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Group Critical Rhetorical Essay Analysis
In this course, you’ll write arguments. One way to develop your skill at making arguments is to
develop the skill of analyzing the arguments of others. In this assignment, you will analyze an
article’s argument, trying to understand the elements of its rhetoric. Presentations will be during
the last two weeks of the semester.
In small groups of no more than 4 or 5 students, you will select an essay from the textbook that
we have NOT analyzed in class, and create a class presentation analyzing the essay from a
rhetorical standpoint. In addition, each group will submit a collaborative Group Portfolio.
Organization of the Presentation
One challenge in the presentation will be deciding how to organize the information.
The two most logical ways to organize are:
1. by rhetorical topic
2. following the order of the argument
Which organization you select will depend on the argument itself and how it is structured.
One thing you’ll discover quickly as you analyze your essay is that appeals don’t often fall neatly
into just one category. For example, the quotation of statistics from a published, credible source
will certainly be an appeal from logos, but since it also contributes to the credibility of the author,
it is an appeal from ethos as well. In preparing your presentation, you will want to both note the
richness of such appeals (“the author has crafted the argument carefully”) but you won’t want to
repeat yourself or repeat what others in your group have said, so it will be necessary for you to
craft a streamlined analysis.
Your group rhetorical presentation must include an analysis of argument; specifically, classical
argument, Rogerian argument, and the Toulmin method of argument.
There are some helpful links regarding these different structures of argument online:
 Toulmin information page - click on all the links in the right panel to read about claims
and analysis
 Toulmin Worksheet
 Classical Argument information - includes video
 Rogerian Argument information
Presentation Content
I. MLA Citation: correctly cite the article
II. Important Information:
1. What is the main idea (Mention the topic and the author’s claim about it).
2. Who is the intended audience? What are some of the writer’s assumptions about the
reader, about his ethics, about his values, and about the issues?
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3. What is the author’s purpose or motivation for writing his/her argument?
4. What is the author's bias? Cite examples from the article to support your evaluation.
lll. Summarize the article (in detail) by paraphrasing, NOT quoting. (Chunking the article into
sections can be helpful, writing “What does it say?” for every paragraph.
IV. How is the essay organized? Determine a general pattern of organization that develops
the thesis. Give examples that support your analysis. For example, chronological order, cause
& effect, explanation, evaluation, and compare & contrast are organizational patterns used to
develop arguments.
V. How are ethos, logos, and pathos (rhetorical appeals) developed? (Cite an example of
each from the reading.
VI. Evaluate the supporting details. What evidence does the author use to support the claim
being made?
VII. Evaluate the logic of the writer’s arguments by applying the structure of Toulmin
analysis. (Click here for a Toulmin worksheet checklist).
Do the author’s conclusions follow logically, and why do you think so? Are there any logical
fallacies or missing pieces in the author’s arguments; what are they? Could the argument be
made stronger?
VIII. Respond to the issue and to the author’s arguments. Do Not Simply agree OR
disagree.
Challenge the author’s assumptions, view point, arguments, and facts. If you could ask the
author questions; what would you ask?
Group Work
Group work requires patience and cooperation. You’ll have time in class to work on the
presentation, but you’ll also need to get together outside of class to prepare the presentation.
Some Guidelines for Group Work
The hardest part of group work is project management and personalities. You should appoint a
project leader and assign tasks. The group will need to fully understand the argument and how
to analyze it, design the presentation and plan a schedule for getting the work done; the project
leader should help each member of the team understand how all these elements fit together.
Some advice for group meetings
 Encourage debate, invite everyone to speak, listen to each member, and treat the
project as team property not just as individual effort
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Emphasize efficiency, set agendas for each group meeting, reestablish the focus of
discussions, and bring discussions to a close when consensus is reached
 Create detailed outline for work – you can use this three-step approach:
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1. Select group leader, assign tasks, sketch outline, begin content creation, generate ideas,
plan strategy
2. Review work done independently, generate new ideas and plan strategy for next round
of work, and draft the presentation/discussion
3. Edit and prepare the final version, and rehearse the presentation
Group Portfolio
Each group will submit a collaborative Group Portfolio in a folder consisting of the following
components, due at the final class.
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Cover Page:
- Group members' names
- Name of the Author and Essay Analyzed
- Date
- Class
Table of Contents listing what is in the Portfolio
Description of the Presentation:
- The article and author analyzed
- How the presentation topic was divided among members
- The outline plan for the presentation
Copies of Presentation Materials Used
Individual self-reflective essay that answers the following questions:
1. “What I contributed to the presentation.”
2. “What I learned from this assignment.”
3. “What contributed to my writing.”
4. “What I still want to work on in my writing.”