Overview
For this assignment you will write a medium-length
rhetorical critique with a speech as
your artifact. You may choose any speech, whether contemporary or historical,
real or fictional. You may also choose to analyze the speech using any method or
theory discussed in class, by our textbook, or by any other source with which
you are familiar. As long as your critique produces insights in accordance with
the perspectives we have discussed in class, you are on the right track.
In terms of logistics, your project should follow the
guidelines of the APA style manual, including the following (each segment should
begin on a new page):
-title
page
-abstract
-essay
-references
You should cite at least four sources (including the
artifact) in the essay. I encourage you to go beyond that minimal standard for
source use. Cite every source (in text as well as in the reference list) in
accordance with the APA style manual. While the style manual indicates running
heads are optional for students, they should be used for this assignment. Completed essays must be uploaded to Blackboard.
Remember that this class has an
archival source requirement. Either for this essay or for Essay II, you must
find, consult, and cite at least one archival source. This requirement means
that you must physically visit an archive, whether here on campus or elsewhere.
Students who do not satisfy this requirement in either essay will automatically
lose 30% of the grade on Essay II (i.e., 45 points).
CONTENT: Although you should
ensure that you go through the stages of description, analysis, and
interpretation (and, possibly, evaluation), you should not organize your essay along these lines. Rather, you should
follow an argumentative model in which you analyze the artifact in a logical,
orderly fashion that coherently displays its insights and provides support for
them at the same time. See below for a general structure outline. Thus, the
sample essays at the back of the textbook are not very good examples, at least
insofar as their structure goes. See below for a list of additional articles to
examine as models of critiquing a speech.
Once you have decided what
artifact you will critique, you should work through various methods or search
models looking for insights. Your goal will be, eventually, to come up with
your central argument and lots of evidence (from the text, from other studies,
from the context, etc.) that supports it.
When you believe you know what your argument might be, I
encourage you to meet with me to discuss and brainstorm. You can schedule a time to meet with me or
simply drop by my office during office hours.
I might be able to help you to sharpen your argument, steer you away
from problems, or even suggest scholars who have published material relevant to
your artifact or argument.
When you have settled on your argument, you should then collect
the data that supports your argument. You will work to arrange your data into
two or three or four central areas that will each support your central argument
in some way. For example, I had a student write a paper focused on identity
construction. Their three areas were personal
identity, social construction of identity, and social expectations of identity. All three supported the argument that the speaker
was navigating personal expressions of identity within social norms and
expectations.
Finally, you will begin to write
the essay. The content of the essay would benefit from following this general
structure:
Introduce
the artifact in some unique and intriguing way, something that will pique
the reader’s interest while also emphasizing that the artifact is worthy
of analysis.
Offer
a central claim or thesis for the essay.
Offer
a preview of the issues or areas the essay will cover.
In the
body of the essay, elaborate on the central areas mentioned above, and
provide supporting data under each area. You might consider giving each
area a heading (in accordance with APA style) to make your structure
clearer to the reader.
Examine
any implications arising from your analysis and criticism. What might this
mean for the field of rhetoric?
What unanswered questions come to mind?
In the
conclusion, go over your central argument again and review the central
areas that helped support that argument. Finally, finish with a closing
statement, something that ends the essay with a good emphasis.
Length:
this essay should be between 2,500 and 3,500 words.
Type
of artifact: you are no longer restricted to a single speech for your
analysis; you can still examine a speech if you prefer, but you can also
shift to focus on an advertisement, a campaign, a social movement,
propaganda poster(s), and so on.
You can examine a single artifact, or a series of them, as you
wish. See the sample essays below
for ideas.
Type
of research model: you can use any theory that we have discussed since the
midterm. This rule means that you should not use neo-Aristotelianism. That doesn’t mean that you are forbidden
from referring to ethos, logos, pathos,
types of Aristotelian discourse, etc.
But it does mean that those research models should not be the
primary focus of the essay. I
should add that you can also use a method or theory that we have not
discussed in class. As long as your
critique produces insights in accordance with the perspectives we have
adopted in class, you are on the right track.
LOGISTICS: Your project should follow the guidelines of the
APA style manual, including the following (each segment should begin on a new
page):
You should cite at least seven sources (including the
artifact or artifacts) in the essay; I encourage you to go beyond that minimal
standard for source use. Cite every
source (in text as well as in the reference list) in accordance with the APA
style manual. Completed essays must be uploaded
to Blackboard.
Remember that this class has an archival source requirement. If you did not meet this requirement for
Essay I, you should do so now. The
requirement stipulates that you must find, consult, and properly cite, as per
APA style, at least one archival source for the essay. This requirement means that you must physically visit and research at an
archive, whether here on campus or elsewhere. It also
means that your reference to the archival source(s) must clearly identify the
name of the repository. Students who
do not satisfy this requirement in either essay will automatically lose 30% of
the grade on Essay II (45 points). You
should consult the Godfrey article (see full citation on the Texts and Requirements
tab) for adapting APA style to archival sources. Here are four examples of archival references
in APA style. Note that each entry clearly identifies the repository that you visited:
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