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Essay Project 2: Rhetorical Analysis
Essay 2 Due Dates
□ Friday, Oct 12: Thesis
Proposal
□ Friday, Oct 19: Rough
Draft for Peer Review
□ Monday, Oct 22: Final
Draft
The purpose of this
assignment is to:
Help students practice the
following Student Learning
Objectives, as stated on the
course syllabus and outlined
below.
Student Learning Objectives
1. Use active/critical reading
strategies to produce
accurate, concise summaries
of college level/academic
texts.
2. Synthesize researched
material from texts to create
and support an argument in
response to a prompt. Draw
direct evidence from texts in
support of claims and analyze
how that evidence supports
the claim.
3. Utilize the various phases in
the writing process—
prewriting, writing revision,
and proofreading—to produce
clear, articulate, wellsupported, well-organized
essays.
4. Avoid plagiarism by properly
citing quoted, summarized,
and paraphrased material
using MLA format.
Assignment Overview
This assignment requires Engl 120 writers to:
1. Read and respond to a college-level text.
2. Compose college-level writing.
3. Respond to a topic with an original argument.
Required Text
• Mailhot, Therese Marie. Heart Berries. (or)
• Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. (or)
• Shakespeare, William. Macbeth.
Overview: For this particular assignment, you have two
essay prompt, and the section choice is a more creative
one.
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Traditional Essay Prompt (Choice No. 1):
Compose an essay where you provide a close reading
analysis of the text of your choice and the author’s use of at
least two rhetorical strategies. If you are stuck, please use the
provided Close Reading Worksheet. In your thesis, you should
make a claim about the effectiveness of these strategies.
Components to Include:
In your introduction, include:
1.
2.
Make sure you show examples from the text that connects to
the point/claim you want to make and support your thesis.
(These examples form the I or Illustration of PIE format.) Also,
make sure to explain how the illustration proves your claim to
be correct. (This will form part of your E or Explanation in PIE
format.)
3.
Specific Requirements
•
□ Your essay must include an academic summary of
your chosen text.
□ Your essay must also include your argument about the
effectiveness of the author’s rhetoric.
▪ That means you need a thesis and topic sentences
which state your claim and reasons why. You also
need support for your argument in the form of cited
material from the text itself.
▪ Remember, your thesis needs to contain both your
limited subject and your attitude (claim) about your
limited subject.
▪
For this essay, your limited subject is the
specific rhetorical strategies you choose to
focus on, and your attitude is whether or not
the author is successful in their implementation
of these strategies.
□ You must include a total of at least SIX direct quotes
in your essay.
□ You are required to cite your sources using proper MLA
format, so don’t forget your Works Cited page.
□ Length: 5-6 pages
□ Your essay needs to have a creative title.
•
4.
a hook or attention grabber;
background information on
the topic
Academic summary of your
chosen text
your thesis statement – your
thesis should state your limited
subject and attitude
In your body paragraphs,
include:
•
•
PIE Format
Topic sentences/Points that
make a claim about the
effectiveness of a rhetorical
strategy
Information that is directly
quoted from the text
Explanation/Evaluation of each
quote that does the following:
• Explains what the quote
means in your own words
• Connects the quote to your
point/claim. Shows how the
quotes supports the point.
• Explains the significance of
the quote.
In your conclusion, include
1.
2.
A brief summary of your key points
Restate your thesis
3.
Final thoughts about your
topic
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Visual Argument Prompt (Choice No. 2):
This assignment encourages you to go beyond only
considering the words in a text -its linguistic content- and to
also observe how visual elements, such as graphics,
typography, color, and placement, contribute to meaning and
persuasion. Visual arguments surround us in life and online. In
our daily lives, we are frequently confronted by advertising
with very little linguistic content that is still highly persuasive.
This project will help you to:
•
•
•
Come to understand that your audiences, your purposes,
and your contexts should motivate your linguistic and
visual choices
Cultivate your visual literacy
Learn some of the basic elements of design
Prompt: This project has two parts: a visual argument and
a project assessment reflection.
