For this assignment, you are asked to analyze either Jon Lovett's "The Culture of Shut Up" or Susan Casey's "Our Oceans Are Turning into Plastic...Are You?" (beginning on pages 13 and 225 of The Engaged Reader, respectively). Your rhetorical analysis should be comprised of the following integrated parts:
• An introduction consisting of the following five elements:
1. a hook
2. the article's author (first and last name) and title
3. the author's credentials (brevity and relevance to the article topic are essential here)
4. an overview of the article's rhetorical situation (the author's rhetorical purpose and intended audience, and the article's occasion and general topic to segue nicely into your thesis)
5. your thesis statement
• A thesis statement containing the following three elements:
1. the rhetorical strategies you are using to analyze the text
2. the author's central assertion
3. the effectiveness of the text (author achieves his or her rhetorical purpose), ineffectiveness (author does not achieve his or her rhetorical purpose), or a combination of the two (author has mixed success in achieving his or her rhetorical purpose). See page 151 of A Brief Guide to Writings from Readings for examples.
• Three to four subsequent body paragraphs, which should:
1. begin with a topic sentence identifying the specific rhetorical strategy to be discussed and linking that strategy to a persuasive appeal
2. connect to the previous paragraph with effective transitions
3. include specific examples from the text in the form of quotations and paraphrases
4. include an explanation of why the combination of strategy and appeal does or does not help the author achieve his or her purpose (ultimately, this analysis will link back to your thesis statement).
5. be logically organized and mirror the order implied within your thesis statement
• A concluding paragraph, which will:
1. contain a restatement of your thesis (but in different terms)
2. revisit the assertions you make in your body paragraphs
3. give your audience a sense of closure by revisiting your hook in some way or imagining the text had it been written differently.
• Those of you who choose to analyze Lovett's article should devote a portion of your essay to a discussion of the analogy that begins Lovett's piece. What persuasive appeal can you link to his use of analogy and does this combination of strategy and appeal help or hinder his central argument?