Assignments

Unit 2 Assignment

Unit 3 Assignment

Unit 2 Assignment Summary:

• Find FOUR (4) different sources related your topic that help answer your research question

• Write a rhetorical analysis of at least 300 words for each source

• Choose sources in at least 3 of the genre categories listed on the assignment (to be sure your report includes a variety of media and genres).

• Each rhetorical analysis of each of the four sources should do the following:     

1. Identify and describe the source, briefly
2. Explain the purpose/argument/message.
3. Explain the speaker and the audience.
4. Other points of the analysis of the source may include:—What rhetorical appeals does the source make? Logical and rational (logos)? Trustworthiness, reputation, and credibility (ethos)? Emotional? (pathos)? The Occasion/rhetorical situation. The tone. The Style. Exigence. Social constraints (religious, political, historical factors that help shape the source and limit the source).

• Document your sources

UNIT 2 Assignment Details

1. THE TOPIC or ISSUE:

Remember that the topic or issue you choose should be driven by your curiosity and interests, first. Why does it interest you? What do you want to know? What is the source, background, or reason(s) you are curious about this topic?

1-a. Do you need to narrow your topic? The answer is probably “yes.”

Use topic limiters if your topic is too broad:

Topic Limiters include:

• A limited time period
• A particular geographical location
• A sub-topic
• A single event
• A specific group

2. Research Questions also help to narrow your topic. Questions call for an answers, which automatically guides you toward sources that are going to help you do just that.

 Remember, “How” and “Why” questions are the best. Writers and researchers are best served with questions that are open-ended, questions that invite some complexity. Of course all the basic questions should be asked: How, What, Where, Why, When, etc., but ultimately the questions which begin with the words “how” or “why” are the best frames for a research project. What, Where, and When questions often result in definitive, dead-end answers. (Also, questions which begin with the word “Is” or “Does” lead to a yes/no answer.)

 Compare the general topic “Skateboarding” with the question, “How does skateboarding affect teenagers’ self-image? Or, How does skateboarding as a mode of transportation compare to skateboarding as a sport?

• Bad question: What kinds of businesses outlaw skateboarding in their parking lots?
  • This research question is “bad” because it leads to sources that provide merely a list of businesses that outlaw skateboarding in their parking lots, rather than the causes and reasons for outlawing them.
• Good question: What factors lead certain businesses to outlaw skateboarding in their parking lots?
  • This is a good research question because it will result in more complex categories of answers that include reasons and causes for outlawing skateboarding in commercial parking lots.

IMPORTANT: You may discover that you are asking the wrong question or that you need to do more investigating. Remember your first research question is only your first research question! You are likely to need to adapt and revise your question during the research process. That’s okay—it is part of the research process.

3. FINDING SOURCES

Remember, you’re finding FOUR (4) different sources related your topic and choosing sources in at least 3 of the following genre categories:

• An imaginative text such as a play, a movie script, a poem, a short story, or a novel.
• A visual/audio text such as a commercial, a movie, a website, a video, a TED Talk, a podcast,  a graphic novel or an album.
• A very non-traditional text such as a collection of recipes, menus, a thread of responses to social media posts, placard-descriptions of art at a museum, or even signs posted on the walls at post offices, banks, City Tech, etc.
• A “non-literary” verbal text such as an academic essay, newspaper article, a workplace document (memos, business reports, job application announcements, job applications, resumes, etc.).

4. DOCUMENTATION & CITATION – Document and Cite your sources: http://libguides.citytech.cuny.edu/citations

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_works_cited_other_common_sources.html

5. THE RHETORICAL ANALYSIS

For each source, write a rhetorical analysis of at least 300 words. Your analysis should especially focus on how the topic or issue is represented in these texts, rather than the issue itself. You will provide an analysis of the content, but focus on a rhetorical analysis as we have been discussing in class: use the elements of the rhetorical triangle, the rhetorical situation, rhetorical appeals, as well as the Soapstone worksheet to guide you. Remember to consider the argument. (Review the readings: “What is the Rhetorical Situation…” and “Backpacks vs. Briefcases,” as well as the SOAPStone worksheet posted on OpenLab.}

Each rhetorical analysis of each of your four sources should do the following:      

 1. Identify the source.  Start with a description of the source, including what genre it is and kind(s) of media it is, its title (if it has one), the title of the larger source it may be contained within, and any other identifying physical features you can describe in 1-3 sentences. (These are the formal constraints)

INFORMAL WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

Over the course of the semester you will be given a total of 12 informal writing assignments, including drafts of essays that you are asked to bring in on scheduled workshop days. Each of the 12 assignments is worth 5 points, totaling 60 points maximum by the end of the semester. IMPORTANT: points are earned only if the assignment has been completed BEFORE class on the day it is due. (These informal writing assignments account for 60% of your final course grade; see course syllabus.)

As of October 15, the total possible points earned is 20. At the end of the semester, the total possible points will add up to 60.

UNIT 2 ASSIGNMENT

Miscellaneous assignments and worksheets:

Literacy Narrative Essay Assignment Fall 2019

Peer Revision Worksheet for Literacy Narrative: Fall 2019

How to Annotate a Text

Sample Annotated Text

Informal Writing Assignment for Wednesday, Sept 4