Author:
Christina Loucks
Subject:
Arts and Humanities, English Language Arts
Material Type:
Assessment, Homework/Assignment
Level:
Community College / Lower Division
Tags:
  • Composition
  • Essay Assignments
  • Rhetorical Analysis
  • Tennessee Open Education
  • License:
    Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike
    Language:
    English
    Media Formats:
    Text/HTML

    Rhetorical Analysis Essay prompt - Comp I

    Overview

    Purpose of this essay is to reinforce student's understanding of Rhetorical Strategies and how they are used in everyday works. 

    Rhetorical Analysis Essay

    Instructors: 

    This assignment has been laid out using the Transparency Framework. If you use a rubric for grading essays I would encourage you to replace the grading requirements section to meet your rubric. 

    This assignment is intended to aid students' understanding of Aristotle's Rhetorical Strategies. Many textbooks teach the basic definitions of these and provide some examples. I find that using commercials (big American football game commercials in January often work best as they are long) at least one minute in length work well. I spend a day in class watching multiple commercials, modeling for students the way to go about the analysis themselves before introducing the assignment. 

    Purpose: To show understanding of Rhetorical Strategies in Advertising.

    Skills: Critical Thinking, Identifying Rhetorical Strategies, Composing Essay, Research

    Tasks: Chose an advertisement from YouTube. I would encourage you to find something at least one full minute in length at a minimum. You cannot use a commercial that I showed in class. If you were absent then review the list of commercials in the course module. You will need to include the link to your advertisement on a Works Cited page.

    1. 1. You will need to pull one example of each Rhetorical Strategy from your advertisement: one logos, one ethos, and one pathos. You can choose more than one example, but there must be one of each Rhetorical Strategy in your paper.
    2. 2. You need to describe how each Rhetorical Strategy works to ‘sell’ the product to the audience. You will need to identify the audience (there can be more than one audience) and explain how the strategies work best for this audience.
    3. 3. Choose one strategy and discuss how you would have done it differently. No, you cannot say "I would not change anything", you must have one full paragraph discussing a strategy you would change or have done differently to sell the product. This is part of the argumentative process for writing.

    Grading Requirements:

    Points Possible 100

    The paper must have an introduction, conclusion, discussion of the three Rhetorical Strategies, and a paragraph discussing what you would change. MLA format, grammar, and sentence structure will be graded. Assignments are to be submitted in .doc or docx format to the Assignment folder. The failure to include any of the above requirements could result in a failing paper. Be sure to be aware of Due Dates and Requirements as laid out here.