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Take-Home Essay Exam No. 1: Rhetorical Analysis
Due Jul 9 by 11:59pm Points 60 Submitting a file upload

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Purpose

The purpose of this assignment is to analyze the use of rhetoric (the available means of persuasion). When you identify a writer’s purpose for responding to a situation and examine the claims the writer puts forth to persuade a particular audience, you are performing a rhetorical analysis.

Check out this video to learn more about the assignment.
Such an analysis entails identifying the features of an argument to understand better how the argument works to persuade a reader:

how the writer interprets the situation that calls for a response in writing (that is, why the present moment represents an opportune time to respond, what rhetoricians refer to as kairos)
the writer’s purpose for writing (for example, to educate readers, to identify a gap in the ways others have treated a given issue, to build upon and extend others’ ideas, to correct a misunderstanding)
the writer’s projected character as knowledgeable, credible, empathic, and trustworthy (ethos)
the intended audience’s emotions, beliefs, and values (pathos)
kinds of claims that the writer makes and evidence used to support those claims (logos)
types of evidence used to support the writer’s claims (logos)

Remember, we are talking about rhetorical situations. You must develop communication that will persuade an academic audience. So, we have a few requirements to follow:

Your document should be in MLA format (Times New Roman, 12-point font, double spaced, left-aligned assignment header, right-aligned page header, headers).
Your analysis should be at least 3 ½ pages in length. If you do not meet the page length requirement, you will earn zero credit.
In addition, your essay should be a COMPLETE essay with an introduction, body, and conclusion. If your essay is incomplete, you will earn zero credit.
If you directly quote from your chosen artifact, please use quotation marks so that the reader knows what you are quoting. For example, “quoted material goes here.”
For your thesis statement and body paragraphs, you must use at least two types of strategies for each appeal (ethos, logos, and pathos). You cannot just say pathos, for instance. You need to be specific about what techniques you are analyzing. Here is the list () you can choose from. If your essay does not use specific techniques, then you will receive zero credit.
Required Artifact

Although you have some freedom to choose from a variety of artifacts to analyze rhetorically, you will be expected to pick artifacts from my approved options. In other words, your artifact must fit the criteria I have set. Your artifact must come from social media content makers from the following platforms:

YouTube, TikTok, Twitch, Vimeo, and Instagram
We all have our favorite content makers that we enjoy watching, so make sure to pick content markers that spark your interests. You can select content focused on more serious social issues or choose content focused on more entertainment.

For example, I really enjoy Taco Bell’s TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@tacobell?lang=en ()).
I think it is pretty engaging and fun for the audience. So, I could select Taco Bell’s TikTok as my artifact to analyze. Now, Taco Bell has a lot of videos on their TikTok. I need to think about what content I am going to use critically. I am not asking you to analyze EVERYTHING, but you do need to think about what videos or content you will use. I could use one video, two videos, or five videos, for example. But don’t forget: You need to keep things manageable, clear, concise, and engaging for your academic audience.

Rhetorical Analysis Layout

Note: Make sure to use section headers to label the different parts of your paper.
Introduction. For the introduction, you need to establish what you think is the rhetorical situation. The rhetorical situation — A piece of communication is shaped and influenced by its surrounding circumstances and contexts. The rhetorical situation should be described in four parts: purpose, audience, motivation, and context. Here are guiding questions to help you invent the content for your introduction.

Purpose: Consider what is the goal of the artifact? What is the communicator trying to achieve with the artifact?
Audience: Consider who is the audience of the artifact? Hint: you cannot say it is EVERYONE because communicators develop their content with a target audience in mind. Who is the creator addressing? What perspectives, biases, values, experiences, or ideas help you understand the target audience?
Topic: What is the communicator’s motivation? What has driven the communicator to create the artifact?
Context: What are the circumstances surrounding the artifact? When was the artifact created? Where was the artifact published? What is the surrounding culture that shaped the artifact?
Thesis statement. Your introduction should build towards your argumentative thesis statement. An argumentative thesis states a claim that your readers can choose to agree or disagree with. This kind of thesis usually has two features: an assertion and backing. Your thesis should clearly state what you want to prove with your rhetorical analysis. Remember, your thesis statement should name the specific techniques you will use to analyze your artifact.

Example: Taco Bell’s TikTok social media marketing is successful because it humorously shows that Taco Bell is a place where funny, unexpected, and even magical things happen to the young people who eat there. Taco Bell persuasively uses pathos (promise of gain and promise of enjoyment, logos (if… then and cause and effect), and ethos (personal experience and expression of goodwill) to engage its audience.

Body Paragraphs. For the body paragraphs, you will need to set up your rhetorical analysis. You must follow a clear paragraph structure where you offer evidence to support your thesis statement. This means each paragraph should have a topic sentence, textual evidence, and rhetorical analysis, and transitions. An analysis is not the same as a summary. Make sure to focus your paragraph paragraphs around your ideas of analysis: how the creator uses rhetoric to engage the audience and why it works based on the techniques you established in the thesis statement.

Since I have asked you to provide an analysis of two techniques for each appeal, you should have at least six paragraphs in this section. Here is a guide to help you establish the content for each paragraph:

Topic sentence that establishes the point of the paragraph and connects back to the thesis statement. It should be clear to the reader that you are going to analyze a specific technique to offer support for your thesis statement.
A SMALL summary of the textual evidence. Where in the artifact do you see this use of rhetoric? In one to two sentences, summarize the evidence.
Now, this is the most important part of the paragraph. This part should be 3-8 sentences. Analyze how the technique works. Describe the audience’s reaction. How does the audience respond to the rhetorical technique?
Wrap up the paragraph by closing the idea and prepare the reader for the next idea.
Make sure you follow this paragraph structure for each paragraph. Repeat. Repeat.

Example: The communicator’s use of pathos powerfully taps into the teens’ inner anxieties that they will be exposed as fakers or that other people will see through them in some way. The anti-smoking ad uses a clever catchphrase to provoke anxiety. “See what your smile could look like… if you smoke.” For many people, but especially females, there is a terror of being unmasked as an imposter. This ad hints that smoking reveals that a person is really not as happy or healthy underneath as they or others would like to believe.

Conclusion Paragraph. For the conclusion, you should focus on being concise. Do not introduce any new information here. If you have more to say about the artifact, rhetoric, or audience reaction, make a new paragraph in the body section. The conclusion should answer one or more of the following questions:

Ultimately, what does your analysis tell the reader about the rhetorical concepts you used to analyze the text? Why does your analysis matter to the reader? What should they take away from your ideas?
Why is your explanation of the text or the rhetorical concepts important to your readers?
What should readers look for in the future when faced with this kind of text or this persuasion strategy?