ELEMENTS OF A RHETORICAL ANALYSIS

I would suggest using the library's search engines, and select an article not covering one of the banned topics. It should be a longer piece, since this will be a 5-page assignment.

You will need to include the following items in your personal text analysis:

• Summary of the piece being analyzed

• Description of the context of the piece
(The immediate "call to write" and the larger issues relating to that call)

• Definition of the piece's purpose
(What the author hopes it will accomplish)

• Analysis of the argument itself
(Qualified? Includes counterarguments? Avoids or uses fallacies?)

• Analysis of the writer and the writer's allegiances. What I mean here is: does the author work and write for one specific publication or genre?

• Identification and description of the target audiences

• Analysis of the piece's stance toward the audience

(The way a writer relates to readers, assumes shared values or opinions)

• Analysis of the language used
(How words are defined - or left undefined - and used, key terms and phrases, tone and voice, use of sarcasm/satire)

• Conclusions: overall rhetorical effectiveness
(Does it achieve the writer's purpose?)

EVALUATION CRITERIA:

An analytical essay does not have to be tightly "thesis-driven" - it may not have a single, strongly-stated thesis sentence at the start. However, it should be readable and coherent. This is an exercise in carefully reading and analyzing a specific text, so the essay you construct must use that text as its primary source.

You need to choose which relationships among the key elements are most interesting or contribute most significantly to the meaning of that essay in its rhetorical situation. The resulting piece should conform to the outcomes listed above.

OUTSIDE SOURCES:

While the article is your primary text and source, there are a couple other sources that you will need to consult in order to address some of the points above. You need to use these two sources to get information on the article's author and the magazine or newspaper in which the article appeared.

This paper should be approx. 5 pages in length, have 2-3 sources, and utilize MLA rules (see PowerPoint presentations in Isidorein the lessons area).

Reading : The Bad News About Good News-The happyfication of digital journalism is so cute. And so dangerous
By Byline: Alexander Nazaryan