VISUAL RHETORIC ANALYSIS

What: Visual Rhetorical Analysis (Major Assignment #1 – The VRA)

Due: Wed, October 2nd no later than 8:05 AM (section 001) or 9:10 AM (section 002) – you have 26 calendar days/nights from TH, 9/5 to TUES, 10/1

Note One (1): CANVAS provides a time-stamp for when you upload a file. The closer to the deadline you submit the assignment, the more it “appears” (intended or not) that you didn’t use your time wisely to artfully, successfully, and thoroughly complete the assignment with excellence.

File title: Last name_First name_ENGL 1030_section 018_fall 2019_assignment 01.docx

Last name_First name_ENGL 1030_section 019_fall 2019_assignment 01.docx

Make sure your file name has the same spacing as the examples above

Where: Upload your properly formatted MS WORD file (.doc or .docx) via CANVAS … if you write/compose using another program (pages or Google Docs), make sure you allow enough time in your process to convert the file to WORD and ensure the new formatting matches my requirements. It isn’t sufficient to merely “save as.” You have to make sure the spacing, headers, and margins conform to my specified standards.

No thank you: This assignment requires you to develop proficiency in rhetorical analysis and argument by writing a paper that examines a visual text, but I do not want anyone to select a non-professional image or video, a political or PSA message, a WWI, WWII, Korean, Vietnam, or War-on-Terror propaganda poster, video games, anything about reacting to Nike or Gillette or other “hot-button” ads you might dislike, and nothing to do with ads criticized by Fox News or MSNBC, or poorly made fan films/YouTube video.

Instructions: Your argument must support a thesis—using the rhetorical tools of persuasion—concerning how a chosen and credible visual text offers a convincing (and perhaps persuasive) argument. You should put your thesis statement/sentence in BOLD within the body of your essay’s introductory paragraph or paragraphs.

The essay MUST not merely explain the ad and its contents or offer whether the chosen text = “good or bad” / “liked or disliked.” Rather, your work should comment upon the text’s argument(s) and what, specifically, makes it (them) compelling (or not compelling, as the case may be). I want to know if you find the text effective, yes, but, more importantly, I want your writing and analyses to SHOW me why/how the text creates meaning for its audience(s).

Make an argument that persuades readers of your well-written thesis (a thesis that I, in turn, can easily identify when reading your work).

The form of this assignment acts as integrated textual and visual essay that utilizes visual image(s) and the rhetorical elements of purpose, composition, presentation, intended audience, credibility, and argument. This assignment should include a final draft formatted according to MLA standards and a paper that uses a minimum of 1200 words. This essay—like assignments two and three—requires an MLA-formatted Works Cited page, even if this particular effort only requires one entry.

Note Two (2): I will also heavily evaluate your work on your sustained “good faith” use of Orange Document FIVE, which you do not yet have in your possession but will by the end of next week (F, 9/13)

Source(s): One visual text – a cartoon, a comic strip, a print ad (from a newspaper or magazine), a professionally made hype video or advertisement, a Hollywood movie full or teaser trailer, a movie poster, a still shot from a film, or a televised/online/advertisement from a major reputable brand, or a music video from a well-known artist

Note Three (3): You will need to add a Works Cited page to the end of your essay (at the top of its own page) with an entry for the item your work discusses. Use Purdue’s OWL / MLA guidelines sections to correctly format this part of your assignment. The sample intro/conclusion I will provide to you (at a later date) will have a correct WC page for you to “see” and understand my expectations for this portion of Major Assignment #1.

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_formatting_and_style_guide.html

Examples: If I were your student and you were my professor, I might, for example and as it relates

to this assignment, write about the Clemson vs Auburn Marvel Comics football advertisement from 2017, any of the Marvel Comics/ESPN college football opening weekend ads from 2016, 2017, or 2018, a Clemson football hype video, a trailer that interests me for a film I enjoy, a trailer for a film I haven’t seen, or an ad/image that promotes products/issues/ideas important to me or that I enjoy.

I might pick a Disney-related image or something to do with promoting comic books, literacy, or sports I follow and enjoy. Pick a subject that first interests YOU. Only then can you have a legitimate chance of turning in quality work that potentially earns you the highest of grades for the assignment.

Other samples: I will eventually provide a correctly formatted sample intro, conclusion, thesis statement,

and Works Cited page, as well as a checklist for going over your work before submitting it for a grade in English 1030 on 10/2/19 by the deadline mentioned on page 1.

Format I: Use 12-pt Times New Roman font, employ double-spaced paragraphs (set your paragraphs’ spacing to “0 pt” before and after), utilize a MLA-style header and the appropriate information on page 1, do not make your paragraphs “too long,” and make sure you save name and save the file as I’ve requested.

Notice in my syllabus how I try to write/share short, readable, properly chunked paragraphs.

Format II: Do not employ the standard 3-pt or 3-pronged thesis statement (as the last sentence of paragraph one) and the 5-pagragrah essay style (into, three paragraphs for the body, and a conclusion) you may have learned in high school or in other courses aside from ours … sophisticated college/professional writing does not rely upon such formulaic construction.