Assignment
Purpose
Americans are constantly bombarded by political rhetoric, particularly during election years. Presidential elections are hotly disputed. We still have many examples of political campaigning fresh in our memories. Much of this rhetoric seems empty and meaningless; what does it mean to say that "I'm for America," or "I'm running on a platform of family values?" The purpose of this project is to help you learn about political rhetoric. You will learn to identify the different types of appeals, analyze political jargon, and consider how politicians use rhetoric to influence voters. A good understanding of political rhetoric is an absolute necessity for citizens in a democracy.
This project is designed to help you learn about rhetorical concepts like the three appeals (ethos, logos, pathos), and how rhetoricians cater their messages to a specific audience.
Assignment Details
Write a 1000-1200 word rhetorical analysis with one primary source and two secondary sources. Below is a detailed description of what all this means and a step-by-step guide.
First off, note that a rhetorical analysis has three components:
1. Artifact. This is the item that you will be analyzing. To be considered a "rhetorical" artifact, it must be designed to persuade someone to do something (example: TV commercials try to persuade a target demographic, say American adults suffering from allergies, to ask their doctors about a name brand allergy med). For this assignment, your artifact will be a TV commercial for a presidential election campaign (more on this later). A proper description of the artifact must include descriptions of these three items:
1. The artifact itself. In the case of a TV commercial, what is shown on the screen? What kind of characters are there? Describe the music, colors, images, etc. Don't assume readers have seen the commercial or will see it--describe it for them.
2. The original context. When did the commercial air? What was going on politically at the time?
3. The target audience. Who was the commercial designed to persuade? You can't just say "Everyone" or "undecided voters." Every advertisement has a particular audience in mind, one whom the advertiser feels is susceptible to being persuaded. Maybe it's targeted at older people, young voters, women, minorities, working class, the wealthy, etc.
2. Theoretical framework. This is the rhetorical theory you'll be using to analyze the artifact. For us, this is Aristotle's rhetoric, which includes the terms Pathos (emotional appeal), Logos (logical appeal), and Ethos (credibility appeal). The theory and how to apply it is clearly explained in the textbook, Understanding Rhetoric, so read it carefully. Mention the terms you'll be using (ethos, logos, etc.) and what they mean.
3. Evaluation. After describing the artifact and your theoretical framework, you then apply the theory to the artifact to evaluate it. Remember, it doesn't matter whether you find the commercial persuasive or whether the candidate actually won the election. All that matters is whether the commercial effectively reached its target audience at the time it was aired.
First, visit The Livingroom Candidate Website and browse the political commercials. You can also use a political commercial from YouTube or similar site, but I recommend the Livingroom Candidate because it provides some context and background information on the commercial that you will find helpful.
The commercial will be your PRIMARY source. The information you need to cite the commercial is available on the site--just click the "credits" button on the video to see it.
Attachment:- Rhetorical-Analysis-Instructions.rar