Assignment: Comparative Rhetorical Analysis Essay
Task: Compare the rhetorical strategies used by two speakers and evaluate whose text you think is more appropriate for its audience and more likely to be effective in accomplishing the writer's persuasive purpose. Your analysis essay should support your answer to the following questions: Which text is more likely to have to have successfully accomplished its rhetorical purpose? Which writer's rhetorical strategies are more appropriate for the rhetorical situation? Need Assignment Help?
Audience and purpose: Assume that your audience consists of college-educated readers. For this assignment, assume that we are not as familiar with the texts and situation surrounding this debate as you are. Your purpose is to convince us as to which text is better suited to its rhetorical situation and thus is more likely to accomplish its rhetorical purpose.
Texts: Use the following texts to complete your analysis:
Source 1: "Why AI is our ultimate test and greatest invitation" by Tristan Harris
Source 2: "The catastrophic risks of AI - and a safer path" by Yoshua Bengio
Process:
You have taken two steps towards this Comparative Rhetorical Analysis Essay already in Weeks 3 and 4 when you completed two Rhetorical Analysis Situation Reports, one on each of your assigned sources. Using these reports, you will consider all you know about each source to determine which rhetor is more effective.
Decide which text you believe is more appropriate for the rhetorical situation and more likely to be effective in accomplishing its rhetorical purpose. Your answer will form the basis for your thesis, which might follow a model such as the following:
- "While both Author X and Author Y appropriately appeal to their respective audiences' emotions, Author Y is more likely than Author X to succeed in accomplishing the goal of changing their audience's mind about A because the writer presents herself as someone the intended readers will more readily identify with and offers evidence that her readers will find more compelling."
Draft your paper, supporting your thesis by drawing on details from both rhetorical situation reports you have written thus far to help back up your claim about which text is more appropriate for its rhetorical situation and which writer is more likely to be effective in accomplishing his or her rhetorical purpose for their audience.
Structure:
Your essay should follow an eight-paragraph essay format, adhering to this structure:
- Paragraph 1: Introduction & Thesis
- Paragraph 2: Discussion of Source 1 Ethos
- Paragraph 3: Discussion of Source 2 Ethos
- Paragraph 4: Discussion of Source 1 Logos
- Paragraph 5: Discussion of Source 2 Logos
- Paragraph 6: Discussion of Source 1 Pathos
- Paragraph 7: Discussion of Source 2 Pathos
- Paragraph 8: Conclusion/Synthesis
Be sure to review the Week 5 lecture and use Lesson 2 of 5 on "Compiling Your Draft" to walk you through the creation of each of these paragraphs and what should be included in each. Remember that you also have access to the Comparative Rhetorical Analysis Example Essay Download Comparative Rhetorical Analysis Example Essay for reference while writing.
Tips:
Keep the following tips in mind as your draft your essay.
- Consult the lectures and resources inside of the course as you write. Remember that you have access to the Rhetorical Analysis Supplements in Week 2's materials.
- Remember that your purpose is to analyze these two texts and compare them. You are not agreeing or disagreeing with the message either text presents!
- Identify and refer to the rhetorical situations of the texts and the writers' rhetorical purpose(s). Don't just say that the writer uses ethos, logos, and/or pathos strategies, since this is already assumed; instead, consider the use of these strategies in light of how appropriate they are in helping the writer accomplish the rhetorical purpose in that particular situation.
Requirements:
- Length: 800 - 1000 words (excluding Title and References page)
- APA Formatting