Critical evaluating essay

Choose one of the readings we discussed in the Week 2 forum. Ideally, you’ll choose to analyze the piece you discussed in the Week 2 Forum, but that’s not a requirement if you’d prefer a different reading from the list.

Decide whether the reading offers a persuasive and convincing argument. If you decide it is persuasive and convincing, discuss why. You may use the structure of the argument, the tone, the use of rhetorical appeals, and any other argumentation strategy as proof of the argument’s success.

Make sure that your essay has an introduction that contains a hook and a thesis, body paragraphs that discuss one proof at a time (one paragraph per example), and a conclusion. If you decide that the essay is not convincing, then discuss the fallacies that the argument makes or other failings, such as structure, tone, and so forth.

You are still required to have a strong introduction (hook and thesis), body paragraphs that discuss one supporting point at a time, and a conclusion. You may also discuss how the essay is successful with reservations. In this case, point to both the weaknesses and the strengths you have found in the work.

You are not offering personal or historical commentary, commentary on the writer/speaker, or responding to the ideas in the argument; you are only evaluating the argument itself in rhetorical terms. This is an opportunity for us to learn from other writers/speakers’ approaches to posing an argument.

Requirements:

-This paper should be at least 700 words, but no more than 850.
-The paper should be formatted correctly using MLA, APA, or Chicago–your choice based on your field of study or preference.
-It must be written in third person (do not use the words such as I, me, us, we, or you).
-The essay should also contain citations and a works cited page based on your selected reading from the assigned list–no need to use outside or additional sources other than the piece you’re analyzing.

Supplemental Readings: Historic American Works

  • Founding Fathers
  • George Washington “First Inaugural Address”
  • Thomas Jefferson “The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America”
  • Patrick Henry “Give me Liberty or Give me Death”
  • Samuel Adams “On American Independence”

 

Rights and Freedoms

  • Carrie Chapman Catt “Address to the Congress on Women’s Suffrage”
  • John F Kennedy “Inaugural Address”
  • Martin Luther King, Jr. “I Have a Dream”
  • Abraham Lincoln “Gettysburg Address”

 

War and Controversy

  • Franklin D Roosevelt “Inaugural Address”
  • Ronald Reagan “Tear Down This Wall”
  • Elie Wiesel “Indifference”
  • Richard Nixon “Checker’s Speech”