Assignment task:
Argument and rhetoric surrounds us in everyday life, and not just through text, but by numerous kinds of media. Sometimes this type of rhetoric and argumentation is hard for people to identify, and even harder to question or resist. Pick an audio/visual piece of media that strikes you-it can be a commercial, a scene from a TV show or movie, an interview or sketch from a talk show, radio show, podcast, video game, music, music video, political speech, public formal or informal debates, a YouTube/Instagram/TikTok influencer and their content, the possibilities are honestly endless. Whatever you pick should strike you somehow with its message and argument, either negatively or positively.
First make sure to identify what the argument is that's being made. Then analyze how this media is arguing its point (what about its content and make-up points to the implications it is pushing?), identifying the rhetorical strategies and the argumentative appeals. Remember your lessons about how visual/audio argument works and influences audiences. Finally, judge the validity of the media's argument, supporting your assertions by referring to other sources which speak to the positive or negative issues and effects this argument causes in our current society. Including your media piece, you must use a total of four (4) outside sources (so, one source is your chosen media and three other sources in addition to it).