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Essay: Rhetorical Analysis

The Basics

• The rhetorical analysis assignment is an essay analyzing two texts, using rhetoric as a framework. The thesis of this essay is your answer to this question: "Which of the 2 texts makes better use of the rhetorical appeals for an audience of USC Upstate students?"
• Research: You don't need to do any research. You'll choose 2 of the essays from among those that we read in this unit of the course. If you'd like to choose your own 2 texts, however, you may do so as long as you clear them with me first.
• Length: 1,000 to 1,200 words
• Format: Every document you submit should be formatted in MLA style.
• For in-person classes, use this worksheet: Download draft worksheet (PDF)
• For online classes, use these prompts: Download draft workshop prompts (MS Word)
• Sample essay(s):
  • For class discussion — Sample 1 (PDF) :: Reverse outline of Sample 1 (PDF)
  • For the reverse outline exercise — Sample 3 (PDF) :: Create your own reverse outline
• Related links and documents:
  • The Three Rhetorical Appeals: Ethos, Pathos, Logos
  • Outlines and Reverse Outlines

  Due dates (check calendar)

  • Due Date 1: Submit outline to Blackboard by 11:59pm.
  • Due Date 2: Finished draft for draft workshop on Google Drive (follow instructions). Also, submit workshop draft to Blackboard by 11:59pm.
  • Due Date 3: Revised draft to be graded, uploaded to Blackboard. Also, in the "Comments" section, explain in complete sentences what revisions you made in response to the feedback you received on your draft.

  Description

  In this assignment, you will analyze 2 different works of persuasive writing using the three rhetorical appeals as a framework, and then argue which one would be more persuasive to an audience of USC Upstate students. Note: you are not arguing which one is more persuasive to you; instead, you are acting as the observer and analyst of these attempts at persuasion.

  For this essay, you will take the following steps:

  1. Choose your 2 texts to analyze.
  2. Read the 2 texts.
  3. Evaluate them each of them in terms of the three rhetorical appeals: ethos, pathos, and logos.
  4. Decide which essay is more persuasive to an audience of USC Upstate students.
  5. Write an essay that analyzes both essays in rhetorical terms and argues in favor of the more persuasive one. Don’t forget to put a thesis in your introductory paragraph!

  Purpose

  There is a threefold purpose to this assignment:

  1. The experience you gain in identifying the rhetorical appeals in this assignment will be of great benefit to you when you write persuasive arguments of your own. Not only will you be able to analyze how another writer makes an argument, but you’ll be able to use these features in your own writing.
  2. This assignment is also intended to give you practice in one of the essential types of college writing: the comparison of similarities and differences. At many points in your academic career you will be asked to reach judgments based on comparisons and contrasts.
  3. Finally, this assignment allows you to practice using another essential skill: writing an extended analysis of two or more texts. You have to support your argument by summarizing, paraphrasing, and occasionally quoting from the arguments you analyze. Learning to talk about another text in your own text, without losing control of your own voice, requires practice.

  Organization

  There are at least 3 ways to organize your essay

  1. By rhetorical appeal: devote one paragraph each to ethos, pathos, logos in the two essays. Then write a paragraph in which you argue for the more persuasive essay.
  2. By essay: Go through all the appeals in one essay, and then go through all of the appeals in the other essay. Then write a paragraph in which you argue for the more persuasive one.
  3. By your own strategy: You may come up with your own strategy of organization, but I advise you to discuss it with me first.

  Choice of texts

  Choose 2 texts from the “Room for Debate” collection(s) we’ve discussed.

  Rubric

  Each of the following will be evaluated from 1 (Poor) to 3 (Average) to 5 (Excellent). These criteria are listed in order of importance, with the most important criteria at the top and the less important at the bottom.

  • Provides a clear thesis statement in the introductory paragraph that answers this question: "Which of the 2 texts makes better use of the rhetorical appeals for an audience of USC Upstate students?"
  • Introduces, uses, and explains specific evidence from the texts as support for the thesis.
  • Critical analysis using the three rhetorical appeals.
  • Successful use of the "Quote Sandwich" model from Chapter 3 of TSIS.
  • Quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing (including the use of good signal phrases).
  • Uses MLA Style correctly for citing sources.
  • Uses MLA Style correctly for document formatting.
  • Provides stylish, clear, and complete sentence-level writing
  • Avoids major mechanical or grammatical errors.