english hw

Essay 1 Prompt Do a rhetorical analysis on an essay or article of your choice, the general criteria being that the text you choose must relate in some way to the themes of the unit, “How Do We Define ‘Inequality’ in American Society.” Remember that a rhetorical analysis is an explanation of how an essay persuades, or fails to persuade, its readers. Therefore your opinions about the issues presented in the essays are secondary (or not important) to your analysis of the rhetorical elements (target audience, tone, word choice, and logos, pathos, and ethos appeals). Make sure that you are fully explaining how the elements work (or do not work) to persuade its audience (for example, “the author’s angry tone turns off the audience, and therefore is not very persuasive”). Be sure to use specific examples from the text to illustrate your assertions. While this paper might seem more like a report, do not think of it this way, as the strength of your paper will lie in its ability to convince your peers and me that your assessment of the essay’s rhetorical elements is sound. Thus, you really are crafting an argumentative essay. You have a unique perspective through which you approach a text, and it’s up to you to convey how you see the essay’s rhetorical elements working. Your essay does not have to attack the author. In fact, it probably should not, as you need to demonstrate control of your own rhetoric (your tone, your word choice, your use of logic, etc.). Choosing your text: Your essay can be from any source and be by any author, but it must have been written anytime between 2010-present), originally written in English, and should be a reasonable length—something close to the length of the essays we’ve been reading for class. It must be related to the themes of this unit, but that “limitation” actually gives you great leeway. If you can make a case as to how it’s related to our unit (and it’s a sound case, of course), you can analyze it, but you should run it by me first if you have any doubts. Your introduction should:

• offer context for your article: when/where was the article written • introduce the author and their credentials (if you examine the author’s ethos in-depth later

on in the paper, you might be more brief about their credentials in the intro to save the material for the body of your paper)

• articulate the author’s thesis or main argument, the essay’s purpose • briefly identify the author’s intended audience, who you think they are trying to reach • state your thesis that clearly identifies whether you feel the essay is effective/not effective

The body paragraphs should be focused, each expressing one main point. Length: 500-600 words. Please put a word count at the end of the paper. For Due dates: see schedule