Specific Requirements
Your visual argument must include:
□ Be primarily visual rather than linguistic. It can take almost
any form: a painting, an advertisement, a poster (for movie,
concert, or app), a comic strip, a sculpture, a photograph,
a video, a computer generated image or animation, a
collage, etc.
□ Consider: an emotional appeal, an appeal to credibility,
an appeal to logic
□ A visual representation of that purpose and claim which
communicates not only the overall idea, but employs the
strategies we discussed in class
□ Support your claim through evidence, visual choices, such
as typography, color, placement, graphics, etc.
□ Appeal to a specific audience. Write about translating
linguistic claims into visual claims. How does your visual
support your project and purpose?
You will also compose a short essay reflection (2-3 pages)
in which you analyze the process you used to compose your
visual argument, composed of answers to the questions
below. Use essay format for this.
For your project assessment reflection, you must:
□ Write about the context. In what ways does your visual
argument appeal specifically to the audience you
identified? That is, how do your design choices persuade
your audience?
Components to Consider:
Assignment Possibilities:
1. Photographic Essay: Create a
series of photos serving your
purpose; must present images
that appeal to one of the
Aristotelian appeals.
2. Movie or Concert Poster:
Create a poster staring your
choice of text.
3. Ad Campaign: Develop an
advertisement campaign for
your specific text.
4. Editorial Cartoons: Design a
series of cartoons and
captions for the text of your
choice.
Requirements for Essay
Reflection:
1. MLA Format
2. Length: 2-3 pages
3. If you include sources, they
must be cited properly in
MLA format, and be
included on a works cited
page.
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□ Write about how you used Ethos, Pathos and Logos.
Remember these? How did you appeal to ethos, logos,
and/or pathos in your visual? Which of these appeals is
the strongest? Why?
□
Ethos: What does your choice of medium say about
your ethos? How are does your design reflect
your character? Do you convey your ethos
through typography? Color? Some other way?
□
Logos: How does your visual rely on logos? Can
your readers easily understand your visual? Does
your visual convey information efficiently? In
what ways do you appeal to logos? Through
typography? Color? Placement? Some other way?
□
Pathos: How does your visual appeal to emotion?
Do you convey emotion through typography?
Color? Some other way?
□ Write about the process. What was the most challenging
part of composing your visual argument? Why was it so
challenging? Briefly describe and explain one of the
significant revisions you made to your visual argument
after your initial draft. What is the most effective aspect of
your project? Have you deliberately adapted a standard
form in an unusual or creative way? If so, why?
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Grading Rubric for Essay Final Draft
To grow as a writer, you must place close attention to feedback and note areas for growth. Please do not
interpret a “Well Done” or “Outstanding” as meaning that you no longer need to develop that aspect of your
writing. There is always room for growth!
Critical Thinking:
Inadequate
Developing
Skillful
Outstanding
Adequate
Skillful
Outstanding
Adequate
Skillful
Outstanding
Adequate
uses a critical voice to answer all
parts of the essay prompt and
show that you have thought
critically about the topic.
discusses complexities and does
not make things seem more
simple than they are.
considers multiple perspectives.
Central Idea:
Inadequate
Developing
has one controlling idea, stated
in a thesis statement early in
the paper that answers the
prompt and contains both limited
subject and attitude.
has multiple paragraphs with
a topic sentences that
develop the thesis
Support:
Inadequate Developing
cites relevant support from the
text—direct quotation and/or
paraphrase—to illustrate the
main point.
introduces cited information as
specified in MLA style.
explains the connection
between the citation and the
point by analyzing information.
≈
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summarizes and explains the
ideas in the text(s) for your
readers who are unfamiliar with
them.
Organization:
Inadequate
Developing
Adequate
Skillful
Outstanding
Adequate
Skillful
Outstanding
organizes ideas logically and
follows a clear pattern of
development.
contains a clear introduction,
body, and conclusion.
Utilizes effective transitions
between and within paragraphs.
Mechanics:
Inadequate
Developing
has limited proofreading and
spelling errors. (Errors MUST
NOT impede clarity and
comprehension of text)
uses a variety of sentence
structures.
demonstrates correct
MLA format and citations.
has a complete Works Cited
page that demonstrates a
working understanding of MLA
citation requirements.
