Introduction
For Project 1 you will select a professional association web text that represents your professional discourse community and conduct a thorough rhetorical analysis of it in order to form an argument abouthow well its underlying message it persuades or is communicated to its audience.
Learning Objectives (you should be able to...)
• conduct careful rhetorical analysis of webtexts
• use appropriate terms of rhetorical analysis
• assess the effectiveness of the communication
Task and Content
Draw on your resources and discoveries about your professional discourse community and the terms of rhetorical analysis established in Writer/Designer and WAW. Carefully apply concepts of rhetorical analysis as tools to study a key web page established by your professional organization. Describe the page and discuss how its message relates to the rhetorical choices used in its creation. Examine the "intertextuality" - what are the conventional presuppositions of the text's community (Porter, 404)? Form an argument about how effectively the page makes its argument by also examining the conventions of the discourse community it addresses.
How to proceed:
1. Find a professional community webtext that represents an interest of yours within your profession or field. Webtexts are texts in electronic media written by professionals for professionals in your professional discourse community (i.e, blogs, web sites, etc). The professional association site is a good place to start. You want one page, not a whole website.
2. Conduct a careful rhetorical analysis your web text. How does the writer's approach to audience, purpose, context, and genre help to communicate its message? How about the design of the page? What do audience, purpose, context, and genre say or suggest about the discourse community's shared goals and values? Use language from Writer/Designer (the modes) in your analysis. (Make sure all references to W/D are properly cited)
3. After you have analyzed the texts, create an argument about what its message is and how effectively that message is articulated to community members via the webtext's rhetorical strategies. Note: You are making an argument about how well the text argues. Use Porter's definition of intertextuality to support your claim.
This essay must includesubstantial evidence for your claims based on your rhetorical analysis.
Purpose and Audience
The purpose of your essay is to convince your audience -- your peers in the class as well as others in your major -- about how effectively your professional association used rhetorical strategies in this webtext to convey their messageto the given audience.
Essay Format
? 4-6 pages, double-spaced, standard font
? a thesis statement, body paragraphs that elaborate on the thesis, and a conclusion
? MLA essay format, including a works cited page
? at least 3 non-encyclopedia sources, including Writer/Designer, a WAW text, and the website itself.
Due Dates
2/2 rhetorical analysis worksheet
2/4 rhetorical description of webtext
2/9 working thesis
2/10 full draft by 11:59pm
2/16 final essay by 11:59pm
Grading Criteria
See below.
Grading Criteria:
This essay is worth 15% of your final grade: I will grade your essay using the following criteria:
Criterion Project match Points worth Points earned
Rhetorical analysis worksheetis complete, thoughtful and demonstrates careful analysis with examples. 15
The essay/project includes an introduction with a relevant thesisaddressing the effectiveness of the text's argument. 15
There is a brief rhetorical description indicating the intended audience of the webtext, the author, genre, context, etc. perhaps including visual images. 15
You provide full and clear rhetorical analysisof the webtext properly using rhetorical concepts from assigned sources. 20
The project develops your specificargument (thesis) by evaluating the effectiveness of the rhetorical strategies used and offering specific examples from the webtext. 25
The development of your thesis includes a counter argument and a rebuttal 15
Your conclusion draws together your evidence and proposes a course of action, a solution to an issue, and/or discusses broader implications for your profession 20
Your writing, word choice, organization, choice of examples, and development of points are clear, grammatically correct and appropriate for your intended audience (us). 15
The project is formatted according to MLA, including a properly formatted works cited list. 10
Totals 150