This is Your Brain – Good Answers

Assignment Description
For this first graded assignment, you will compose an essay that analyzes the argumentative strategies
used in a selection of your choice from Current Issues and Enduring Questions. The Rhetorical Analysis
Essay is an argumentative paper that should present a position on the persuasiveness of author’s
argument and support that position with well-chosen quotations and examples from the selection.
Although this is an argumentative essay, your essay should not make an argument about the issue itself.
For example, if you choose to analyze a selection about hydraulic fracking, your essay should not take a
position on whether fracking is good or bad. Instead, it should take a position on whether the argument
is well-constructed and well-supported.
You may do some outside research for this essay (for example, you may need to research the
publication the work originally appeared in). However, your primary focus should be the work you are
analyzing, not outside sources.
Follow these steps to compose your essay:

Since you will be composing a 3-4 page paper, you should select a work that that has a fairly
complex argument. Selections that are under two pages are less likely to have a sufficiently complex
argument and will probably not yield successful papers.
2. Read and analyze the work:
Carefully read the selection you’ve chosen. Try to determine the intended audience of the work, the
author’s main claims, and the evidence and examples the author uses to support his or her main
claims.
Below are some questions to consider as you analyze the selection. They are meant to help guide
your thinking and writing, but you may need to develop your own follow-up questions to produce a
well-rounded analysis of the work.
• What kind of publication did the selection originally appear in (a newspaper, a magazine, a blog,
or something else)? What kinds of people would typically read the publication it appeared in? Is
this publication affiliated with any organizations, or does it appear have a particular political
bias? (In order to answer this question, you may need to research the publication.)
• What are the author’s main claims? In other words, what is the author’s position on the issue
• How does the selection appeal to the audiences’ emotions (pathos)? Does the author use
emotionally charged language or examples? Does the author appeal to the audience’s values?
• How does the author appeal to the audience’s reason (logos)? What evidence (such as statistics,
the testimony of experts, or examples) does the author present to support his or her main
claims?
• How convincing is the evidence the author presents?
• Does the author ever confuse facts with beliefs or opinions? If so, how?
• Does the author engage in any other logical fallacies? If so, how?
• Does the author identify and successfully defuse objections and counter-evidence? If so, what
objections or counter-evidence does the author identify and how does he or she defuse them?
• What kind of persona does the author construct? For instance, does the author present him- or
herself as an expert on the topic or as a regular person? As open-minded to other points of view
on the topic or as dismissive of other point of view?
• How effective is the author’s presentation or him- or herself? Does it strengthen the author’s
argument, or does it undermine it?
3. Draft your paper:
After you’ve carefully read and analyzed the selection, write a paper that takes a position on how
persuasive it is.
Your introduction should describe the issue with which the work is dealing, describe any necessary
background on the larger context of the issue (e.g. is the problem being hotly debated, or is the
issue a more obscure but nonetheless important one), and present your thesis statement. Your
thesis statement should provide a short, specific assessment of the work’s persuasiveness and a
brief summary of the reasons you found its argument convincing or not. For example, if you were
writing a paper about James Q. Wilson’s essay “Just Take Away Their Guns,” you might develop a
thesis that claims: “Although Wilson uses compelling statistics to show the limitations of most gun
regulations, his proposal to use technology to limit criminals’ access to guns is not well supported.”
Your body paragraphs should present your analysis of the argumentative strategies used in the
selection. Use your responses to the above questions as a starting place for this portion of the
paper. Some of the questions may not be relevant to your particular essay, but a thoughtful and
well-argued essay will probably address most of the suggested areas. Ultimately, however, you are
composing as an essay, not as a list of answered questions. This means that each of your body
paragraphs should develop one supporting point, which should be stated in a topic sentence. You
should also use transitions to help readers follow your train of thought.
Your conclusion is an opportunity to restate and elaborate on your thesis. You might also use your
conclusion to reflect on the broader implications of your analysis. What weaknesses in the author’s
argument did you spot that other authors may be susceptible to making? What argumentative
strategies did the author use that you would like to use in your own writing?
4. Revise your paper.
Carefully re-read your draft to check your organization, citations, and use of academic style. Use
these questions as a guide:
• Do I have an argumentative thesis (a thesis that takes a position on the persuasiveness of
the essay)?
• Is each of my paragraphs organized around a single point that supports my thesis? Is that
point stated in a topic sentence?
• Does each paragraph have a transition that shows how it is related to the previous
paragraph?
• Are all of my quotations correctly formatted and cited according to MLA rules?
• Have I included a Works Cited page? Does if follow MLA rules?
• Are there any unnecessary words or phrases I can eliminate?
• Have I maintained the same verb tense throughout my paper?
• Have I maintained a third-person point of view throughout my paper?
• Have I maintained a neutral tone, when possible, throughout my paper?
After you have revised your paper, you are ready to submit it to the dropbox on Blackboard.
Assignment Requirements
Your paper should be 3-4 pages (not including your works cited page) and meet the following
requirements:
• Times New Roman font, size 12
• 1 inch margins on all sides
• Double-spaced
• MLA-Style parenthetical citations for all quotations and paraphrases.
• Attached Works Cited page that lists all sources according to MLA style guidelines.
• Saved as a Word document.
If you have any questions about MLA style, consult the Little Shocker Handbook or email your instructor.

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