Writing Assessment Essay - Rhetoric
Our CANVAS site- will be going over this next session.
Writing Assessment Essay-
First place the following information in the top right hand corner of your text: Your full name, the last year, level, and institution of education, your title and company if applicable, your cell phone number, and your e-mail address.
In the next thirty (30) minutes, please write a letter to me answering to the best of your ability the following questions:
- What constitutes good (versus poor) business writing?
- Provide deeper explication and analysis of three concrete examples on each side of the question. Three important positive qualities you would include in strong business writing; three immediate red flags you have observed (or imagine would be present) in poor business writing.
- Conclude by considering whether Business Writing is, or should be considered, a separate genre, and if so, how/why?
When your time is up, please upload these letters into the Assignment #1 on our CANVAS site.
Quick Background-
- The Ethical Appeal
- The Pathetic Appeal
- The Logical Appeal
- How we use each
- How we combine two or more of them at a time
- Context
- Discourse Communities
- How all of this relates to our first graded assignment, The CEO Report.
Personal Cover Letter - Rhetorical Analysis -
- I will e-mail you an extensive exercise packet on Classical Rhetoric this evening.
- In a personal cover letter to me, please market three of your rhetorical strengths as a worker, student, or other role of your choice. Ultimately, I want you to consider how you would market yourself to me as a rhetorical strategist, but in whatever context you choose.
- Please counter by sharing one rhetorical weakness, as well.
- Important: consider how you will position the three strengths, how they should build upon, and/or relate to, each other.
- Determine how best to incorporate the weakness, as well.
- Be strategic in how you structure your letter with an introduction, body, and conclusion.
- Remember to consider what discourse communities you function in most often, and how those discourse communities might influence the rhetorical strategies you use every day.
PREVIEW: CEO Report - 3-5 pages -
- Your first graded paper is a rhetorical analysis of a CEO who leads one of the publicly-traded companies I have listed.
- You will need to research this CEO and gather at least three articles about the CEO (beyond the material on his/her website), and three samples of this CEO's writing communication style.
- You will begin with a standard, unembellished, biography of that CEO, but then shift into analysis thereof, focusing on three key leadership strategies you observe about his/her leadership.
- You will focus your body paragraphs on these three elements. Body paragraphs should contain a topic sentence, evidence, and analysis.
- You will write a conclusion in which you consider the larger implications behind what you have learned about this person's leadership style.
Overview -
- Course protocol - when to contact me
- Discussion of the Rhetoric Exercises, which you are not passing in
- Personal Rhetorical Analysis - due tonight
- Grammar Quiz 1 and 2
- Comma Usage and Effective Writing
- CEO Report Introduction
- CEO Report Research
- CEO Report Samples
- Fortune 500 List
Overall Structure -
- Brief biography - ¾ of a page, to a page long.
- Introductory Thesis paragraph in which you make the shift to analytical writing about your CEO.
- In this paragraph, you will isolate at least three rhetorical strategies/qualities you have noticed in your CEO's leadership style (or lack thereof), but also include a sentence addressing what you believe is significant about the combination thereof, which is your thesis.
- At least three body paragraphs, ideally focused on one of each strategy/quality mentioned above.
- A strong conclusion that looks at the "bigger picture" implications of what you have discovered.
Introductory Thesis Paragraph -
- After the quick - ¾ to 1 page - bio, you need to make a rather marked shift into analysis.
- Construct an opening sentence that introduces the shift from biography to analysis in a clear, concise manner. Example: "What I find most striking, compelling, shocking, worrisome, exciting, etc. about CEO's leadership style is..."
- Isolate the three rhetorical strategies/qualities you are going to focus on...
- VERY IMPORTANT: Include a closing sentence in which you briefly address what is important about the combination thereof. THIS IS YOUR THESIS...
Body Paragraph Structure -
- Topic Sentence that states an analytical claim about one area of focus
- Evidence - concrete and specific examples - content that proves that claim. This evidence should remain focused and targeted.
- Analysis that comments on the evidence and claim, and closes the paragraph.
- Stitching or transition moves that introduce the next paragraph.
Conclusion
- Despite what is often mistakenly thought, your conclusion is not just a rehearsal of your thesis statement.
- Rather, your conclusion should address the larger implications, "the bigger picture," so to speak, of what you have discovered about your CEO.
Intro Summary, Thesis, Outline and Conclusion Assignment (ISTOC)-
- Introductory Summary
- Thesis
- Body Paragraph Outline
- Conclusion