Assignment Introduction and Objectives

Many people have speculated what makes one written or oral argument stronger than another. Aristotle deduced that a strong argument is composed of three interrelated appeals: ethos, pathos, and logos. Others, such as Stephen Toulmin, have developed methods to describe how an effective argument is constructed.

For this assignment, you will closely analyze an essay or a multimedia material and analyze it rhetorically. Using our notes and discussion of argumentation from class, you will suggest whether the essay’s/speech’s/films’ argument is ultimately strong, weak, well-developed, insufficiently supported, etc. Keep in mind that you will focus mostly on how the author conveys and develops his or her argument, not necessarily on the subject matter. Thus, you may disagree with the author’s viewpoint and still find the argument strong and persuasive. As you analyze the argument, it is to your advantage to support your claims about the argument’s strengths and weaknesses with quotations and specific details from the essay/multimedia material.

Your essay should be formatted according to MLA benchmarks, including accurate parenthetical citations and a Works Cited Page.

Helpful Information for a Rhetorical Analysis

To accomplish our learning outcomes for this assignment, revisit resources provided and class notes/lectures on the following components of rhetoric and argumentation:

✓ Ethos, Pathos, and Logos​​
✓ Logical Fallacies
✓ Academic Arguments​
✓ Toulmin Model

Items to Submit:
➢ A Final Draft
➢ Professional Review (optional)
Available Readings/Audio-Visuals for Analysis (hyperlinked)
To write this essay, choose one of the following hyperlinked readings/multimedia materials:

1. “Do Schools Kill Creativity?”
2. The Danger of a Single Story—–https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg
3. Secrets to a Happy Life—https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg
4. Is Google Making Us Stupid?
5. The End of the College Essay (Links to an external site.)