Writing

FORMAT: Minimum 1,200 words, double-spaced, 1” margins; put your name, my name(instructor), the class, assignment number, and date in the upper left corner of the first page; number pages in the upper right corner; have a title. Cite sources in MLA style.

INSTRUCTIONS: Chose one of these essays from our readings:

Sophie Kleeman: “One Powerful Illustration Shows Exactly What’s Wrong With How the West…”

Natasha Lennard: “Of Suicide”

Sarah Smarsh: “Poor Teeth”

Heather Kirn Lanier’s “She’s No Angel, and I Love That”

Compose an analysis of the author’s rhetorical strategies, focusing not on WHAT the author says, but on HOW she says it and on the effect of saying it in a particular way. Use the glossary in this syllabus to help you with rhetorical language. Choose one or two key rhetorical features to focus on, such as the writer’s appeals to ethos, pathos, or logos; the kairos in which the essay was written; or the ways in which the writer invites us to identify with or differentiate ourselves from the people they write about.

Focus on HOW the text communicates implicit and explicit messages. This is about much more than summarizing content, though your paper will also have to provide a thorough and accurate summary of the text before it launch a proper analysis. By looking at the techniques, you can see how the author guides our interpretation of the content. You might ask questions like: How does this author characterize himself/herself? How does he/she characterize others? How does he/she invite us to sympathize, empathize, or judge? Why is it significant that this essay was created in a particular time, place, and circumstance? What does this text respond to? To what purpose are these arguments being used? What kinds of attitudes and ideas does the author invite us to adopt as we look at their subject?

Adhere to a single, clear, analytical, evolving thesis throughout your essay.