Rhetorical Situaon Essay
Objecve: Understanding the rhetorical situaon of a text can allow for a more complex, more focused
understanding of the text’s argument, which can contribute to a stronger, more organized, mulfaceted
piece of wring. By the end of the assignment, students will be able to address the inial quesons: How
do readers read and writers write? How are texts constructed?
Assignment:
I.
Choose two texts (possibly from the LSC research databases or from the links below). These two
texts are ones that can be used for your Honors research project. The texts should complement each
other in some way. You determine the way.
Avalon project: h1p://avalon.law.yale.edu/
American Memory Project: h1p://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html
Project Gutenberg: h1ps://www.gutenberg.org/
II.
Analyze the texts by answering the following quesons. You may have to conduct addional
research to 6nd these answers (and if so, you should cite these sources in your paper and on the works
cited lisng). You can also analyze the rhetorical situaon within the text itself.
•
What is each text’s exigence? What occasion gives rise to the need or opportunity for
persuasion? What is the historical occasion that would give rise to the composion of this text?
•
Who are the texts’ rhetors? How does he or she establish ethos (personal credibility)? Does
he/she come across as knowledgeable? fair? Does the speaker’s or writer’s reputaon convey a certain
authority? How so?
•
What is his/her intenon in speaking? To a1ack or defend? To exhort or dissuade from certain
acon? To praise or blame? To teach, to delight, or to persuade? How do you know?
•
Who makes up the audience in both texts? Who is the intended audience? What values does the
audience hold that the author or speaker appeals to? Who have been or might be secondary audiences?
If this is a work of 6con, what is the nature of the audience within the 6con?
•
What are the texts’ constraints? Can you summarize the main idea? What are the principal lines
of reasoning or kinds of arguments used? What topics of invenon are employed? How does the author
or speaker appeal to reason? to emoon?
o
What is the form in which it is conveyed? What is the structure of the communicaon; how is it
arranged? What oral or literary genre is it following? What 6gures of speech (schemes and tropes) are
used? What kind of style and tone is used and for what purpose?
o
How do form and content correspond? Does the form complement the content? What eect
could the form have, and does this aid or hinder the author's intenon?
o
Does the message/speech/text succeed in ful6lling the author's or speaker's intenons? For
whom? Does the author/speaker eecvely 6t his/her message to the circumstances, mes, and
audience? Can you idenfy the responses of historical or contemporary audiences?
o
What does the nature of the communicaon reveal about the culture that produced it? What
kinds of values or customs would the people have that would produce this? How do the allusions,
historical references, or kinds of words used place this in a certain me and locaon?
III.
Compare and contrast the two texts (discourses). How is the same argument presented similarly
and dierently in the two texts? In other words, what is similar and what is dierent when studying the
exigence, the audience, and rhetor, and the constraints? What accounts for the similaries, and what
accounts for the dierences?
IV.
Based on your conclusions in III, what conclusions can you draw about the issue under
discussion? And more broadly, what conclusions can you draw about rhetoric and the rhetorical
situaon? (Do not take a posion on the argument itself or on the topic [succession is jus6ed;
succession is never jus6ed] you are only analyzing how the argument is constructed.) Also, keep in
mind that your research proposal is due around the me you are wring this paper. Consider how these
two texts can address the quesons you came up with in your proposal.
Details:
•
Provide a works cited lisng of your two sources. If you have used more sources for contextual
informaon, be sure you cite them as well.
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Length: long enough to get it done, but probably 3-3.5 pages.
•
Use correct MLA formang. We will discuss MLA in class, but you should visit OWL at Purdue
(an online resource) for help.
•
Rather than go out and randomly search for a second text right away, analyze the 6rst text to
make sure you understand the argument fully. Then search for a second text to make sure the two texts
actually complement each other.
Rubric:
A strong essay will do the following…
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Orient the reader by inially providing enough background info on the texts.
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Thoroughly answer the necessary quesons to exhibit crical thinking.
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Provide textual evidence that is convincing and clear to the reader.
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Be organized in a way that the reader can follow along without having to work to 6gure out
where you are going.
•
Be polished and edited so that the reader understands the wring.
•
Use appropriate terminology when discussing rhetorical situaons: exigency, rhetor, audience,
constraints, pathos, ethos, logos, Kairos, discourse, etc.
•
Use correct MLA formang.
GRIT:
GRIT atudes allow you to go beyond your normal boundaries to work towards your goal. It gives you
the fuel to put yourself in a situaon you may 6nd uncomfortable but could help you succeed. If this
assignment is one you 6nd tough, then apply GRIT by asking yourself these quesons:
G(rowth): What don’t I understand about this assignment? What can I do to help my
understanding of this assignment? Which informaon sources on my topic would be best to use to gain
relevant and well-informed insights for my research?
T(enacity): Who can I share my early dras with to get eecve feedback that would help me
improve my 6nal product? How will I use the feedback?
GRIT Rubric:
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How eecvely did the student explore his/her chosen texts to broaden his/her perspecve on
the issue?
•
How well did the student seek and use valuable feedback?
Tentave Timeline:
Tuesday, 9/24: Discuss assignment. Choose your texts and start taking notes over the texts by
answering the above quesons.
Thursday, 9/2: Bring notes and chosen texts to class. Discuss introducon and organizaon.
Tuesday, 0/: Peer edit essay.
Thursday, 0/3:
Peer Review #2
TUESDAY, 10/8: Rhetorical Situa#on Essay DUE