Instruction
As part of our in-class discussion of Ta-Nehisi Coates' Between the World and Me, you are responsible for providing a rhetorical analysis of the text by way of an annotated bibliography. Your bibliography should be three paragraphs in length, involving: 1. a summary of the memoir, including a restatement of its overall argument, subsidiary claims, and the evidence used to support those claims; 2. an evaluation, or assessment, of those claims, that talks about your judgment of the way in which Coates goes about making those claims. 3. and a reflection on how this text fits into the larger conversation on racism in America taking place right now based off of what we've discussed in class (here, the viewing of 13th, as well as our reading of Alexander's The New Jim Crow, will be of use in helping you situate Coates' text in this conversation about race in America). This assignment is a combination of both a "descriptive annotation" and "evaluation annotation" as outlined in Seagull (W-14, pp. 74-78) and includes guiding questions (below) extracted from the section on "rhetorical analysis"--also from Seagull (W-8, pp. 49-53). Questions to consider as you summarize, evaluate, and reflect: First of all, in terms of summary, what is the thesis, or claim, of this text? What is it arguing? What support, or evidence, does Coates use to make his claim(s)? As far as your evaluation is concerned, are the reasons believable and sufficient? For evaluation: Who else cares about this topic? Consider who Coates has included as part of his research. In what ways are they involved in the conversation? How does he situate, or employ, them in his response to this conversation? In other words, how are they being used to support those claims? (Think of his interview with Prince Jones' mother as an example. Think also of his use of anecdotal evidence, and whether or not that is a convincing source of evidence to make his claims.) For evaluation: based off of his sources of information, the claims that he makes by way of this text, how would you identify Coates in terms of his politics? For evaluation: Do you see any logical fallacies based off of this outline of five common logical fallacies (or arguments that rely on faulty reasoning; see also Hoffman, "Jousters: Logical Fallacies," p. 240) in Coates' memoir? If no, explain how he avoids them? If yes, explain which one(s) he commits and how. For evaluation: Think about the style of memoir. How would you describe it and what effect does writing in personal narrative have on the audience's (emotional/intellectual/psychological) experience? Does personal narrative and its use of anecdotal evidence detract from, or enhance, one's understanding of the topic? Be specific in citing examples. In terms of reflection, think about the popular conversation/conversations now circulating about racism in America based off of what you've heard and discussed in this class and elsewhere. Summarize what you know of or about this conversation and how this text responding to that conversation. What issues is it addressing that may be overlooked in the current conversation? Is its response unique? Explain. Your annotation should be submitted as Portfolio Assignment #3 under the title for the prompt, listed above. You should include the citation of the source above your annotation according to MLA guidelines for a book by one author (see Seagull, p. 134). DUE: Wednesday, April 4, 2018 - typed according to MLA formatting guidelines