Final Essay Packet is
Complete with Rough Draft
Copies and Brainstorm
OVERALL SCORE
Yes
No
Close Reading Worksheet
For example, look at diction. What kinds of words does the author use? Look up any that
are unfamiliar. Does she or he aim for lofty diction (used for special occasions) or
common diction? Are the words long or short, Latinate or Anglo-Saxon, specialized (i.e.
legalistic, medical, jargon, elite) or ordinary? Remember that the rules for diction are
different at different times in history.
The PowerPoints for this week: Rhetorical Strategies and Rhetorical Devices can help
you narrow down what you want to focus on for your close reading.
3. Next, look at sentence structure. Can you map the sentences (find the subject
and verb, locate phrases and clauses)? Does the author use active or passive
verbs? What rhythms or patterns does the sentence structure create—long flowing
ones, short choppy ones—and how do these relate to the meaning?
4. Does the passage contain figurative language? What sensory images or
metaphors or similes do you observe? What is the significance or effect of the
author’s use or lack of figurative language?
5. What do you notice about the structure of the passage overall? Does it have a
climax or significant turning point? How does it organize or develop its ideas,
impressions, or themes?
6. You can also analyze tone. Is the narrator being straightforward, factual, open?
Or is he taking a less direct route toward his meaning? Does the voice carry
emotion? Or is it detached from its subject? Do you hear irony? If so, what do you
make of it?
7. Once you have a grasp of the language, you can begin to look for problems or
complications in your reading of the passage, to move beyond description to
interpretation. What are the effects of the technical features of the passage? In
the example above, you may discover some difference between what the author
appears to be doing (giving you a complete, unbiased narrative) and what she also
accomplishes (raising doubts about the narrator’s point of view, whether he fully
understands the implications of what he’s seen, whether this narrator can be
trusted, etc.). You can now begin to talk about the ways Shelley’s language,
which seems to invite our confidence, is also raising these doubts.
8. At this point, you can propose a generic hypothesis, something like, “In this
passage, Shelley raises questions about Victor Frankenstein’s character through
her contrast between the violence Frankenstein witnesses and his seemingly
bland, even inappropriate response to it.” You can proceed to fill in the outlines of
this point by explaining what you mean, using details and quotations from the
passage to support your point.
9. You still need an argument and will need to go back to your opening to sharpen
the thesis. The question is Why? Or to what effect? Your thesis might build on
what you’ve already written by suggesting the larger implications of your
observations and by structuring your paper more rigorously.
10. Using this method to get started, you will have achieved some very important
things, namely:
1) you have chosen a specific piece of the text to work with, hence avoiding
generalizations and abstractions that tend to turn a reader off;
2) you have moved from exposition (explaining or summarizing what’s there) to
arguing a point, which will involve your reader in a more interactive and risky
encounter;
3) you have carved out your own reading of the text rather than taking the more
well-worn path;
4) you have identified something about Shelley’s method that may well open up
other areas of the text for study and debate. Bravo!
11. With your more refined thesis in place, you can go back and make sure your
supporting argument explains the questions you’ve raised, follows through on
your argument, and comes to a provocative conclusion. By the end, you may be
able to expand from your initial passage to a larger point, but use your
organization to keep the reader focused all the way.
Student Name
Professor Name
ENGL 205
Date Due
Rhetorical Devices Used In Macbeth
Imagine how dull a Shakespearean play would be without the ingenious literary
devices and techniques that contribute so much to the fulfillment of its reader or viewer.
Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, is a tragedy that combines fact and legend to tell the
story of an eleventh century king. Shakespeare uses numerous types of literary techniques
to make this tragic play more appealing. Three literary devices that Shakespeare uses to
make Macbeth more interesting and effective are irony, symbolism, and imagery.
