Assignment 4: Analysis (2000-2500 words) (Rhetorical or Literary)

**Sample papers posted in Educat under “Sample Papers.”

You will analyze a literary work or a rhetorical piece in an academic way. If you do a literary analysis, it would be better if you picked something we have read in class since you will benefit from the class discussion. If you have another idea, see or email me. If it is a Rhetorical analysis it may be a film, concert, news story, political debate or speech, sporting event, children’s play, poem, etc. But if you pick a film, you must pick one of serious content, something trying to persuade us of something or that is making social commentary. You will write on one narrow, focused aspect of the larger picture and analyze it from all possible angles. Though you won’t benefit from class discussion, many of you have particular interests and expertise that may justify this choice of topic. More to follow regarding this.

Note: The important thing about an analysis, just like an argument paper, is that you narrow your focus and analyze the piece in terms of a specific parameter. You should not, for instance, say you are “doing your analysis on Ernest Hemingway.” That is too broad. See my example under Analysis Paper for a better idea. Some ideas are listed below that should help you narrow your topic.

Information on Literary and Rhetorical Analyses to help you decide on your Analysis:

Literary or Rhetorical Essay – For this assignment, you will pick a story from the assigned reading this semester and write a literary analysis that examines the piece of writing in terms of some technical parameter – voice, setting, use of dialogue, imagery, language — and discuss how the technique is used in your chosen work. You must use a minimum of ten sources which must be good sources (not Wikipedia), and you must use MLA style. You should already have your sources from your Research Paper. Focus: MLA style and good use of sources, evidence of careful examination of a text, evidence of critical thinking and analysis. There are MLA links on Educat. You should be familiar with it for a 200-level English class.

OR – you may write a Rhetorical Essay of your choice that could be about a film, concert, news story, political debate or speech, sporting event, children’s play, work of art, etc. All MLA and source information is the same.

Literary Analysis
1. It is standard to include the name of the author and the years he or she lived, as well as the name of the work and the year it was published near the beginning of the paper. This information is often, but not always, introduced in the first sentence.
2. It is standard to write about the work in the present tense. For example, you would write “Sarah Cole is a homely woman,” rather than “Sarah Cole was a homely woman.” You should use present tense throughout except in the biography section where you discuss the author’s past.
3. This is not a book report. Assume your audience has read the book. Instead of presenting the events, present an interpretation that is focused with a thesis statement and supported evidence.
4. Any quotes you choose to use should be explained. They should have a specific reason for being in your analysis. Make the connection clear and explicit; don’t assume the reader of your paper will understand why you put the quote in.
5. Consider a high style, or at least a middle style.
Possible structure:
1. Begin by introducing the author (briefly and the plot briefly, a quick synopsis. This should take one paragraph, or two very short ones.
2. Next you might talk about the literary period that pertains to your story or poem. Examples: a paragraph about post-modernism (romanticism, modernism, etc.) with sources and/or quotes.
3. Next you should tell us what criteria you are using to analyze the work, make a THESIS STATEMENT: the book in relation to post-modernism; the theme of feminism within a poem…. This list is, of course, endless. I list a few ideas below.
4. You should be able to find a couple reviews about the work: quote the reviews and discuss whether you agree and why or why not.
5. Now you should get specific and show examples within the text that illustrate what you are trying to prove. This will constitute the bulk of your paper! For instance, if you are writing about post-modernism in Russell Banks’ Sarah Cole story, or in Margaret Atwood’s Creative Nonfiction piece called “The Female Body – the post-modernist’s subjective view of reality, etc., you should have at least five specific places to point to in the text that illustrate aspects of post-modernism and cite them. (You can also cite outside sources during this part of the paper if you want to, and agree or disagree with experts—a good strategy.) This means you actually write down the lines from the text and then explain why they are significant.
Be sure and cite the text itself when you quote from the book using MLA style. Again, if you put a quote in there, tell the reader why it is there.
6. Finally, you should decide if this work of art is successful, and wrap up the conclusions you reached about your topic.

Ideas:
You are free to consider any piece posted on Educat including Russell Banks’ “Sarah Cole – a Type of Love Story.” I will post a hard copy form of this story.

Possible Topics:

• Objective correlative (a type of metaphor), setting, character development in any of the short stories we read this semester. There are links on Educat that better explains Objective Correlative which can be a fascinating lens from which to analyze a story.

• You may analyze the story in terms of themes: redemption, hope, compassion, violence, feminism, racism, forgiveness, postmodernism, modernism, etc. within any story. This list is not exhaustive by any means. For example: Post-modernism (or feminism) in Margaret Atwood’s “Happy Endings” or gender relationships in Russell Banks’ “Sarah Cole: A type of Love Story.”

• Point of View in Russell Banks’ “Sarah Cole.” Discuss point of view in terms of time and in terms of first and third person usage throughout. What did Banks accomplish by using these techniques?

• Symbolism and imagery in Russell Banks’ “Sarah Cole” or any of the stories we read.

• Hemingway’s use of dialogue in “Hills….” (or in any of the stories we read).

– Rhetorical Essay
Rhetoric is the art of using language and media to achieve particular goals. A rhetorical analysis is an argument that takes a close look at the strategies of persuasion within a text; it lists and describes techniques that a writer, speaker, editor, or advertiser has employed and then assesses the effectiveness of this persuasion. You can take a rhetorical analysis one step further and respond to a particular argument by offering good reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with it. This then becomes a critical analysis.

So what you need to do is to locate an advertisement, speech, film trailer, etc., musical album, piece of art work, etc., and take it apart and see how it works. Decide for whom the ad/speech/video, is intended (its audience), analyze its style, its effectiveness, its format (graphics, photography, etc.), choice of actors, make a decision if it works and why, or if it does not work, why. Note: An ad may not be a good choice because it may not give you enough material unless it has a political message.
This will take research because it may take compiling information on techniques of photography, layout, advertising, film techniques, art periods, musical styles and periods, etc. to make this analysis/argument from the perspective of an expert.
You will need to understand that persuasive texts are analyzed in terms of ethos (which we’ve touched on in EAA; credibility of the author), its pathos (ability to generate emotion); and logos (evidence and logic). So it will take understanding these concepts to do this paper effectively, and all the aspects of audience/style effectiveness/format, etc. will need to be analyzed in terms of these persuasive elements.
**Note: Often people who do Rhetorical Analyses are extremely passionate about the subject matter they choose—a documentary or work of art or film, etc. But this is not a review or even an argument paper so resist the temptation to just rave about the content! Your job is to analyze the piece of rhetoric in the above terms to decide if it is ultimately successful—something much more complex—and if you don’t do this, it will lower your grade significantly.

Structure:
Introduce your ad, film trailer, speech, documentary, concert, song, etc. in a summary overview in an opening paragraph.
Begin analysis. Consider if applicable:
Art or photography technique
Actors or models in the piece
Audio if applicable
What cultural aspects come into play in this persuasion which involves:
Audience – who is the target audience for the rhetorical piece and does it reach them? Why or why not?
Use one source in the above
Discuss all of the above in terms of ethos, pathos and logos.
Is this piece successful ultimately in your opinion? Why or why not?
Have fun with this analysis. It’s your chance to record opinions you have every day, but don’t realize it!
Like a literary analysis, it is customary to write the analysis portion in present tense.