a low-stakes assignment. This allows me to give feedback before you have to turn in the real deal. Basically, I'm forcing you to write a little piece of your rhetorical analysis essay early. Think of it as a mini-rough draft.
This is a group assignment because some of you may be struggling with rhetorical analysis, as it is a new concept. The group situation forces/allows you to bounce some of your ideas off of your fellow classmates.
You will work in teams of 3 for this assignment, and you will use Google Docs inside Canvas to write collaboratively. The Groups of Canvas area also enables you to post announcements for your group members, create discussions where you can generate ideas, create a Google Doc where you can write the paragraph collaboratively, and so on.
The paragraph should focus on one rhetorical strategy that you see the author using to support their overall argument. The paragraph (like the body paragraphs in the sample Rhetorical Analysis Essay I posted) needs to do the following:
- Identify the strategy you see the author using in a topic sentence,
- Offer specific quoted examples of it from the text,
- Explain how the strategy works or how it is meant to impact the reader,
- And explain how the strategy supports the author's main argument.
Finally, PLEASE review the Rhetorical Analysis Overview video, the sample rhetorical analysis, and the other resources I've posted so that you put together a paragraph that meets the requirements of the essay.
The steps you need to complete to get started are on the next page...