*Term Paper Guidelines*
Refer to Term Pamper Samples folder under Spring 2023 on the Files page for examples from previous terms.
Front Title Page: outline assignment title , research project headline, course name and number, the semester, student name and sfu email address.
Paper: 2700-3000 words
References Page: Sources- 7 minimum. The reader should be able to locate all quotations and other references, right down to the correct page covering journal articles, books, Internet resources, interviews, videos, films, and so forth.
Formatting: 12 pt., Times New Roman, double spaced. APA/MLA/ Chicago Manual of Style (once you’ve selected a style guide you must be consistent and meticulous).
Paper outline (2700-3000 words)
Introduction: Topic & Rationale.
Satement of Purpose: Questions asked, Theme(s) & Research Angle(s) analyzed.
Basic Description: Topic background & research paper breakdown in more detail + highlight the theoretical and metholdogical frameworks used.
Discussion: Analysis of outlined topic in reference to previously mentioned theories & course concepts.
Conclusion: What have you discovered in reference to to the topic as it ties your analytical process and course concepts + and why does it matter?
Consider this assignment an opportunity for you to explore your interest in analyzing the disocurse about a certain topic and within a particular timeframe. Your anlysis is expected to be built on communication theories and the basis of rhetoric as pesuasion. Clearly identifying the theoretical and methodological frameworks of your analysis is important to maintain consistency through out the paper.
Traditionally, students in rhetoric classes often select a piece of discourse to anaylyze from any of the following: opinion piece/ editorial piece, political speeches, news, advertisements, film and so on. There are many options to choose from, hence the most important question to answer is; what do you want to write about and analyze as discourse for this course?
There are no limitations to what you choose to analyze, as the goal is the same in each case: to determine (1) what modes of presentation have been chosen in order to make the discourse persuasive? and (2) what particular strategies have been used?
The paper is expected to be analytical of the proposed topic and means of persuasion presented. While analyzing the disocurse about “the US-Mexican boarder, and immigrants” as presented in Donald Trump’s speeches is a good example — that angle alone does not meet the goal of this research paper. Bringing in philosophical angles and theories into your line of questioning to further deepen your analysis and tie to course themes is necessary. For instance, you can pursue the relationship between rhetoric and epistimology/ between persuasion and conviction/ between propaganda persuasion and truth/ or the way visual images (in advertisement/film/news) covering a certain topic has persuaded audiences. You can, for example, take Kenneth Burke’s Pentad and use it as a way of doing a rhetorical analysis, or his idea of consubstantiation (identification) to see how certain forms of associational linkages are established, or tie in Johnstone’s philosophical basis of rhetoric covering communication and consciousness into your argument.
Last Completed Projects
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