NewStart English 101 sec 61, Brown

Due Monday, June 22

Write a rhetorical analysis of any of the reading from this unit. You may choose a reading we have discussed in class, or one assigned for next week. The response analysis should be one to two pages in length.

When writing a rhetorical analysis, you want to identify an element, a rhetorical conclusion you can draw from the article. For example, with the "Panopticon" essay, you might argue that the author is appealing to the value of profit or minimizing expenses in his concept of the panopticon. That would be your thesis. Then, you would have to develop an analysis of the textual features (the specific instances in the text where the author demonstrates that appeal) as well as to broader context conclusions to show your readers (anyone who might be reading your analysis for a better understanding of the article, including me, your classmates, and other peers) that your conclusion that Bentham appeals to "profit" issues is in fact a plausible reading of this text.

Your analysis must situate the reader and remind the reader of the general context of the essay you are analyzing. Do not assume that the reader has memorized the text, nor that the reader has the text in front of him/her. Provide enough context and summary to be effective, but do not devote your whole response to summary. You must be writing an analysis (the why and how) for this assignment.

When you cite specific information from the text, or when you provide a quoted word or statement (please no lengthy quotes), provide the page number in paranthesis. For example, if you write the following sentence integrating a short quote, it would look like this:

Bentham says that his system will eliminate "the troublesome exertion of voice" that is required for inspectors to exert in other types of guarding systems (471).

Your response paper will be evaluated with a plus, check, or minus based on how well you demonstrate a strong analytical thesis with evidence drawn directly from the text.

Let me know if you have any questions on this assignment. And go see your writing tutors!