Your job in this assignment is to practice rhetorical listening and analysis. The purpose of this assignment is to help you learn and practice using the rhetorical concepts introduced in Chapters 1 -3 of Town Branch (TB) and to prepare you for your first formal written assignment–rhetorical analysis of the interview you were assigned to index. Think of this task as an exercise in rhetorical invention, one that allows you to practice applying the concepts.
Even though the “text” you’ve been assigned is an oral one, I expect you to critically read, analyze, and interpret it using the concepts and strategies described in Chapters 1-3 of TB. Pay attention to what is repeated, highlighted, or emphasized by the speaker and the interviewer. Notice what information, if any, is omitted. Notice what is unclear or ambiguous and try to hypothesize an interpretation that helps to explain or clarify. Think about how the speaker use kairos and works to create ethos, pathos, and logos.
In this 500-1000 word pre-writing assignment, I expect you to make careful observations and to demonstrate that you have listened closely and analytically. You will provide evidence by applying the concepts of ethos, logos, pathos, or kairos to the oral history. I do not expect you to tackle all the concepts in this initial response, but whichever you use in the response should be explored in depth with quotations (including time stamps) from the oral history. Keep the following questions in mind–“Why does the individual make these specific appeals? How do such appeals contribute to the ideas about identity the interview conveys? Why is it important to present identity in these ways?”
This analytic response will be evaluated on the following criteria:
- Correct application of rhetorical concept(s)
- Depth of analysis
- Meticulously proofread sentence-level syntax
- Elegance in style
Grading
You will receive either a check plus, check, or check minus along with some overall comments from me. This assignment will count toward your overall homework/participation grade for this course. You will want to do the best job you possibly can, however, as you may be able to use some of the work you do in this essay for your second formal assignment. Please post them directly to the appropriate forum in Canvas and bring a hard copy to class. Project 2: Rhetorical Analysis of an Oral History Interview.