Rhetorical Analysis
Before beginning this assignment, be sure you have completed the following readings:
They Say, I Say
• Chapter 2 (Summarizing), pages 30-42
• Chapter 3 (Quoting), pages 43-52
The Little Seagull Handbook
• W-8 (Rhetorical Analysis), pages 49-53
• R-4 (Integrating Sources, Avoiding Plagiarism), pages 107-118
Then, choose one of the following readings in They Say, I Say:
1. “Hillbilly Elegy” by J.D. Vance, pp. 287-303
2. “Should Everyone Go to College?” by Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill, pp. 374-389
3. “Does Texting Affect Writing?” by Michaela Cullington, pp. 518-527
4. “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All” by Anne-Marie Slaughter, pp. 596-616
5. “The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food” by Michael Moss, pp. 718-741
Your Writing Assignment
The goal of rhetorical analysis is “to understand not only what texts say but also how they say it” (Bullock et al. 49). The Little Seagull Handbook offers a helpful guide for planning and organizing your rhetorical analysis on pages 49-53. Once you’ve selected the article that interests you most (this may be the basis for later research in the course), follow the handbook’s sequence to “read, respond, summarize, analyze, and draw conclusions” as you plan your essay. Once you have a good understanding of the article’s context, content, and argument, compose a thesis that will guide the analysis in your essay. When you are ready to draft, you may use either organizational pattern presented on page 53 in the handbook. Either way, you will structure your essay in the following way:
Introduction
• One paragraph
• Summary of article
• Context
Analysis
• Several paragraphs
• Includes evidence from the article to support your thesis (Consider what you’ve learned about summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting as well as signaling and citing source use.)
Conclusion
• One paragraph
• Reiterate thesis
• Explain what your analysis reveals about the text
Page requirement: two-pages, double spaced (remove extra spaces), Times New Roman 12 pt. font
The Work Cited page will be in addition to the page requirement.
Formatting in MLA Style
You will need to consult the MLA Style chapter in The Little Seagull Handbook for how to set up your document, cite sources in text, and create a Work (one source) Cited page. The following pages should be particularly helpful:
• How to set up your header, heading, and title: p. 161
• An example of a Works Cited list (you will only have one source for this essay): p. 168
• Citing a source in-text: #1 and #2 on p. 123; #5 on p. 124 (for an article with two authors)
• Citing a work in anthology (that’s what your articles are!): #19 on p. 144
Signaling Sources Signal phrases are particularly important when you are explaining and analyzing the work of others. They let readers know when your ideas end and someone else’s begins. They also do much of the work for you when it comes to in-text citations and can help you avoid accidental plagiarism. Signal phrases are in present tense for MLA style.
The Little Seagull Handbook provides a clear explanation about these phrases and a helpful list on page 113.
They Say, I Say provides templates and another list of signal verbs in Chapter Two on pages 40-41 and in Chapter Three on pages 47-48.
Avoid “dangling” or “hit-and-run” quotations (see page 45 in They Say, I Say).
Other Style Concerns Since we are focusing on what “they say” for this module, you will compose this essay in third person only. Avoid second person (“you”) and first person (“I”).
