Humanities Homework Help
Pierce College Rhetoric Analysis of the Audience Question
Objectives of Assignment:
- To identify and understand the rhetorical situation within which a writer composes their message.
- To understand how rhetoric is used to persuade an audience.
- To identify rhetorical strategies in writing that you (a future writer) can use in your own writing.
- To become a more conscientious participant and thinker in relation to forms of communication.
Materials of Assignment:
We will begin this assignment by reading Laura Bolin Carroll’s “Backpacks vs Briefcases” as an introduction into rhetoric and analysis. This will serve as a foundation for important terminology and practices necessary for rhetorical analysis.
Purpose of Assignment:
According to Laura Bolin Carroll (in her article “Backpacks vs Briefcases”), rhetoric is “the way we use language and images to persuade.” From political parties to Instagram to the five seconds of advertisement you have to suffer through before the “skip ad” link becomes active on YouTube, it’s easy to see how Carroll’s statements about how “our worlds are full of … social influence” still ring true (Carroll 47). And in light of the volatility that has erupted over the past few years, it’s all the more important that we take a closer look at how rhetoric is used in human interactions as a step into becoming a more informed consumer of information.
On a more focused approach, it’s also very important that we (as learning writers) also practice identifying how other writers shape their messages rhetorically. Doing so will help us integrate strategies into our own writing.
