RHETORIC ONLINE   DUE DATES: 2/19 noon (online via Vancko Hall) – Rhetoric Online Draft due 3/5 noon (online via Vancko Hall) – Rhetoric…

RHETORIC ONLINE

DUE DATES:

2/19 noon (online via Vancko Hall) – Rhetoric Online Draft due

3/5 noon (online via Vancko Hall) – Rhetoric Online Final due 

OVERVIEW: 

For this assignment, you’ll craft an email to someone whose behavior you’d like to change in some way.  Examples of potential recipients include your mother, your best friend, or one of your professors, to name just a few examples.  What’s important in this assignment is that you use rhetorical strategies in order to persuade the person to whom you’re writing to change his/her behavior.  In conjunction with your email, you’ll write up a 700-1000 word academic analysis, in which you make a case for why your email is an effective piece of rhetoric, supporting your argument with reference to the rhetorical concepts we discuss in class and by pointing to specific text from your own email. 

The purpose of this assignment is for you to practice your communication skills by being attentive to the rhetorical situation, ethos, pathos, logos, presence, identification, etc… as you create a real-world message and then reflect on your rhetorical activities.  This is not a research project and YOU SHOULD NOT CITE ANY RESEARCH. 

You will complete and turn in your project in two stages. 

RHETORIC ONLINE DRAFT

This should include a draft of your email together with your analysis of it.  While the email can be written in an informal style, the analysis should be composed in the style of a formal academic paper. It should include: 

• An introduction in which you state your thesis and give a brief overview of the topic.  Avoid an overly long introduction; the bulk of your analysis should consider the rhetorical dimensions of your email.
• An account of how your email is rhetorically successful given the rhetorical situation and its component parts.  Your analysis should point to specific features of your email.
• An explanation of the persuasive strategies you used.  You should be specific in your account of how you used these strategies, again pointing to particular features of your email.

Length: The email can be any length; the analysis draft should be at least 500 words, using the formatting requirements below

Formatting: The email can be formatted at your discretion; for the analysis, use one-inch margins and Times New Roman font; the analysis should also be double-spaced and include your name and a title on the first page.  You will submit your draft to the appropriate place on Vancko Hall.  

Point Value: 5

Grading: This is a completion-based assignment so as long as you turn in a draft of the appropriate length on the due date, you will receive full points.  Incomplete drafts will be penalized based on the percentage completed (eg. a 250 word draft will receive ½ of the total points).       

RHETORIC ONLINE FINAL 

The second part of the project will be the final, revised version of the email and the analysis, submitted together as a single document.    

Length: The email can be any length; the analysis should be between 700-1000 words, using the formatting requirements below

Formatting: The email can be formatted at your discretion; for the analysis, use one-inch margins and Times New Roman font; the analysis should also be double-spaced and include your name and a title on the first page.  You will submit the final version to the appropriate place on Vancko Hall.  

Point Value: 50

Grading: Because this is the final, fully-revised version of the assignment, it will be worth considerably more points than the first part and will be graded according to a detailed and rigorous set of criteria.  Refer to the next page for the rubric I will use for grading.  I recommend reading it closely prior to turning in your assignment.