Rhetoric is everywhere. Songs, poems, articles, speeches, etc. are filled with rhetorical devices that are used to elicit some type of response from readers and viewers. We need to be conscious of the way these devices are employed to persuade, change, and/or manipulate our thinking so that we can make our own informed judgments about how to think, feel, believe, etc. about what is presented to us. We want to be autonomous beings who resist coerced thought. We want ours to be a rational, critical decision, free from the many individual and societal pressures thrust upon us. In short, we want control of our own minds, and so it is important that we fully understand how rhetoric seeks to influence us.
Assignment:
Write about the following option in a 3-4 full page, double-spaced essay:
Analyze a speech and discuss how the piece you select uses rhetoric to manipulate its audience to achieve its purpose.
*Note – it will be important to understand the purpose of the work that you choose in order to show how the rhetorical elements come together to further and support that purpose. Also, you cannot write the essay on “The Perils of Indifference” since we have analyzed that in the class.
Grading:
The final draft of this essay is worth 100 points. A successful assignment will have the following:
A strong introduction with a quality hook and a clear thesis that illustrates your main point
Clear topic sentences that tell the reader what to expect in each body paragraph
Specific details, examples, and explanations of rhetorical devices in the body paragraphs that support and expand on the article.
A conclusion that restates your thesis and provides an evaluation of the effectiveness of the rhetoric used in the article or speech
An essay that is mostly free of distracting and confusing grammar errors
The essay is written in correct MLA format
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