WP#3 – Rhetorical Analysis of a Podcast “2 Dope Queens- Sitting To Close to Queen Latifah
100 points
1500 words
MLA
12 pt Times New Roman font, 1 inch margins
Please review this several times. The essay is not due yet, but the details of this assignment are important.
This assignment asks you to summarize, rhetorically analyze, and rhetorically evaluate a piece of persuasive “writing” for content and style. For our purposes, the “persuasive writing” will be in audio (which is always written first and foremost).
First, you will choose from one of the podcasts (one episode and maybe even one segment of one episode, though you may have to listen to a couple to get a sense for the particular argument of the podcast) I gave you and that is of interest to you. You will want to spend time thinking about the podcast as a whole. That is, consider its title, colors, logo, brand, message, audience, purpose, and the particular audio elements (sound effects, music, silences, cuts, etc) of 1 episode or segment.
Structure: For this essay, I’d like you to begin with a summary and exigence (exigence is: the event or occurrence that prompts rhetorical discourse/podcast) of the episode. Your introduction should end with a thesis. The thesis should make your rhetorical analysis claim of this episode. The body of your essay should present a rhetorically evaluative argument about the podcast’s overall rhetorical effectiveness based on what you have analyzed about the its content and style and provide textual/sonic evidence of your claim. Then end your essay with a “so what” or a generative conclusion which tells the reader what they learned from your analysis and why they just spent their time reading this analysis.
All of these claims for the rhetorical analysis need to be supported with evidence from you chosen podcast episode. You will be quoting the words, sound effects, music, silences and moves of the podcast episode often in this paper. This is the four step process: CLAIM→ EVIDENCE→ ANALYSIS/EXPLANATION →WHY THAT MATTERS OR SUPPORTS YOUR THESIS.
First you will make a claim about some persuasive element of the podcast episode. Then, you will provide evidence to support, deepen, or advance your claim. Then, explain how and what that evidence is doing persuasively and how that evidence supports your claim. Remember: Write fully developed paragraphs with depth not just surface or repetition. Use more than 1 piece of evidence, if needed.
This is 1500 words polished prose.
You will use The Curious Writer and other miscellaneous readings I’ve made as pdfs to help specifically analyzing the podcast’s ethos, pathos, logos, rhetorical situation, and audience and rhetorical purpose. Also, consider the genre and genre conventions of the podcast and the genre and genre conventions of your own essay (in other words, what are the genre conventions of a rhetorical analysis?). Please include the link to the episode in your final document at the top under the title of the essay.
Quick and Dirty tips on how to do a Rhetorical Analysis
Your goal in the analysis is to demonstrate how the various aspects of the sonic “text” work together to achieve the rhetor’s persuasive goal, and to achieve that goal you will need to consider the full rhetorical situation, the author, the audience, the rhetorical purpose, and the use of rhetorical strategies in the podcast episode. The purpose of this assignment is to help you implement the methods of rhetorical analysis we’ve discussed in class so far so that you can develop the expertise in rhetorical argumentation that you will need for other projects throughout your college career and beyond.
Process: In order to develop your analysis, you need to look through a rhetorical lens—this is an opportunity for you to work through a professional and disciplinary perspective. You can, for instance, evoke and mention explicitly the terms of the rhetorical discipline (pathos, logos, ethos, kairos, audience, purpose, genre). Your argument should be about the strategic use of rhetorical appeals and persuasive power of the particular sonic “text” and not about the content itself. Focus on HOW it works, not simply WHAT it conveys; discuss how the use of rhetorical appeals determines the effectiveness of the argument and don’t get distracted into arguing passionately a particular position or extolling the beauty/creativity of the podcast! To complete the essay successfully, you will need to discuss specific and concrete elements of the podcast—the way we will do over the next few class meetings. Rely on the guidance provided by discussion and lecture in daily class sessions.
PODCAST – https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/dopequeens/episodes/2-dope-queens-podcast-sitting-too-close-queen-latifah