Full Unit 2 Description & Goals
Unit 2: Rhetorical Analysis
Unit Overview
In this unit, you will focus on one position within your controversy and produce a close analysis of a single credible text that advocates that position in a representative way.
It's important to remember that an analysis involves more than a summary of a writer’s argument. Whereas a summary emphasizes the text's content or what the text says—central claims, key evidence, and a recap of the conclusion—an analysis also examines how an argument is put together and why specific rhetorical choices may have been made.
As Controversies demonstrates, there are many approaches to and vocabularies for rhetorical analysis. We will practice using some of these approaches and vocabularies in class, and you will in turn be able to apply them to your own controversy. Ultimately, it will be important not only to address the textual aspects of your articles but also the context to which they address themselves.
To prepare yourself for this task, you'll need to do some more research, this time with the goal of locating a secondary source (such as a newspaper or magazine article) that somehow informs your analysis. This source should teach you something about the audience, the conversation, or the venue in which your text appeared. You will also have to explain how you conducted your research and why you believe your chosen sources are credible.
Unit Goals
In Unit 2, you will learn to analyze arguments. Such an analysis will prepare you to write a persuasive argument yourself (the major assignment in Unit 3). If you can explain why an argument would or would not convince a specific audience then you will be able to evaluate your own strategies when writing a persuasive argument yourself. Over the course of Unit 2, you will learn to analyze and to conduct further research that will inform your analysis. Below, we elaborate on these goals:
Analysis Goals
You will learn to:
- Explain the history and context relevant to the analysis
- Individually discuss particular elements of a text, using a specific and technical vocabulary
- Explain how various elements fit together into a coherent whole
- Explore the audience’s role in persuasion
Research Goals
You will learn to:
- Find and critically evaluate texts
- Locate source material that will inform an analysis