Rhetorical Analysis
Rhetorical Analysis
For this assignment, you will locate an artifact (commercial, print ad, website, or non-traditional ad) for a product, brand, or organization. (For example, if you choose to look at Dunkin’ Donuts, you can look at a print ad, a commercial, or their Instagram page.) You will analyze the artifact, identifying and evaluating rhetorical appeals and fallacies.
Note: To ensure you do not plagiarize from an existing essay online, I highly recommend that you choose an artifact published within the last year. Do not choose an artifact by searching for advertising and rhetoric.
Learning Objectives
- Analyze rhetorical concepts, including rhetorical situation, appeals and strategies, and argument fallacies
- Perform primary research
Rhetorical Analysis Organization
- Introduction:
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- Provides a hook to engage the reader’s interest and exigence.
- Leads from the hook to the thesis statement.
- End with a Thesis Statement: makes an evaluative claim about the ad’s effectiveness, based on appeals used for the ad’s rhetorical situation.
- Body Paragraphs (3-4):
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- Each paragraph discusses one main point, directly in support of your thesis
- Follow the TEA method (Topic Sentence, Evidence, Analysis)
- See the TEA PowerPoint presentation for more information on building effective argument paragraphs
- Conclusion:
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- Reiterates the main points of the essay
- Provides a final thought for the reader (relates back to exigence)
Formal Requirements
- 2.5 – 3 pages in length
- A Works Cited page with 2 sources minimum:
- Primary artifact (the ad, commercial, etc)
- Secondary source about rhetorical appeals (such as your textbook or an online resource)
- In-text citations for secondary source (use a handbook or the Purdue Owl)