Online Assignment #1
Authors don’t usually just start writing. They consider the rhetorical situation: Who is the audience?
What do they care about? How can they best convince the audience? They use intentional word choice,
engaging examples, facts/statistics/logic, emotion, and so many other devices to win over the readers.
Sometimes, they are convincing, but too often, they fail to consider a viewpoint, use boring content,
lack logic, etc. When you analyze an essay, consider the following questions:
 Author’s assumptions (valid assumptions are okay)
 Who is the intended audience? What is the author’s purpose?
 Does the author use intentional word choice to move the readers?
 Offensive word choice? Word choice is often tied with tone.
 Kinds of evidence: examples – appropriate? Intriguing? Statistics – valid? Enough?
Reasons/Explanations – sufficient? Logical? Outside authorities?
 Evidence convincing? Reliable? Recent? Slanted? Dated?
 Has the author left out important information that you as the reader feel should have been
included? Often what is left out can be as important or detrimental to the effectiveness as the
evidence provided.
 Logic reasonable? Use of pathos (emotion) or ethos (credibility) to enhance the argument’s
effectiveness?
 Writer address opposing views (opposition)?
 Persuasive?
 Is the tone appropriate? Condescending? Angry? Sarcastic? Funny? Serious? Academic?
 Shared values (love, hate, patriotism, honesty, fair play, etc)
Choose the Op Ed essay you want to analyze and evaluate from Course Documents: “The Trump
Administration Is Making…,” “The US Is No Longer…,” or “More Gun Control…” Organize your
homework using three of the author’s “methods”, or rhetorical devices. An initial outline might look
like this:
A. Weak evidence
1. No statistics
2. Needs more outside authority
3. Faulty logic
B. Tone
1. Condescending tone
2. Word choice was inappropriate
C. Failed to address the opposition
1. Briefly mentioned why someone would disagree but failed to refute that reason.
2. Didn’t bring up the obvious points of opposition to counter/refute them.
*Use topic sentences in each paragraph to let the reader know what you’ll be arguing in each
paragraph.
Write a well-developed paragraph for each method/device, three total. Based on the analytic scoring
guide, the effective essay notes, and class notes on analysis, assign the essay you choose a letter grade.
Your paragraphs of analysis should support this grade. This should be approximately two pages. This
assignment is due Thursday, Jan 29th at midnight.