Unit 4 Embedded Assessment #1
Rhetorical Analysis Essay
OVERVIEW:
Over the last several weeks, we have studied the rhetorical strategies authors use in non-fiction
seminal works to create an effective argument. The purpose of this assignment is to identify and
examine the rhetorical strategies used by the author in the piece you choose from the following
list.
Pieces:
“Two Ways to Belong in America” by Bharati Mukherjee
“No Name Woman” by Maxine Hong Kingston
“The Fourth of July” by Audre Lorde
“Learning to Read” by Malcolm X
“Indian Education” Sherman Alexie
Assignment:
In a well-organized rhetorical analysis essay, you will examine the rhetorical strategies that the
author uses to develop his/her argument about whether the American Dream exists for
minorities. Be sure to support your analysis with specific references to the text.
Your essay must answer the following questions:
 What is the author’s argument about the American Dream? (i.e.) Does it still exist? If so,
does it exist for minorities in America? Why or why not?
 Who is the author’s audience?
 What rhetorical devices indicate who the target audience is?
 How does the target audience affect their argument about the American Dream?
 What tone is revealed by the author?
 Where does the tone shift in the piece?
 What rhetorical devices are used to indicate the tone and tone shift?
 How does that affect their argument about the American Dream?
What key rhetorical devices (like diction, syntactical schemes, figurative language, etc.) does the
author use to reveal their argument to their target audience?
YOUR TASK:
Planning
1. You must complete pre-writing using one of the following pre-writing techniques:
a. PAPA Square
b. SOAPSTone
Drafting
2. Draft your essay. Make sure you have a proper attention getter that draws the audience
into your essay.
3. Include a clear thesis statement that clearly states the author’s argument about the
American Dream and what rhetorical strategies are going to be analyzed.
4. Provide sufficient evidence for each rhetorical strategy, as well as why the author is using
that particular strategy to express his/her argument.
5. Provide a conclusion that restates the thesis—that is presented differently than the
introduction and makes a final assertion regarding the American Dream based on the author’s
opinions.
Editing and Revising
6. After writing your rough draft, revisit your work and evaluate it for the following:
a. Do I have a clear thesis?
b. Do I have enough details and information to support my thesis?
c. Have I included transitions between each paragraph that help my paper flow from
one point to the next?
d. Have I included enough sentence variety and appropriate word choice?
7. Get feedback from your peers. Consider their feedback and revise accordingly.
Furthermore, revise to improve style, word choice, and sentence variety.
8. Read your draft aloud. This will help you catch aspects in need of revising that reading
silently may not.
9. Check your paper for proper spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar.
*Remember: Spell Check will not catch everything! Spelling and usage may not always
be caught because they are actual words. Check carefully!
Publishing
10. Type your paper in Correct MLA format and upload your properly formatted final copy to
turnitin.com.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
Typed
Times New Roman font
12 point font
Double-spaced
MLA heading (student name, teacher name, class, date)
Running header (student last name and page number)
Grading
This essay will be graded using the 9 Point Rubric-each point on the rubric is aligned with a
point value out of 100. This essay meets the Arizona College and Career Ready Standards 1112.RI.2, 11-12.RI.5, 11-12.W.2, 11-12.W9