Mlk the purpose of education rhetorical analysis

Rhetorical Analysis On Martin Luther King Jr.’ “Letter From Birmingham Jail

ENG 100 Rhetorical Analysis Assignment Sheet

Submit to turnitin.com - Class ID: 15980749 and Enrollment key: English - at any stage of the writing process

Due Dates:

· Peer Response workshop with Rough Draft: Tuesday, October 24

· First Draft (submit for feedback): Thursday, October 26

· Final Draft with Outline due: Thursday, November 2

(highlighting and reflection in class)

What is a Rhetorical Analysis?

Remember that rhetoric is the art of persuasion. A rhetorical analysis is an evaluation of the quality and effectiveness of written or oral speech. More specifically, a “rhetorical analysis is a special form of critique [in which] you determine a source text’s rhetorical effectiveness by examining how the author employs language to achieve a particular effect on an audience” (Wilhoit 117, emphasis mine). The analytical tool you will use is your understanding of how a writer uses written language for a specific purpose and outcome (namely to persuade, entertain, or inform). In other words, discuss how successful or not King is in persuading his audience to accept his ideas, change their thinking, and even their actions.

An analysis is comprised of many integrated parts:

an introduction to the text being analyzed including a concise and clear thesis;

a very brief summary of the text;

a body in which you examine the text one rhetorical strategy at time;

evidence cited from the text to support your point;

explanation of the link between the evidence and your assertions;

a conclusion that wraps up the essay, further asserts your thesis, and leaves readers something

worthwhile to remember.

The Assignment:

For this assignment, using the criteria for analyzing rhetoric on the Reading Essays handout (on Blackboard), you will analyze Martin Luther King Jr.’ “Letter From Birmingham Jail.” The text is also on Blackboard. You will use no outside sources.

Your introduction must include the following:

Examine the rhetorical situation in which the writer is writing: the author’s background, the potential audience, the occasion for writing, and whatever you think will help readers contextualize your discussion. Identify the author (full name when you introduce the author and last name thereafter) and the text. Discuss the author’s purpose (extremely important because you must clarify what King is trying to accomplish before you can conclude whether or not he was successful) and narrow to your thesis, or controlling idea, which argues whether the text was effective, ineffective, or mixed based on the rhetorical situation and whether or not the author achieved the purpose you have identified. This claim will prepare the reader for the analysis of the author’s rhetoric that you will develop in the body of your paper.

The body of your essay can be developed either of two ways:

You must devote the body of your paper to discussing the rhetorical devices your author uses to achieve his purpose, but you can either focus your analysis on a particular strategy and discuss that idea in depth, providing examples for support (paraphrased or quoted), or describe numerous devices, probably in order of importance, also citing examples from the text. When you need to cite page numbers, put them in parenthesis inside the period. Whichever strategy you choose, be sure to explain how the author uses the devices you are discussing to develop his controlling idea and persuade his audience. Don’t make your readers guess.

As you develop the body of your paper, consider rhetorical strategies your author chooses ( content : arguments, evidence, reasoning, and persuasive appeals : to ethos, pathos, or logos).

Possible points to develop:

Where and why does he use particular rhetorical modes to develop his argument? What is the author’s tone? Does it change in the letter? If so, where does it change and why? Where does he use transitions? Why do they work? How does he use language? What is his word choice and why? What types of syntax does he use? What stylistic devices? Where does he provide special emphasis and why? Explain how these stylistic and contextual choices help him achieve his purpose, the one you identified in the introduction.

Answer the attached “Text Evaluation for Rhetorical Analysis” handout as you examine your text. Once you have studied the text and the completed the evaluation you will be ready to create a thesis statement, choosing three to four points to examine and develop using examples (direct quotes and paraphrased information) from the text and strategies that best support your thesis. This would be a good time to construct a rough outline so you have a clear plan of action.

