Critical Essay:  5-7 page rhetorical criticism

Task: You have three options for speaker analysis: 1) Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez “Verbal assault against women not new. And that is the problem” (July 23, 2020); 2) President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Ukraine) “Can You Only Imagine?” (March 15, 2022)3) President Ronald Reagan “Normandy Speech: Ceremony Commemorating the 40^th Anniversary of the Normandy Invasion, D-Day” (June 6, 1984).

In this essay, you are responsible for exploring how the speech builds an argument and  influences an audience using various strategies. Pay attention to the way language and visual rhetoric help reflect and create reality. You will need to do additional research about the topic and rhetor for this assignment.  There are three main questions you should answer in this paper:

1. What is the relationship between the rhetoric and its context?
2. How does the message construct a particular reality for the audience and the rhetor?
3. What does the rhetoric suggest about the rhetor?

Be creative in your analysis; ultimately this paper must present an argument about what the text does.  Fully research and support the claims you make throughout your paper. Be sure to clearly state your position and support it by making sense of why the rhetor made the choices s/he did, or why the text did (or did not) have an effect, or how the text participates in a larger set of symbolic actions. 

Assignment Due Dates: Peer edit drafts due Thursday, April 21 at 5pm on Moodle; first submission for grade due May 3  at 5pm on Moodle; final revisions due May 12 at 5pm. As an advanced writing course, students are required to hand in drafts of a paper, with major revisions and edits completed for the final paper.  You will be graded for both content and writing skills. Your final paper grade for the critical essays is an average of the content and writing grades for drafts and final revisions. Rewrites are mandatory unless you have earned an “A” or “A-“on your first draft.  Any second-draft paper that is turned back into the professor without major revisions will receive an “F.”  In other words, you cannot just reprint the same paper and turn it in the second time assuming you will get the same grade as you did on the first draft. 

Things to remember for this paper:

• A complete bibliography must be included in your essay (using the MLA style for all citations). Number your pages, use proper documentation, and above all, edit your work!
• Be aware of sentence and paragraph structure, vague use of pronouns (this, that, we, our, you, it), and the use of contractions. Every paper needs a thesis statement; you do not necessarily need to write your research question in a question format. Refer to Hacker’s Pocket Style Manual to help with your writing. 
• Late papers will not be accepted for any reason. 

Honor Code Pledge It is expected that all students enrolled in this class support the letter and the spirit of the Academic Honesty Policy as stated in the college catalog. “Dishonest conduct includes, but is not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, unauthorized collaboration, forgery, and alteration of records, along with any lying, deceit, bribery, coercion, or intimidation for the purpose of influencing a grade or for any other academic gain.”

Clark Learning Center:

The Learning Center professional and student staff offer several different services to help you strengthen your strategies for academic success. Located in 103 Feinberg Library (1^st floor), students are able to make an appointment with a writing tutor to discuss assignments for CMM 416.  Walk-in appointments are also available at specific times.  Phone: (518) 564-6138/Email: learningctr@plattsburgh.edu. The Learning Center writing tutors will be available for remote tutoring via Zoom. You may also contact the online tutoring via STAR-NY (https://www.starny.org/tutoring_schedule). Email: onlinetutoring@starny.org

Writing A Critical Essay ala Dr. Sonja Foss

Dr. Sonja Foss gives detailed instructions as to the procedure one can use to write a rhetorical critique:

1. Introduction:  Offer the reader a captivating introduction.  Discuss the contribution of your essay to our understanding of the importance of rhetoric. Provide a clear thesis in the first two paragraphs.   

• A description of the artifact/speech and its context (e.g. who is the rhetor, what is the occasion, who is the audience?). You will need to do outside research for this section.

• A description of the central theme of the speech and the main argument the speaker makes.  What concepts from Rhetoric in Civic Life will be helpful in your analysis?  Be sure to cite specific pages/themes from the textbook.

• A report of the findings of the analysis (draw on your own research to help analyze the speech). 

• Conclusion:  Discussion of the contribution the analysis makes to our understanding of the importance of rhetoric and politics in contemporary United States.

• Works Cited page must include Rhetoric in Civic Life and any additional sources used. Use MLA format for in-text citations and reference page.

ESSAY GRADING CRITERIA		100 POINTS TOTAL
Content
Introduction	Clear thesis that addresses topic, introduction that catches your reader’s attention and prepares them for your paper. A solid thesis statement reveals an aspect of the speech you will be investigating.	_____ / 10
Synopsis of Speech, Rhetorical       Situation and Rhetor	A brief synopsis of the  presentation, describing the speaker, date, audience, topic, rhetorical situation (1-2 paragraphs)	_______/10
Body	Original thinking and synthesis; sufficient evidence and examples that student understands rhetorical analysis, using course readings to frame the analysis.	______ / 25
Conclusion	Well formulated conclusion that synthesizes not summarizes. Again, demonstrates a full understanding of course concepts about rhetoric.	______ / 10
Coherence and Organization	Organized and coherent paragraphs, logical progression, smooth transitions between paragraphs and ideas	______ / 20
Mechanics
	Grammar, punctuation and spelling.   Formal language, interesting style, avoidance of slang, mixed metaphors, and clichés	______ / 10
	Accurate in-text citation of (MLA or APA style). Bibliography that includes citations from Rhetoric in Civic Life, speech, + any other outside sources.	______ /10
	Paper is within assigned 5-7 page limits with the proper font size and margins	______ / 5
TOTAL POINTS		_____ / 100