RhetoricalAnalysis

=Rhetorical Analysis Assignment= Due: Friday, Oct. 1

The assignment
Your group will analyze the argument presented by one of the open letters we are reading. Working as a team, your group will write an analysis that you will post on your group's wiki page. Then you will present the results of your analysis to the class on Friday.

The requirements
Your analysis must address the following questions:
 * How does the writer establish the timeliness of the letter? ("Establishing the Occasion," p.119)
 * Describe the rhetorical stance. Analyze the letter's use of ethos, pathos, and logos. ("Analysis of Persuasive Appeals," pp.61-64)
 * Analyze the parts of the argument--claim, evidence, enabling assumptions, differing views, and qualifiers--and how the writer puts them together. ("Making an Argument," pp. 66-74)
 * Evaluate the overall effectiveness of the letter. (Your group does not have to agree on the letter's effectiveness. You can include dissenting opinions.)

Working together
You will have time to work on the analysis in class, but you will probably not be able to get all the work done in class. You will have to decide how to divide the work up outside of class. Each of you can add to and edit text on the wiki page. You might want to appoint an editor to do a final edit of the text to ensure clarity and correctness.

Examples
Chapter 3 of our text provides good examples of rhetorical analysis. There is a sample paper on pp. 84-86. There is an excellent analysis of rhetorical stance on pp. 61-64.