Project 1:Argument Analysis
Length:Your essay should be 3-4 pages, typed, double-spaced.
Format:Follow MLA guidelines for line spacing, margins, headers, page numbering, and documentation of sources, including a Works Cited page.Use a standard 12 point print style font.
Audience:Your instructor and other college-educated readers
Purpose:Analysis/argument
For this assignment, you will find two substantially argued articles on similar topics and decide which one you think is more convincing to its target audience, based on your analysis of the authors’ use of ethos, pathos, and logos, along with other rhetorical strategies. The articles you choose should be recently published and from well-known, reputable sources such as a major newspaper (example, the New York Times) or academicjournal, or magazine (example, Fortune).The articles should present a specific position on the topic with supporting textual material, such as examples, logical reasoning, facts, statistics, etc.The target audience is the readership of the publication.
Writing a comparative analysis means more than simply summarizing the different arguments.Instead, you will first be describing the target audience, and then making an argument about the two texts, using as support specific examples from the articles you select.For instance, you may claim that one argument is more effective than another for its target audience because of the reliability and quantity of its support (i.e., logos).You may also make claims about the credentials or biases of the authors and their testimony or their rhetorical strategies, such as their assumptions, refutations, definitions of key terms, overall organization, choice of vocabulary, use of figurative language, or tone.
Regarding the organization of your paper, the introductory paragraph should introduce the topic, the articles, and should state your claim—which article is more effective for its target audience.The body paragraphs should provide reasoning and evidence from the articles to support your claim, organized by subtopic and in a logical sequence.The conclusion should sum up your ideas and provide any final insights.
Here are some questions that might help you analyze the articles:
Additional Helpful Tips:
The rhetorical terms in the prompt are covered in detail in the assigned readings in Trimbur.
Be sure to find two substantially argued articles so that you have enough content to analyze to meet the 3-4 page requirement.Try using GoogleScholar or one ofthe SDSU Library Academic Databases, such as Proquest or Ebscohost.The articles may agree or disagree with each other—the point is to argue which one is more effective for its target audience.
Learning Objectives Met with This Assignment