Welcome to rhetorical analysis-land! In this section of the course, we will practice the skills for analyzing the rhetorical elements of many types of artifacts. It is my hope that these skills will become relatively second-nature for you, and that you can take them with you as you move on to different parts of your college journey and beyond.
Here’s what you need to do this week:
1. View/ review the slides from our Zoom call. Click here to view.
2. Read the following blog prompt, and post your blog to the class site by Wednesday 9/23 at noon. Choose a music video that speaks to you. Doesn’t matter what it is as long as it’s available on Youtube. Watch the video and take copious notes (with minute marks), describing what is happening. Use a high level of detail. Then, write about the video’s genre, intended audience, historical/ social context, and purpose or message. What do you think this video attempting to say? This post should be around 500 words. In your blog post, link the video. Have fun with it!
3. By 5PM the next day, leave comments on 2 peer posts.
4. Read this excerpt from “Citizen: An American Lyric” by Claudia Rankine, an esteemed essayist and all-around knowledgeable person about the ways in which white supremacy permeates our lives from the mundane to the grand scale. Prepare for next week’s discussion on this piece by jotting down some thoughts about the 1) purpose 2) genre/ medium 3) artifact (what is Rankine analyzing?) and 4) audience of this piece
3. Read “The Rhetorical Weapons of Liberal Nimbyism” by journalist Apoorva Tadepalli. Prepare for next week’s discussion on this piece by writing down what you think the title means in the context of the article.
We will discuss these pieces, among other things, during our Zoom check-in next Wednesday, 9/30 (no classes Monday in observance of Yom Kippur).
~More information to come regarding your Core Assignment 2: Rhetorical Analysis Essay.~