In the video cast below, you’ll see our student writer discuss her rhetorical analysis she has written for her research paper assignment.
Because thinking rhetorically about my assignment is so important, I decided to write down my thoughts on each of the three rhetorical concepts explained in the assignment analysis section of the Online Writing Lab.
[points to Purpose area of text]
In my initial thinking on my assignment, I realized my professor was very clear about the bigger purpose of the assignment. My job is to persuade my audience to my side of an issue. Within that broader purpose, my purpose is to choose an issue in education that I want to write about. I want to choose that is important and interesting to my audience.
[points to Audience area of text]
My professor has made it very clear that I am writing my paper for an academic audience. Since I will be writing about an issue in education, I think I will have an advantage with this audience. Everyone in my class has been to some kind of school, so they will have context for my issue. I just need to remember that I may choose an issue important to public schooling, and not everyone in my audience went to a public school. Also, it may have been a while since some members of my audience were in school, but chances are some of them will have children in school.
[points to Voice area of text]
Finally, I wrote about the voice I thought I would use in my paper. I want to make sure it is appropriate for my audience, so I have to be careful that I am not too informal. I feel passionately about so many issues in education, and if I choose an issue that I feel passionately about, I will have to be careful not to get too excited. I want my audience to be engaged, but I have to use a tone of voice that will be clear and respectable.
Those were my initial thoughts using the analysis concepts I learned about in the OWL. I think this information will be helpful as I continue with my process.