Writing for english class

ENGL 1005A Project 3 Prompt: Compare/Contrast Rhetorical Analysis

Assignment Your assignment is to compare and contrast four Civil Rights Movements speeches. The following four speeches explore the tensions found within the American ideals of individual liberty and universal equality. Each speech argues a position in regards to how these ideals should relate to the application of civil rights within a nation that struggles to come to terms with its radical declaration that all people are created equal and endowed with the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Studying the four speeches—three given in the 1960s in the midst of the civil rights movement and one contemporary speech—will allow you to explore how the speakers use rhetorical strategies to present their ideas on a topic that continues to be relevant today.

You will read Malcolm X’s “Racial Separation” and Lyndon B. Johnson’s “The Voting Rights Act” together, and George Wallace’s “Segregation Now, Segregation Forever” and Barack Obama’s “Keynote Address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention” together in order to compare and contrast the way the speakers use different rhetorical strategies. A�er, select two of the above speeches and conduct a compare/contrast essay that evaluates the rhetorical strategies of each speech.

Context/Purpose The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate your awareness and understanding of rhetorical knowledge and how it functions within genres and texts. For this assignment, you will rely on the classical rhetorical appeals for your theoretical frame (see previous slides on logos, ethos, and pathos), as well as the other key concepts that we have discussed so far in class (creator, purpose, audience, genre, context, exigence, discourse communities, etc.).

As we have discussed in class, a rhetorical analysis examines and explains how texts are constructed so as to evaluate their effectiveness for a given audience. This means that while your analysis will address the ideas (content or topics) in the texts that you choose, your main concern is how the purpose and message of the text are presented and constructed to appeal to the targeted audience and the implications thereof. In constructing a rhetorical analysis, the writer (that’s you!) identifies and critically analyzes the rhetorical strategies the author/writer uses in order to comment on the effectiveness and/or significance of the text.

Consider both the context and the audience while developing your rhetorical analysis dra�:

● Start with a brief discussion of the subject/topic that the two speeches you are focusing on. Include the title of each piece, the genre type, and the author (or authors) of each in the introduction.

● Identify the thesis/purpose, either implied or stated, in each piece. Your thesis is the synthesis of your rhetorical analysis of two speeches and should articulate to your audience your evaluation of the two texts.

● Who is the intended audience and how do they fit into a specific community of discourse? Consider what the audience may know, wants to know, and why? How might this information presented be used by its audience?

● What is the purpose of the information presented in the genres? (inform, persuade, entertain, shock, call to action, etc.)

Your analysis should move beyond the mechanics of rhetorical analysis; the purpose of your analysis in your text (essay) should be guided by a particular “so what?” question. That is, your rhetorical analysis should reveal some kind of significance for your readers (what does your rhetorical analysis reveal, for example, about the discourse community or communities that the texts are constructed in?). While reading and analyzing the works of others, you will have to pay close attention to how they formulated their own writing using rhetorical appeals.

Rhetorical Issues: Ethos, Pathos and Logos Keep in mind that your analysis may find that some rhetorical strategies are used more heavily than others depending on the text and genre. Do not try to give equal weight to every strategy used in your analysis. Instead, choose a few key strategies to zoom in on your analysis (or one key passage that exemplifies a number of strategies). Also, keep in mind how these rhetorical strategies overlap in texts. For example, how might tone (pathos) assist—or detract from—an author’s credibility (ethos)? Remember to look at ethos, pathos, and logos in ways where you are observing the context, purpose, and the audience of what you are both reading and writing:

● How does each genre help to establish the information's credibility? Is it effective? ● How does the genre help to evoke an emotional response from the audience? Which

emotions? Why? ● What types of evidence are used to support the claims of the information in the genres? Is

it appropriate? Why or why not?

Grading As long as your rough dra� is completed on time and in good faith, you will receive full credit for it. Dra�s will be workshopped in class and commented on by me, so that each student receives constructive feedback for revising. Your final dra� will be evaluated based on prompt fulfillment, development, organization, evidence, MLA compliance, etc. The final dra� makes up 25% of your overall final course grade.

Deadlines

● November 9: Proposal Template ● November 16: Rough Dra� Due (4+ pages) ● December 9: Final Dra� Due (4-6 pages, + works cited page)

***Parts of this prompt were borrowed from and/or inspired by BlackPast.org (https://www.blackpast.org/rhetorical-analysis-compare-and-contrast-four-speeches-civil-rights/ ) and Washington State University’s English Department.