Analytical Paper Outline and Thesis Statement
This week, you will choose a speech to analyze and develop an outline and a thesis statement for your analytical paper.
Using the critical reading skills practiced during this course, you will formulate a thesis statement that presents a unique and specific interpretation of the speech. In order to analyze effectively, you will need to engage in close reading, or reading “between the lines.” This means that you will be choosing representative passages and carefully deconstructing them, highlighting connotations that may not be immediately obvious to fellow readers.
This week’s assignment:
Review the instructions and requirements for the analytical paper.
Choose and read ONE of the following options to analyze:
Donald Trump’s 2018 rally speech (excerpts)
Develop a thesis statement in which you present your interpretation of the speech.
Develop an outline using the provided template to help you organize your points to support your thesis statement. Think of it as a skeleton that you will “flesh out” when you write your paper.
You must write full sentences for the thesis statement, the topic/transition sentences, the passages, and the restatement of thesis.
Note: The passages will be direct quotes from the text, so include quotation marks and a citation in APA style.
Do not include any information from research yet. You first want to make sure that you have enough evidence from the text itself to defend your thesis.
Now that you have written a thesis statement and created an outline for your paper, you will use the critical reading skills practiced in this course to defend your interpretation of the speech you have chosen to analyze. Keep in mind the framework for critical reading that we have explored: Audience, Purpose, Content, Mood, Style, and Structure. You should also include commentary on rhetoric and propaganda as discussed during this course.
Your paper must include the following:
An introduction that provides relevant background information and ends with your thesis statement
A minimum of six body paragraphs that defend your thesis statement
A minimum of three references from reliable sources; one must be a scholarly, academic article, and all must be cited at least once in the paper
A conclusion that reaffirms your thesis statement and addresses wider implications
Formatting, citations, and references must all adhere to APA style