The Texts

• Itai Halevi, "Rhetorical Situations, an Introduction"

• Your chosen text that represents a local community you are part of or interested in being a part of

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The Task

Now that you've created a profile for the local community you belong to or might wish to join, find a text that is related to its public image and present an in-depth rhetorical analysis of this text. The text related to this community's public image may be an article, a mission statement, a web page, an advertisement, an image, a song, a statue or other piece of art, a building, or even a park bench. The requisite qualities of your chosen text are that it must reward an in-depth rhetorical analysis and that it must be used by your chosen community to represent its public image.

 

Your rhetorical analysis should demonstrate that you have considered multiple elements of the rhetorical situation in which this text was, or might have been, composed:

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• What is the exigence of this text? In other words, what issue is the writer(s) addressing?

• What is the purpose of this text? In other words, what is the writer(s) trying to achieve?

• Who is the audience of this text? In other words, who reads it?

• What context surrounds this text? In other words, what are some of the social, cultural, environmental, or other factors that might have influenced how this text was written?

• What constraints surround this text? In other words, what factors might have enabled or limited what the writer could do with their communication?

 

Your draft should consider at least three of these questions in depth and your analysis should be supported with evidence from your chosen text.

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The Terms

Length

3-6 pages (double-spaced, not including headings)

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Format

.docx or .pdf

MLA citation style

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Assessment Criteria

Drafts will be graded based on completion only: if you fully engage with the prompt and meet the minimum page count, you will receive full credit. I want to encourage you to use the drafting process, including the "product" that you turn in, to experiment with how you're thinking and interacting with these texts and ideas – you don't need to worry about turning in something "polished" or even something that looks like a cohesive essay (although I should be able to follow your thinking and the project you are establishing). What I'm looking for you to do here is engage with the texts and the prompt in ways that are meaningful to you.