Essay 2: Rhetorical Analysis
In this paper, you are going to consider one of the below articles and will write a rhetorical analysis in which you explore how the author conveys a thesis, theme, or meaning to his/her/their audience.
The focus is not on whether you agree with the author, rather, focus on what strategies the author is using to create a meaningful or effective piece. This does not mean that you have to take everything the author says at face value. If the author seems to over-emphasize emotional appeals, ignore counterarguments, or rely on faulty data, you are free indeed, encouraged to call them out on it.
A couple salient features to really consider when reading:
- Where does the author show audience awareness?
- What sort of stylistic or language tools does the author use to prove their point?
- What are the purposes (notice that there are probably several) of the author?
- What disciplines or discourses does the author draw from?
- How does the author use rhetorical proofs (appeals to emotion, authority, and reason) to prove their point?
Article choices:
- In Defense of Dangerous Ideas. Stephen Pinker. Scholars at Harvard 2007
- Honest academic inquiry should not be punished, even if the questions asked are offensive or make people uncomfortable.
- Im a Cop: I Wont Fight a War on Crime like I Fought the War on Terror. Patrick Skinner
- Better policing may mean removing our reliance on warrior cops
- Is Humiliation an Ethically Appropriate Response to Plagiarism. Loye Young. Engage: Conversations in Philosophy 2008.
- Publicly shaming cheaters should not only be legal, but standard practice.
- (Note: this is a message board, and Youngs essay is currently the second response to the post. It is the one that begins with I am that instructor.)
- Real Change Can Happen.” Matthew McConaughey.
- In the wake of a school shooting, Matthew McConaughey argues for “responsible gun ownership”
- Content Warning: This speech contains graphic descriptions of gun violence and candidly discusses victims’ experiences
- The Case for Censoring Hate Speech. Sam McElwee.
- Online speech that intimidates minorities should be censored by content providers.
- How to Fix Grade Inflation at Harvard. Samuel Goldman. The American Conservative 2013.
- Students should have a second, curved grade in addition to the one that assesses mastery of course concepts.
- The Social Costs of Abandoning the Meaning of Marriage. Ryan Anderson. Heritage Foundation 2013
- Expanding marriage beyond monogamous, permanent, heterosexual relationships harms society as a whole.
- The Singer Solution to World Poverty. Peter Singer. New York Times 1999.
- When we fail to donate money to feed the hungry, we are committing murder.
- From Degrading to De-Grading Alfie Kohn. High School Magazine, 2019
- Schools should do away with grades and use more meaningful forms of assessment.
NOTE: Some of these links may be to online newspapers with a limited number of free article views a month. Once you choose your piece, you should probably print it out immediately.
“NUTS AND BOLTS” CONCERNS:
Whichever essay you choose, please consider the following guidelines:
- Your essay should be about 750 words in MLA format. You must include a works cited page.
- You may quote and paraphrase from the text as well indeed you should quote or paraphrase when doing so will illustrate the point you are making.
- This essay is due at the end of Unit 9
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