Posted: September 16th, 2017

Rhetorical Analysis on an Article (1500-2000 Words)

Rhetorical Analysis on an Article (1500-2000 Words)

The article that the rhetorical analysis must be done on can be found here:

Ager, Susan. “Tough, Cheap, and Real, Detroit Is Cool Again.” National Geographic. May 2015. Web. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/taking-back-detroit/see-detroit.html

Below are the instructions provided by the professor:

Introduction/Rationale

The analysis essay is a common college assignment across many different majors. Simply put, analysis focuses on describing how something works by breaking it down and examining its various components. In this version of the analysis essay, the something you’ll study are examples of non-fiction writing designed to persuade readers to take action. To do your analysis, you will use rhetorical analysis, which is an advanced reading strategy used to explore how rhetorical messages work in specific situations.

This assignment has three main goals:

to develop your understanding of key rhetorical concepts (rhetorical situation, types of arguments, and persuasive appeals),
to provide you with practice using rhetorical concepts as a reading strategy to read and analyze types of writing,
to give you practice writing in the genre of the academic essay.

As your instructor, I will use this assignment to assess your achievement across all three of these goals.

The texts you will read and analyze for this project come from mainstream scenes of writing and position-oriented blogs.

Assignment Prompt

Write a 1500-2000-word paper that identifies, describes, and analyzes the argumentative and rhetorical strategies used by the author of the article you are assigned to study. Here’s the basic outline of the essay:
I. Introduction

II. Summary of article and description of article’s rhetorical situation

III. Analysis of article

IV. Claim/Conclusion

Your analysis should focus on identifying and describing four different components of the writer’s argument:

Type of argument-identify and describe the different types of arguments (i.e., definition, evaluation, causation, proposal, rebuttal) used in the article being studied by including specific examples from the text to prove your point

Ethos-describe how the author of the article makes themselves appear credible and trustworthy for the article’s target audience using examples from the text to demonstrate your point.

Pathos-describe how the author of the article appeals to the emotions and/or beliefs of the article’s target audience using examples from the text to demonstrate your point.

Logos-describe how the author of the article appeals to logic to target the audience’s expectations for appropriate supporting evidence using examples from the text to demonstrate your point. Identify and describe at least one enthymeme used in the article.

In addition to the body of your essay where you’ll present your analysis, your paper should include three additional components:

Introduction (1 paragraph)-introduce the topic and purpose of your paper (e.g., the ways writers attempt to communicate with readers about police brutality, etc.) and foreshadow your evaluative claim about the article being studied (see conclusion).

Summary (1 paragraph)-in a short paragraph, summarize the article being studied and describe the rhetorical situation of the article.

Claim/Conclusion (2-3 paragraphs)-develop an evaluative claim about the persuasive strategies used in the article being studied. Strong essays will develop the evaluative claim in terms of particular elements of the article’s rhetorical situation (e.g., audience, purpose, etc.). As an example, you might argue that the article is generally ineffective because it fails to adequately anticipate the needs and expectations of its target audience.

Essay Organization and Formatting

Included below is a detailed outline for the essay which includes all of the different sections described above. Supporting materials for each section are included in parentheses.

I. Introduction
a. introduce topic (e.g., the ways writers attempt to communicate with readers about gun violence, etc.)

b. state purpose of your essay (“In this essay, I will explore…”)

c. introduce or foreshadow your evaluative claim (“I argue that…”)

II. Summary/Rhetorical Situation Description

a. summarize the article

b. describe the author’s rhetorical situation

III. Analysis

a. identify and describe the main kinds of arguments used in the article.

b. identify and describe the author’s use of ethos

c. identify and describe the author’s use of pathos

d. identify and describe the author’s use of logic and at least one enthymeme used in the article

IV. Claim/Conclusion

a. develop an evaluative claim about the article

Essay Minimum Requirements (what you’ll turn in)

1500-2000 word Rhetorical Analysis
essay must accurately identify and describe the types of argument used in article
essay must persuasively describe the uses of ethos, pathos, and logos
essay must develop an evaluative claim about the article

Extra Information:

The paper can be anywhere between 1500-1925 words.

The only time another source should be used is to refer to the credibility of the author of the article in regards to arguing the ethos part of the paper if needed. No other sources should be used to speak on the topic at hand. Again, you can however use other sources or articles to speak on the authors credibility/ethos section.