One technique that Shakespeare uses is irony. Verbal irony is when a character
says one thing but means the opposite. When a reader understands the irony of what a
character is saying, then he can truly understand the nature and intentions of the
character. An example of verbal irony is when Macbeth says to Banquo, “Tonight we
hold a solemn supper, sir,/ And I ll request your presence” (Macbeth 3.1.13-14). The
reader soon discovers that Banquo never makes it to the banquet because he is brutally
murdered by order of Macbeth. Shakespeare also uses situation irony. This occurs when
the results of an action or event are different than what is expected. An example of
situation irony occurs when Macduff talks to Malcolm and discusses the tragedies that
are taking place in Scotland. Without knowing that his own family has been slain
Macduff says, ” Each new morn/ New widows howl, new orphans cry, new sorrows/
Strike heaven on the face” (4.3.4-6). Ironically, Macduff comments about widows, while
he is completely unaware that he is a widower himself. Irony, a key element to a tragic
play like Macbeth, has the ability to make the tragic hero appear more villainous or the
down-fall seem even more tragic.
The second type of literary device that Shakespeare uses in Macbeth is
symbolism. The predominant symbol is blood and is used as an effective method to
describe the theme of the play. Not only does blood symbolize bravery, it is also a means
of showing treachery and treason and probably most importantly, guilt. One example of
bravery occurs when the captain says, “For brave Macbeth well he deserves that name–
/Disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel,/Which smoked with bloody
execution”(1.2.16-18). Soon after this blood changes into a representation of treachery
and treason. Lady Macbeth asks the spirits to “Make thick my blood,/ Stop up th access
and passage to remorse” (1.5. 43-44). She asks the spirits to take away compassion and
make her remorseless for the actions she is about to take. Also, when Ross asks, “Is t
known who did this more than bloody deed?” (2.4.22), he tries to figure out who
performed the disloyal act of murdering the king. Blood is also used many times to
express the guilt-ridden consciences of the characters. For instance, Macbeth says, “What
hands are here? Ha! They pluck out mine own eyes!/ Will all great Neptune s ocean wash
the blood/ Clean from my hand?” (2.3.58-60). Macbeth obviously feels guilty for killing
Duncan in cold blood. Later in the play, Lady Macbeth reveals her guilt while
sleepwalking. She walks through the castle carrying a candle. She often sits the candle
down and begins to rub her hands as if she is trying to wash them. In her somber state,
she cries out: “What need we fear / who knows it, when none can call our pow r to
accompt? Yet who would have thought the old man to have so much blood in him?”
(5.1.38-41). Lady Macbeth feels as though she cannot wipe clean her blood stained
hands. This is a bit ironic since earlier she told Macbeth, “A little water clears us of this
deed” (2.2.66). Lady Macbeth has many dreams and fantasies about blood, which shows
that she cannot clear her conscience of this brutal act.
Another literary technique that is used in Macbeth is word imagery. Word
imagery is a term for a metaphor, a comparison that does not use the words “like” or
“as”. One of the best examples of this is clothing imagery. For instance, Ross tells
Macbeth that he has been named Thane of Cawdor, and Macbeth says, “The Thane of
Cawdor lives. Why do you dress me in/ Borrowed robes?” (1.3.108-109). Macbeth asks
why Ross is telling him this. This title is like new clothes to him, but this title and these
clothes should still belong to the former Thane of Cawdor. Another example of clothing
imagery occurs when Macbeth tells his wife that he has second thoughts of killing
Duncan. He says, “I have bought/ Golden opinions from all sorts of people,/ Which
would be worn now in their newest gloss” (1.7.32-34). Lady Macbeth thinks he is being
irrational. Macbeth knows that he is the center of attention now because he saved the
country. He also knows that if he kills Duncan everyone would be more interested in the
death of their king than in their hero, Macbeth.
Shakespeare s work reveals that he knew how to make a play a work of art.
Through his use of irony, symbolism, and imagery he is able to grab the reader or the
viewer s attention and keep it. These elements have contributed to the endurance of his
works for centuries, and they will help it to endure for centuries to come. Without the use
of these techniques, Macbeth would not be the tragic play that it is. This play would lack
very important methods that help idealize the characters in the play.
THE COMPLETE
PERSEPOLIS
Pye
S
68
Nawa
Major Motion
Per
Winner of the
Own
Film Festival
Jury Prom
MARJANE SATRAPI
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