argument analysis rhetorical strategies co authored project
RWS 280/Spring 2018
Assignment # 2 – Argument Analysis – Rhetorical Strategies (Co-authored project)
(Due 3/19)(15 %)
You will work together with a co-author (preferably), and you will both get the same grade.
Read Torture’s Dirty Secret: It Works by Naomi Klein and write an analysis of the text’s argument, with particular emphasis on the rhetorical strategies. Bear in mind that you are NOT entering into a conversation about the topic. Instead, you are expressing your opinion about how the text is working. Make a judgment about how strong and persuasive the article is, and explain how well the rhetorical strategies used work, or not.
Write an approximately 3-page long paper, typed, and edited in normal font (12) and M.L.A. formatting.Papers with too many elementary spelling and grammar mistakes will be returned as incomplete. Late papers will be penalized. (I’ll accept emailed work only in exceptional cases or if you had obtained my permission in advance. In case you have to email me your assignment, you also have to bring me a hard copy for grading the next time you come to class. If you fail to do so, the paper will count as late.)
You are to respect the University rules regarding plagiarism.Anybody who will be found guilty of plagiarizing will absolutely fail the class.
Steps to follow:
1.Set the stage for your analysis by explaining the importance and/or actuality of the issue.
2.Write the rhetorical précis of the assigned reading.
3. Is the article well-written? Consider some these questions, but do not answer them directly. Incorporate some thoughts along these lines into your evaluation:
How clear are the claims? Are they sufficiently backed up? How entertaining, convincing, or informative is the whole piece? What is the overall effect of the appeals on the reader? Which appeal(s) seems stronger? Why? How do the appeals work together?
4. Evaluate the effectiveness of the argument considering the author’s use of rhetorical strategies. Explain three rhetorical strategies that Klein is using, and decide how well they serve their purpose.Each time when you are discussing a strategy, you have to: first, identify that particular strategy and provide a quotation; second, describe how it works, and third, explain why it is used – what purpose it serves in that context. (You will write at least one well-developed paragraph for each.)
5. Conclude with a brief comment (probably one paragraph) revealing your opinion of the issue of torture, to give finality to your analysis.
Make sure that have nice transitions and integrate these steps in a smooth-flowing essay.
Grading Formula
Rhetorical Précis – 20%; Evaluation – 20%; Analysis of Rhetorical Strategies – 30%; Your Comments on the Issue – 10%; Grammar & Mechanics – 20%.
Key outcomes met with this assignment:
Students will learn to:
- Extract main ideas from texts and reorganize them in the order of their importance;
- Analyze an author’s specific rhetorical strategies in a given text;
- Evaluate the arguments/claims and supporting material in written texts;
- Distinguish different types of appeals;
- Construct an analytical claim;
- Use collaborative and social aspects of the writing process by critiquing peer’s texts and discussing own writing;
- Use “language about language;â€
- Format simple manuscripts, and cite sources accurately;
- Understand the consequences of plagiarism.