How environmental background affects financial stability.
1. Identify and explain the role rhetorical appeals and the rhetorical triangle can play in non-fiction print and/or multimodal texts.
4. Locate, accurately cite (through summary, paraphrasing, and quoting) and critically evaluate primary and secondary sources.
5. Demonstrate knowledge of writing as a process, including consideration of peer and/or instructor feedback, in one or more pieces of writing from initial draft to final revision.
So far, we have discussed and analyzed rhetorical appeals in the context of both textual and visual rhetoric. This essay asks you to apply those skills to two argumentative texts of your choosing about your research topic, and to make an argument about how your selected texts communicate rhetorically to appeal to their intended audiences. Not only will this assignment help you hone your analytical and close reading skills, but it will also help you think about the importance of considering context and audience in your own writing. One of the first major steps in building on your skills as a writer is becoming conscious and aware of how arguments are made and what makes them persuasive. This will help you improve your ability to deliberately incorporate effective rhetoric into your own writing.
For this 1000-1250-word assignment, choose two argumentative pieces of rhetoric relevant to your research question. One source should be a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal article and one source should be a long-form magazine article (e.g. an article published in the Atlantic or a New York Times editorial). Analyze how well their components work together to persuade or move their audiences. Rather than engaging heavily with the content of the chosen pieces, this assignment asks you to focus on how the authors are making the arguments. To successfully complete this task, please use the following questions as your guidance:
Think about the rhetorical situation of the articles: What is the rhetorical situation of each piece? Where is it published? What audiences are addressed?
Think about the argument in each piece: Are the arguments timely and exigent? What rhetorical appeals are used (ethos, logos, and pathos)?
The audience for this piece is, at the same time, similar to and different from your previous assignment. While your text will be read by your classmates and the instructor for feedback and learning purposes, you should also picture your essay as a part of an academic conversation, which means it will be of interest to other participants in that conversation. Your academic audience is interested not only in the issue addressed by your chosen texts, but also in the implications of the rhetorical strategies used by individuals who argue about that issue. As academics, they value close, insightful analysis. Additionally, while they expect a certain level of formality and structure, they are interested in reading lively, personable essays.
