Mod. 1 | Researching Rhetorically Post #1: Opinion (Discussion)
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This discussion board is the first in a series of discussions that you will complete that count as part of your first project grade. Each discussion board will build on the previous one.
STEP 1: Find an opinion article or persuasive source that is relevant to/about the movement or organization that you want to work on for this project. For example, revisit the assignment sheet for this project. As you can see in the table at the bottom of the sheet, if you were interested in March for Our Lives, you could look for an article that is relevant to or about March for Our Lives. Note: You cannot use March for Our Lives for your project, since it was given as an example.
A good place to start could be the Op-Ed/ Opinion section of a newspaper. For example, if you go to the NYTimes or the Washington Post website, you can go to the Opinion section, then use the search bar to search the Opinion section for a particular topic. (Opinion pieces will often say something like Op-Ed, Opinion, Editorial, somewhere on the page.)
STEP 2: Once youve identified an article to work with, read the article/text and then write a rhetorical summary. To help you write a rhetorical summary, see Guiding Questions for Rhetorical Summaries below. However, do not write your summary as a list of bulleted answers–write your summary in paragraph form. Your summary should be at least 250 words long and should answer most of the questions provided. Remember that this post will lay the foundation for the next post, so its important that you consider all the questions provided. When you are done, post both the link to the text, with your rhetorical summary below that.
Guiding Questions For Researching Rhetorically:
First, make sure your summary identifies the author (first name and last name) and title of the piece you are analyzing and where/when it was published. Then identify the core idea of the authors argument, along with information on what theyre arguing and how theyre making their argument.
Your summary should remain an objective report of the article/text, without your commentary or opinion of the authors argument. Here are questions to consider/answer:
Who is the audience for the text and what was the authors purpose? What is it responding to? What do you know about the author/place of publication?
How does the writer use evidence? Is the evidence reliable? Why or why not?
What is the level of bias or degree of advocacy in the medium where this article was published? What might you say are the mediums values? For an article, you might read the Wikipedia page to learn more about the magazine or newspaper in which it is published. You may click on a profile of a social media post and see if the other posts indicate a bias. Try to understand if this author is advocating a specific position (or is neutral) and/or if the place where this source was published advocates a position (or is neutral).
What stylistic choices does the author make? What content choices? What choices regarding images, layout, etc? How do such choices relate to their rhetorical purpose/s?
How do you connect with or respond to the ideas and arguments in the source itself, relating to what you know at this time about the conversation on this topic, how you yourself feel about the topic, why you are interested in this topic, etc. (Only briefly discuss your opinion and instead focus on your response as an audience member/reader.)
