Essay #4: Rhetorical Analysis

Begin by reading:

“Heavy Stuff for the Fourth Grade”

The writing assignment:

Write a rhetorical analysis of “Heavy Stuff for the Fourth Grade.”

This assignment asks you to discuss the choices made by the author of this piece. What can you tell about the audience? What was the author trying to do to the audience? Why were certain items included? Why were they in that order? Most important—what worked? And what didn’t work?

Writing schedule:

1.  Think  Monday, March 11 through Wednesday, March 13
2.  Gather  Thursday, March 14 through Tuesday, March 19
3.  Draft  Wednesday, March 20 through Tuesday, March 26
4.  Peer Edit  Wednesday, March 27
5.  Revise  Thursday, March 28 and Tuesday, April 2*
   *The college is closed Friday, March 29 through Monday, April 1 for Easter Break.

Discussion:

A rhetorical analysis asks (and answers) several simple questions:

• Who (so far as you can tell) was this written to? How can you tell? Was this a good choice? (BTW: “Anyone who wants to read it” is no answer. Come up with something more specific and helpful.)
• What was the author trying to do to the reader?
• How did the author do that? (This part may have several pieces, including a discussion of content, imagery, and organization.)
• Did it work?

I have organized the discussion above as a series of bullet points. Though you can use my bullets as an outline, you will need to write an essay, not just a list; you will need an introduction with a thesis, decent paragraphing, and a conclusion.

Don’t write about the wrong thing. Do not write about:

• What a great time you had when you visited Washington, DC.
• A detailed exposition of the poetry of Sir Walter Scott or John Greenleaf Whittier.
• The history of the Cold War and the relative ineffectiveness of our preparations for nuclear attack.

You are writing about the craft of the paper; your feelings about politics, etc., are certainly not part of the discussion unless you can demonstrate that the article is being fair or unfair to one particular group. On the other hand, if you feel the article is being unfair or biased toward/against men (or nuclear physicists or Marine Band clarinetists or whatever) as a group, that would be a legitimate topic to explore.

Hints for success:

This kind of assignment threatens you with several traps. You should take special care to avoid them.

• “I wasn’t there, so I can’t write about it.” You are not being asked to discuss your own wanderings around Washington, DC (or Boonsboro, Maryland).
• “That reminds me of …” Perhaps you did stop at the Barbara Fritchie Restaurant in Frederick, Maryland (a very well-advertised tourist trap). Perhaps you loved the candy. That’s not the point of this paper.
• “I really agree (or disagree) with this point and I’m going to launch into my own opinion.” Again, not the point.
• “The word ‘woke’ really triggered me, so here comes my political rant.”

All of these traps have the same thing in common: they are all attempts to make this paper about you. That’s the problem: You are not the topic. Not your feelings, not your experiences, not your politics. You are not the focus here.

The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author.
The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by Ashland University.
Revised 12/31/23 • Page author: Curtis Allen • e-mail: callen@ashland.edu.