RHETORICAL ANALYSIS ASSIGNMENT A rhetorical analysis is an explanation of the writing conventions observed in a text to determine how the writer uses specific strategies to engage and convince their targeted audience. It answers the following general questions: Who is the writer and from what position is he/she writing? Why is the writer writing and for whom? In what genre is he/she writing and why? Your rhetorical analysis will examine an academic article from a major publication in your discipline.

RHETORICAL ANALYSIS ASSIGNMENT A rhetorical analysis is an explanation of the writing conventions observed in a text to determine how the writer uses specific strategies to engage and convince their targeted audience. It answers the following general questions: Who is the writer and from what position is he/she writing? Why is the writer writing and for whom? In what genre is he/she writing and why? Your rhetorical analysis will examine an academic article from a major publication in your discipline. . . Read and annotate with an eye toward the rhetorical triangle: author, audience, subject. Your attention for this assignment focuses on how the writer establishes credibility in the discipline so that their message will accepted and valued. Your analysis essay should be at least 500 words. Your grade on the assignment will be based on the depth and completeness of your responses to the following aspects of the text: author, topic, content, structure, and style. You are not asked to state your opinion on the topic itself but rather to focus on what the author is doing in the text and how they do it. So the bulk of your essay should deal with issues in questions 4, 5, and 6. Organize your analysis into the following sections: 1. On the title line, write a bibliographic entry in the style of your discipline: MLA, APA, or another. 3. In the first paragraph, introduce the author and text: ​*what are the author’s credentials? ​*what kind of publication does the article appear in? ​*how does it contribute to the scholarly conversation in the field? 4. Summarize the content of the article: ​*what is its main claim? ​*what kind of evidence does the author use to support the claim? What does the article indicate about the kind of knowledge that may be valued in this discipline and the type of inquiry used to build that kind of knowledge? 5. Next, describe the structure and approach of the text: *in what order is the content presented (are there headings, sections, or other markers of the stages of the argument?) * is there a bibliography? how many sources are cited? how often are sources quoted? how often paraphrased? * what kind of data are included? Are there graphs, tables, charts? What does the article indicate about the way knowledge may be typically presented in this discipline (does the author use storytelling? personal experience? examples and illustration? scientific method? interviews and surveys? how clearly are data and speculation about the data distinguished from each other? )? Are findings represented as conclusive or tentative? What kind of, if any, action does the writer call for, based on their presentation? 6. Describe the language and style of the writer: * what is the writer’s attitude toward the subject and their audience? where does it fall between totally objective and emotional? does he/she use first- person pronouns? How does the author position his/her relationship to the audience (professional to peer, professional to learner, learner to learner, co-worker to co-worker? or something else?) * what level of discourse does the writer use: what do the length of the sentences, the types of sentences, and the word choice indicate about the intended audience? What does the language of the article indicate about the type of professional persona that is valued is the discipline? 7. Conclude with a statement about the most important understanding or discovery presented in the article. You may paraphrase or quote from the article. Explain why this is important in the discipline.