paper 3

Dr. Sims

Paper Three Topic Proposal

For this topic proposal, please consider responding to the questions below. Keep in mind that you are in no way bound to these questions; feel free to expand on your current ideas in any way you see fit. These questions are intended for brainstorming purposes only and I encourage you to answer them in your own personal style and manner. The proposal will total 350 words but compose it in a way that will help YOU transition to the actual draft; in other words, respond to the questions below but if you already have an idea in mind of how you’d like to begin the draft, consider composing an introduction. Likewise, if you have an idea in mind of two potential body paragraphs, consider fleshing those out here. The proposals for the third and fourth papers serve two purposes: one, it provides me an opportunity to offer direction and focus with your ideas as you brainstorm, and two, it provides you an opportunity to begin the draft now.

Please note, too, that the questions below are structured to mimic the organization of your paper. Your ideas should start with the overall topic you want to analyze in further detail throughout the paper, i.e. the impact false and/or misleading news can/will have in a specific field; next, identify the website and key claims within one article you'll use as your primary texts; then, use the ethos, pathos, and logos rhetorical analysis questions I provided in class to breakdown the composition of your website and article’s claims—how they (attempt to) prove their trustworthiness, credibility, experience, expertise, as well as tone, word choice, supporting evidence, organization, etc. Remember, you know that the content is false and/or misleading—how does the author fool other readers into believing his/her claims, writing style, and message are true? We can’t analyze the effectiveness of someone’s argument until we’ve investigated how that argument is composed in the first place.

Happy writing!

1. Your primary texts and topic/issue: write briefly about why you’re interested in this particular website and article. You want your introduction to engage your audience, so consider using yourself to create an arresting opening (i.e. an opening that’ll get your audience’s attention). Why is this topic/issue of importance to you? Why is it a topic/issue that your audience should care about, too? What exactly is “at stake” with this issue (it’s an issue for a reason, right?)? Who might be impacted by this topic/issue?

2. Your website and article’s claims: because we want to avoid interjecting our own personal opinions regarding your primary texts, this section of the proposal will (or at least, I hope) give you practice citing and quoting claims from your article in a concise way. The focus of the paper is analyzing the effectiveness of how these arguments are composed, but do state for your audience why you feel the claims you’ve selected are some of the most important ones. What claims have you extracted and why?

3. Your rhetorical analysis: now that you’ve identified your article’s claims for your audience, you want to begin applying the rhetorical triangle (ethos, pathos, logos). Consider how one rhetorical appeal is important to understanding one of the claims you’ve mentioned above; use the questions provided in class to begin that analysis.