Assignment task:
Part A:
Mandatory draft of the rhetorical analysis
Instructions:
Important: this draft uses the same ad that you did the earlier prewriting on. Build on that earlier thinking but don't simply copy and paste it! Prewriting is loose, thinking heavy, while drafting is simply a formal / top-down organization of your existing thinking.
Make sure that you've done earlier work for the week as these prepare you for this step. Remember that a draft is assembled thinking. We've already thought things through. We've already made plans! In fact, you should strongly consider outlining each of the three body paragraphs before attempting them. Remember that a body paragraph is formal. This means that it should
Make a claim in the topic sentence, which is one of the first two sentences of a paragraph
Give strong, focused evidence of that claim, lasting typically for 3-4 sentences.
Explain how that evidence leads to the claim, lasting typically for 3-4 sentences. Need Assignment Help?
Instructions:
Turn in three formal (see structure above and read the paragraph materials from the first week if you haven't!) paragraphs that RESPOND to the three rhetorical appeals (logos, pathos, ethos) on your chosen image. The nature of this response is spelled out in the prewriting assignment. Basically, you need to explain overall why you will or will not buy Nike materials on the basis of the given ad's rhetorical appeals. Each paragraph therefore should
- Make a claim about how the given appeal influences you (ex "I share a left-leaning attitude with the advertisement, which makes the message seem to be a matter of necessary social restructuring.")
Clarify focused detail from that appeal (describe something about the ad, looking from the perspective of ethos, pathos, or logos) (ex "pull out the materialism in the ad, the assumption of an interconnected society that needs to function as such")
Explain how that appeal influences you (ex "agree with the assumption above, clarifying my own commitment to such elsewhere)
I will grade each of the above paragraphs 25% for the degree to which you organize the rhetorical analysis in a unified and coherent manner as above. I will grade the other 25% for the degree to which you put these appeals in a coherent manner, building your overall response as you go. This involves connections and transitions!
Part B:
Take notes on rhetorical analysis
Instructions:
Look at these two resources before taking notes as below.
As a summary, we use the rhetorical triangle to conduct rhetorical analysis, which is the art of understanding how effecting an argument is and using that understanding to focus our own response or argument.
YouTube Video: Writing Center: Rhetorical Analysis
Article: The Rhetorical Triangle By The Mindtools Content Team
Instructions
1) Skim the materials above
2) Using the materials above (no others), give definitions for the following terms in your own words (no credit for simply copying and pasting)
a. rhetorical analysis
b. logos
c. pathos
d. ethos
3. Come up with examples of your own for each of the rhetorical appeals (logos, pathos, and ethos). These examples can come from TV, your past writing, or anywhere else provided that you do the thinking here!
I will grade each part equally for clarity and accuracy. You do not need a ton of writing here but should think about things rather than borrowing everything verbatim.
Part C:
Planning the rhetorical analysis
Review the draft description as well as class notes. Use this assignment to turn in three outlines for three different body paragraphs. Remember that a body paragraph addresses the major question for a paper, which in our case is about how the text (ad) in question does or does not encourage you to buy or otherwise support Nike (go back to the pre-writing assignment to see what you did there). You will have a paragraph concerning each of the following rhetorical appeals and how they are involved in your decision:
1. Logos
2. Pathos
3. Ethos
Besides showing me
Claim
Grounds
Warrant
For each of the three paragraphs, you should reflect briefly on the order of the paragraphs and how they relate to each other. I will grade each of these four parts equally. Don't draft here!