Writing Assessment Essay - Rhetoric

Our CANVAS site- will be going over this next session.

Writing Assessment Essay-

First place the following information in the top right hand corner of your text: Your full name, the last year, level, and institution of education, your title and company if applicable, your cell phone number, and your e-mail address.

In the next thirty (30) minutes, please write a letter to me answering to the best of your ability the following questions:

• What constitutes good (versus poor) business writing?
• Provide deeper explication and analysis of three concrete examples on each side of the question. Three important positive qualities you would include in strong business writing; three immediate red flags you have observed (or imagine would be present) in poor business writing.
• Conclude by considering whether Business Writing is, or should be considered, a separate genre, and if so, how/why?

When your time is up, please upload these letters into the Assignment #1 on our CANVAS site.

Quick Background-

• The Ethical Appeal
• The Pathetic Appeal
• The Logical Appeal
• How we use each
• How we combine two or more of them at a time
• Context
• Discourse Communities
• How all of this relates to our first graded assignment, The CEO Report.

Personal Cover Letter - Rhetorical Analysis -

• I will e-mail you an extensive exercise packet on Classical Rhetoric this evening.
• In a personal cover letter to me, please market three of your rhetorical strengths as a worker, student, or other role of your choice. Ultimately, I want you to consider how you would market yourself to me as a rhetorical strategist, but in whatever context you choose.
• Please counter by sharing one rhetorical weakness, as well.
• Important: consider how you will position the three strengths, how they should build upon, and/or relate to, each other.
• Determine how best to incorporate the weakness, as well.
• Be strategic in how you structure your letter with an introduction, body, and conclusion.
• Remember to consider what discourse communities you function in most often, and how those discourse communities might influence the rhetorical strategies you use every day.

PREVIEW: CEO Report - 3-5 pages -

• Your first graded paper is a rhetorical analysis of a CEO who leads one of the publicly-traded companies I have listed.
• You will need to research this CEO and gather at least three articles about the CEO (beyond the material on his/her website), and three samples of this CEO's writing communication style.
• You will begin with a standard, unembellished, biography of that CEO, but then shift into analysis thereof, focusing on three key leadership strategies you observe about his/her leadership.
• You will focus your body paragraphs on these three elements. Body paragraphs should contain a topic sentence, evidence, and analysis.
• You will write a conclusion in which you consider the larger implications behind what you have learned about this person's leadership style.

Overview -

• Course protocol - when to contact me
• Discussion of the Rhetoric Exercises, which you are not passing in
• Personal Rhetorical Analysis - due tonight
• Grammar Quiz 1 and 2
• Comma Usage and Effective Writing
• CEO Report Introduction
• CEO Report Research
• CEO Report Samples
• Fortune 500 List

Overall Structure -

• Brief biography - ¾ of a page, to a page long.
• Introductory Thesis paragraph in which you make the shift to analytical writing about your CEO.
• In this paragraph, you will isolate at least three rhetorical strategies/qualities you have noticed in your CEO's leadership style (or lack thereof), but also include a sentence addressing what you believe is significant about the combination thereof, which is your thesis.
• At least three body paragraphs, ideally focused on one of each strategy/quality mentioned above.
• A strong conclusion that looks at the "bigger picture" implications of what you have discovered.

Introductory Thesis Paragraph -

• After the quick - ¾ to 1 page - bio, you need to make a rather marked shift into analysis.
• Construct an opening sentence that introduces the shift from biography to analysis in a clear, concise manner. Example: "What I find most striking, compelling, shocking, worrisome, exciting, etc. about CEO's leadership style is..."
• Isolate the three rhetorical strategies/qualities you are going to focus on...
• VERY IMPORTANT: Include a closing sentence in which you briefly address what is important about the combination thereof. THIS IS YOUR THESIS...

Body Paragraph Structure -

• Topic Sentence that states an analytical claim about one area of focus
• Evidence - concrete and specific examples - content that proves that claim. This evidence should remain focused and targeted.
• Analysis that comments on the evidence and claim, and closes the paragraph.
• Stitching or transition moves that introduce the next paragraph.

Conclusion

• Despite what is often mistakenly thought, your conclusion is not just a rehearsal of your thesis statement.
• Rather, your conclusion should address the larger implications, "the bigger picture," so to speak, of what you have discovered about your CEO.

Intro Summary, Thesis, Outline and Conclusion Assignment (ISTOC)-

• Introductory Summary
• Thesis
• Body Paragraph Outline
• Conclusion