2QE: Second Quarterly Essay

Throughout the first few weeks of class, we have been surveying rhetorical theory in order to better understand how language, and specifically argumentation, 'works.' To date, we have focused on identifying types of appeals and evaluating their efficacy, understanding the importance of an argument's 'situatedness,' grasping the complexity an importance of ethos, and evaluating the validity, ethicality, and sturucture of arguments. Tomorrow's class (2/5)will focus on learning more about the structure of language through rhetorical figure (tropes and schemes) as a way of observing and analyzing the relationship between craft, style, and efficacy and/or appeal.

Your second quarterly essay (2QE) asks that you apply these principles and attempt (essayer) a rhetorical analysis of your own; thus, the 2QE is not unlike the print ad analysis blog you will complete for week 4; in fact, your 2QE may be an expansion and revision of your blog exercise, should you decide to conmtinue your work from the week 4 exercise.

In short, you should select any public argument that interests you —that is, a specific, supported claim advanced in the public sphere—and evaluate it from a rhetorical perspective. In your analysis you should consider elements including, but not limited to kairos, rhetorical purpose, audience, type(s) of appeal(s), legitimacy of support (is it fallacious?), and overall effect (does it work?).

Next Tuesday (2/10) we will talk more specifically about rhetorical analysis as a methodology, so please refer to our class notes r/t rhetorical analysis to help support or guide your approach. This essay should result in a project that is approximately 4 to 6 pages in length (double-spaced) to start, but as always, please honor the content of your work over the length of the project: quality over quantity is our gold standard. If you have written a thorough, substantive analysis in three pages, or if you require eight, so be it. Please refrain from ‘fluffing’ or abridging your work at this stage in the drafting process.