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Analysis Papers–Short & Final

Purpose
To demonstrate your understanding of the rhetorical principles that we examine over the course of the semester, you will be asked to analyze the strategies that another writer, preferably one from your emphasis of study, has used in her/his communication. After choosing this text, you will write three short papers about assigned rhetorical features that the writer does or does not employ–to various degrees of success. The final analysis paper–a synthesis of these these three papers–allows you to argue for a rhetorical interpretation of this text. Through these papers you will be able to demonstrate your understanding of specific rhetorical principles and your ability to apply these principles to a discussion of this text. As you compose these paper, you will ideally come to understand your own rhetorical strategies and how knowledge is developed in your field of study.


Overview

Early in the semester, you should choose a text that you want to analyze through the course of the semester. You should choose a text that...

  • you wrote or a scholar wrote
  • is professionally relevant to you
  • is related to your emphasis of study (e.g., a short story you have written, an article in a literature journal, software documentation)
  • you have read or will read before the first paper
  • you feel confident will sustain your interest over the course of the semester

Any variations from these parameters should be discussed with the instructor. After the first short paper you will be allowed to change the text that you have chosen, although it is strongly discouraged. By the second short paper you are committed to the text that you have chosen and cannot change the text. Note that if you switch texts, you will not have the opportunity to re-write the first short paper with this new text for credit.

The semester is divided up into three units based upon the principles being studied. The first three sections end the week before each Analysis Paper is due. The three units can described as follows:

  • 1–Rhetorical Players: Ethos & Pathos
  • 2–Textual Presentation: Delivery, Style, & Arrangement
  • 3–Philosophy & Knowledge: Logos, Invention & Dialectic

For each unit you will write one Short Analysis Paper applying the principles you learned during the unit to your chosen text. The Final Analysis Paper will be an comprehensive analysis of the text.

Instructions–Short Papers  SP# (50 points each)

Using at least two of the theorists we have discussed in a corresponding unit, write a 2-3 page (double-spaced) analysis paper of the chosen text.

For each paper you will make an argument about 1) the strategies that the author used and 2) how effectively these strategies were used. To do this analysis, you will want to cover the following guidelines:

  • develop your own argument about how the author tries to creates a persuasive text within this given situation; however, the argument will focus primarily on the principles described in the given unit. Also, explain whether you think that the text that you are analyzing is effectively persuasive. This argument is the focus of your paper; everything else supports this argument. Therefore, think of the application of rhetorical theory as a lens through which you explain your support.
  • briefly identify the author's argument and rhetorical situation (to the best of your ability); for each paper you will want to act as if you need to briefly introduce the text to a new audience.
  • choose at least two theorists from the given section to help you support your argument and briefly explain their rhetorical theories–demonstrate your knowledge of the theory. As you choose the theorist you want to work with remember that you want to produce papers that are cohesive, not exhaustive.
  • use the theory to describe how you see the author trying to be persuasive. You develop this discussion you may want to start by asking yourself...
    • how are certain principles being emphasized?
    • how are certain principles being de-emphasized?
    • does the emphasis or de-emphasis of these rhetorical principles make the author's argument more or less persuasive in this given rhetorical situation?
    • how does this rhetorical strategy work with or against the writer's application of rhetorical principles from other units?
    • how can the writer's application of certain theorists' understanding of various rhetorical principle have changed the text's presentation?

Instructions–Final Analysis Paper  FAP (200 points)

For the Final Analysis Paper you will write a 6-7 page (double-spaced) comprehesive analysis paper of the chosen text. You will synthesize the three short papers and produce one paper about the overall rhetorical strategies and effectiveness of the chosen text. To compose this paper:

  • read through the three short papers paying attention to rhetorical patterns in the overall composition of this text
  • consider the instructor's comments from the short papers; these will give you a good sense of the instructor's expectations for this final paper.
  • decide which rhetorical strategies are most significant to fulfill the writer's purpose for this text; this will be the foundation for your argument.
  • again develop your own argument about 1) how the author tries to create a persuasive text within this given situation and 2) whether these strategies are successful. Keep in mind both the rhetorical features of the text and the theorists who best explain these features. Both of these may be components that did not get discussed in your short papers.
  • as with the short papers, you want you paper to be cohesive rather than exhaustive. You must talk about the players, the presentation, and the creation and/or use of knowledge and support each discussion with theoretical discussion. However, you will choose which features should be emphasized or deemphasized.
  • again briefly identify the author's argument and rhetorical situation (to the best of your ability); act as if you need to briefly introduce the text to a new audience.
  • again consider the questions above to guide your composition of the paper.
  • you should not just cut-and-paste the three short papers together without rethinking your approach to the entire paper because the paper would probably 1) lack cohesion and 2) exceed the 7 page limit (which will be penalized)

Suggestions for all four papers

    • Use the points above for guidance, but not as a checklist. In other words, do not use these points to organize your paper
    • make references to specific passages in the text that you are analyzing
    • make references to specific passages from the rhetoricians we have studied
    • make references to any other text that you believe is relevant to your argument
    • go beyond the argument, "Author X is an effective rhetor because s/he applies the theories of Rhetorician A and Rhetorician B well." An excellent version of this type of paper will earn no more than a "B." While this type of paper demonstrates that you can apply the theory, it does not show me that you understand the text's potential rhetorical effect in the given situation, nor that you can develop a sophisticated argument
    • analyze the text, rather than the subject being discussed in the article. If the writer is analyzing another text, analyze the actual text you read, not the text being analyzed in the article

Remember to...

  • be reader-centered; in other words do not assume that your reader has any of the background knowledge that you have about what you discuss, even from paper to paper.
  • consistently use MLA or APA for in-texts and end-text citations


Criteria

The Short Analysis Papers are due on...

  • September 23 , 2005
  • October 28 , 2005
  • November 22 , 2005

The Final Analysis Papers are due on...

  • December 9 , 2005

In addition to the general evaluation criteria, the instructor will be looking for evidence of...

  • a coherent, well-supported argument
  • an ability to explain the rhetorical strategies that the author uses
  • an informed understanding and discussion of rhetoric
  • a sense of audience–do you provide enough information and detail about the text that your audience gets a clear sense of its content? Likewise do you only highlight what is relevant?
  • appropriate use of conventions, including MLA or APA citation formatting