Basic structure for a rhetorical analysis is as follows:

· An introduction that includes

· A creative hook

· The text’s rhetorical situation

· The author’s purpose for writing the text

· Your thesis statement evaluating the text and the author’s rhetorical choices

· A summary of the text that is

· Brief, neutral and independent

· No more than one paragraph

· Body Paragraphs including

· Topic sentences that develop the idea(s) in your thesis statement

· Examples from the text to support your claim

· Integration of direct quotes and paraphrased materials as support

· Explanation of how the support relates to your thesis

· In-text parenthetical citations with page numbers

· A Conclusion including

· A reminder of the main ideas and the thesis in different words

· An explanation of what the author could have done to better convince his or her audience

· A thought-provoking idea that leaves readers something to think about

· A Work Cited page that

· Includes the source text (a short Works-Cited page with only one text)

Evaluation

A successful rhetorical analysis will contain all of the following:

· Introduces the text’s rhetorical situation and the necessary text information

· Contains a thesis demonstrating the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the text

· Contains a brief but coherent summary of the text

· Thoughtfully examines the text using three to four strategies

· More than one example per criteria to support the analysis

· Correct use of paraphrased information or direct quotations from the source text

· Clearly explains your paraphrased material or quotes in relation to your thesis

· Correct use of attributive verbs and phrases

· A conclusion reflecting on the author’s strengths and weaknesses

· Proper and coherent organization

· Correct MLA documentation

· Correct Works Cited Page

· An interesting, creative title

· Active, meaningful verb choices and meaningful transitions

· Few mechanical or grammatical errors

· Literary present tense and grammatical 3rd person

· Formal, non-inflammatory language

· 3-5 pages in length

· Follows the basic structure for a rhetorical analysis

Possible Points:

· Peer Response Workshop with Rough Draft 10 points

· Self-Editing Workshop with First Draft 10 points

· Highlighted Revisions, Outline, & Reflection 10 Points

· Final Draft: 70 Points

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· Total possible points for the assignment: 100 Points

This assignment is worth 25% of your final grade

Text Evaluation for Rhetorical Analysis

Text:____________________________________________________________________________

Thesis:___________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Purpose: (entertain, inform, persuade, provoke to action, ridicule, shock, draw attention to) __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Rhetorical situation:

Author’s background (race, education, sex, political affiliation, economic status, religion)

_________________________________________________________________________

Audience (to whom is the text addressed and what is their likely knowledge on this topic?)

__________________________________________________________________________

Occasion

Why did the author feel compelled to write this text?_________________________

What is the historical context?____________________________________________

Is the author adding to a debate over a particular issue, social question, historical

event, or cultural phenomenon?__________________________________________

Logical appeals:_____________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ethical

appeals:__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Emotional appeals:_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Structure:

In what order does the author present information and ideas?____________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What purpose might lie behind this order?____________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Does the text present a clear and consistent line of reasoning?____________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Does the author draw clear, logical connections among the text’s ideas, findings, or assertions?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Does the structure enhance the appeal to emotion?____________________________________

What about in the introduction and conclusion?_________________________________

Does the author seem in control of the writing? Are there obvious flaws in structure?

______________________________________________________________________________

Style:

What types of syntax does the author employ?____________________________________

How does he vary sentence length (long or short?)______________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

How does he vary sentence type (simple, compound, complex, compound complex;

cumulative, periodic, and balanced)?__________________________________

________________________________________________________________

How is the author’s choice of syntax related to the audience, purpose, or occasion?

____________________________________________________________________

What types of figurative language does the author employ (for example, metaphors, similes,

or analogies)?_________________________________________________________

Are the choices of figurative language appropriate and effective given the rhetorical

situation?______________________________________________________

What types of allusions does the author employ?____________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

Are they appropriate and effective?________________________________________

Is the author’s voice, tone, and diction appropriate given the text’s rhetorical situation?_____

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

Rhetorical modes:

How does the author use rhetorical modes (description, narration, definition, comparison and

contrast, classification, analogy, cause and effect, process analysis, examples, or illustrations to develop paragraphs? Are the choices effective?___________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Stephen Toulmin:

Does the author include all of Toulmin’s “Six Parts to all Good Arguments” (claim, underlying

claim, grounds, backing, qualifiers, and rebuttals)?____________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

If so, how effective are these choices in persuading readers to accept the argument? If

not, is the argument weakened by their exclusion?