TS English
F2015:
Composition
Length:
Format:
Short Paper 2.1
“Understanding Exigency”
2 pages, double-spaced
Times New Roman font, 12pt size
1 inch margins on all sides
In our second sequence, we will be shifting our focus towards assuming a more “meta-critical”
perspective on writing – learning to analyze texts in terms of how they address themselves to
their various rhetorical situations and purposes. Learning to assume this perspective is useful for
several reasons. First, this perspective helps us to identify the subtle strategies that successful
writers use to persuade their audiences and make their arguments, by considering the specific
situations they are writing within. In this way, we can observe and assimilate some of these
“moves” for use in our own writing. Simultaneously, this perspective gives us yet another
critical reading lens – one that can analyze the arguments of others, not in terms of what they
have said, but how they have said it! And finally, assuming this perspective is one vital step
towards being able to analyze and anticipate the many rhetorical situations that you may, one
day, find yourself in. Learning how to conduct an effective rhetorical analysis is the first move
in this process.
OBJECTIVES
1. To practice rhetorical analysis, as outlined by Greene and Lidinski. To do this, you
must read Rosolowski’s article carefully to determine the nature of its rhetorical situation.
This is deceptively difficult. Rosolowski’s argument, for instance, can be conceived as
“responding” to a variety of different types of exigency. In rhetorical terms, this means
that her writing is built to respond to multiple (perhaps conflicting) “demands” – that she
has multiple reasons to speak. To really understand her work, we must analyze her text,
asking always what it is that drives her to write what she writes, in the way she writes it.
In order to understand WHY she writes the way she does, we must first understand
WHAT EXIGENCE motivates her in the first place.
2. To make a claim about HOW Rosolowski’s text responds to her exigency. This
paper will be an analysis-driven essay, organized around a central claim (like most of the
papers you have written). Like in your papers about Frankenstein, your goal is to reveal
something about Rosolowski’s text which may not be apparent on its surface or in its
explicit “content”. Your claim for this paper should answer the following question:
Why exactly is Rosolowski writing this essay and how has she made choices that are
appropriate to that exigency?
In this essay, it is not enough to explain what Rosolowksi is “saying” – beyond
identifying her argument, you need to explain the situation of that argument. To do this
you must analyze her text, finding particular passages that allow you to understand why
she is writing in the way she is. Rosolowski’s text is not a conventional essay in many
ways, and your job should be to explain why she has made the choices she has made.
To make your argument, follow these analytic steps in your writing.
TS English
F2015:
Composition
Short Paper 2.1
“Understanding Exigency”
A. Identify the Exigency: What is the “situation” (academic or otherwise) that the
essay is identifying and responding to? Why does the author consider her topic/claim
to be important in this situation and for what reasons? What kind of “intervention”
is she making and what does she hope to achieve with her writing? Who is her
audience and why are they the specific target of this information? Support your
answers to these questions with evidence from the text. And keep in mind that the
article may be responding to multiple, complex exigencies and contexts.
B. Connect the Exigency to her “Choices”: Once you have argued persuasively for an
understanding of her exigency, use that understanding to explain why she has made
particular “choices” in how she has written her essay. For what purpose has the
author presented certain types of information, in what order, and in what manner?
How is the line of inquiry built to address the situation of the writing? How is the
type of analysis used effective for her purpose? How does the author appeal to her
specific audience(s)?
Make and support a claim about how Rosolowski’s rhetorical choices do or do not
help her to achieve her purpose in this article. How specifically do these choices
help her to construct an effective argument, given her situation?