RATIONALE

This assignment asks students to analyze the visual rhetoric in a cultural artifact of their choice using terms and concepts from Section 2 of Join the Conversation. I use artifacts from pop culture for modelling analysis and scaffolding the writing process to maximize student engagement. Pop culture’s familiarity helps students learn some of the more difficult rhetorical terms and concepts.

CORRESPONDING READINGS

All of Section 2 of Join the Conversation: “Introduction,” “What is Rhetoric,” “Tools for Analyzing Texts,” “From Crowds to Books: A Brief History of Audience,” “What’s the Point?” “Strategies for Active Reading”

From Section 7 of Join the Conversation: “Metaphors We Live By”

SCAFFOLDING

1 class introducing rhetorical terms (artifact, medium, genre, message, subtext, logos, ethos, pathos, motifs, tropes) and having class discussions on visual rhetoric using this handout and the videos linked on the last page (Microsoft vs. PC ad campaign and amusing commercials for Lincoln and J’Adore).

2-3 classes discussing rhetorical/literary lenses from Lisa Blankenship’s “Tools for Analyzing Texts” in Join the Conversation. I used images from the Ikea catalogue, a picture book titled The Story of Thanksgiving, and Kanye West and Lil’ Pump’s performance of “I Love It” on Saturday Night Live dressed as Fiji and Perrier bottles, respectively, to model various ways of applying lenses to a variety of cultural artifacts.

Pre-prewriting assignment to write a paragraph on a possible paper topic and in-class show-and-tell where students share their ideas.

Prewriting worksheet and optional outline and notetaking process discussions. I provide models for completing the worksheet and outline using the Ikea catalogue for a subject.

Rough draft, peer review workshop on rough draft, and small-group or individual conferences on revision ideas.

In-class revision exercises (reverse outlining, topic sentence care, thesis rearticulation, etc.)

ASSIGNMENT

ENG 2100: Writing I

Fall 2018 · Eickmeyer

Project #2: Rhetorical Analysis

Option #1: Choose two cultural artifacts of the same medium and genre and write a 5-6 page essay analyzing, comparing, and contrasting those artifacts’ rhetorical elements. Your essay should feature a central argument about the similarities and/or differences between the ways that the artifacts “work” in the world and influence people to think and act in certain ways.

Option #2: Choose one cultural artifact and write a 5-6 page essay that examines and analyzes that artifact’s rhetorical elements. Your essay should feature a central argument about how that artifact “works” in the world and influences people to think and act.

Close reading:

You can (and should) consider the cultural contexts of your artifact and you’re welcome to explore other perspectives on the issues you identify, but you should base your arguments primarily on your own thorough analysis of the artifact’s rhetorical elements, not on research. In Project #3, we’ll expand our inquiry to include research.

Your essay must:

• Articulate a main thesis
• Consider the artifact’s medium, genre, and style
• Analyze the artifact’s intended and actual audience, purpose, and subtext
• Examine the techniques the artifact deploys to achieve that purpose, such as logos, ethos, and pathos
• Evaluate the artifact’s evocation of and interaction with tropes, cultural metaphors, symbols, and stereotypes
• Use at least one theoretical lens to evaluate the artifact (e.g. economic or social class, race, gender, sexual orientation/expression, ableism, posthumanism, ecocriticism, postcolonialism, deconstructionism, affect theory, psychological criticism). You don’t need to explicitly reference a lens in your thesis, but you can.

Choosing a cultural artifact:

You should choose a cultural artifact that genuinely interests you and catches your attention. You can choose something you like, something you dislike and want to critique, or something you feel conflicted about.

Possible cultural artifacts:

Advertisements or advertising campaigns
A clothing or furniture line or catalogue
Children’s books or toys
Photographs, paintings, or tattoos
Political speeches
Songs or music videos
Video games
Films or television shows
Short stories, essays, or poems