For this assignment, students will learn about how rhetoric is used to form a persuasive message in speech form. Students will learn how to analyze the rhetorical situation and how the speaker makes an appeal to one or more of the rhetorical appeals, analyze the use of visual elements to enhance the effectiveness of a given speech, articulate and develop critical and analytical perspective in writing, develop strategies for critically engaging information and develop it in writing as evidence for arguments, and study writing and speeches in relation to articulating human values, cultural perspectives, and/or interdisciplinary understanding.
Assignment
For this assignment, analyze a persuasive message which was delivered in speech form from the choices below. Analyze the purpose of the speech, the context of the speech, the claims in the speech, the audience for the original delivery of the speech, and the rhetorical appeals used in the speech. Finally, evaluate whether the message is effective in achieving the speaker’s purpose.
Speech Choices
problems college students face
The theme of this course is problems faced by college students. Your eventual research paper will focus on a specific problem and ultimately propose a solution. For the analysis essay, you are exploring one problem. You may choose to stick with this topic for the rest of the semester, or you can switch to a different topic.
Here is a non-exhaustive list of problems college students face:
-Rising costs of tuition
-Student loan crisis
-Rising rates of anxiety and depression in college students
-Sustainability on college campuses
-Lack of equitable access to technology
-Lack of motivation
-Lack of student academic preparedness for college courses
-Food insecurity
-Lack of housing and transportation
-Time Management
-Testing culture
For Essay 2, you will choose a TED talk that examines a problem college students face.
Here are some TED talks that inform this option. This list was created during Summer 2020; TED adds talks to their website every day, so if you happen to find another relevant speech, you may choose that.
How to build community when you feel isolated by Chitra Aiyar
How college loans exploit students for profit by Sajay Samuel
What we’re learning from online education by Daphne Koller
An ultra-low-cost college degree by Shai Reshef
The Reporting System that Sexual Assault Survivors Want by Jessica Ladd
4 pillars of college success in science by Freeman Hrabowski
How we’re priming some kids for college — and others for prison by Alice Goffman
The boost students need to overcome obstacles by Anindya Kundu
Can a robot pass a university entrance exam? by Noriko Arai
This virtual lab will revolutionize science class by Michael Bodekaer
