Write an essay that uses research to analyze one or more specific pieces of media (texts). Explore how the text(s) depict or engage with a specific topic-What feedback was least helpful? Why? Throughout this project, how did you try to overcome the challenges that emerged? How would you describe what we learned this semester? How can you use the concepts and skills we studied in the future?

Assignment Question

Rhetorical analysis & cover letter

INSTRUCTIONS

Write an essay that uses research to analyze one or more specific pieces of media (texts). Explore how the text(s) depict or engage with a specific topic. Your essay should: Include a separate 250-word cover letter (any formatting) that discusses your writing process and reflects on the course. Be at least 1,000 words (essays can be longer). Introduce 1 or more specific media texts as the primary subject of analysis. Provide a thesis or topic sentence that clearly indicates the topic or angle of analysis. Discuss specific examples from the text(s) in detail; explain how these examples depict or engage with the topic (this should be the bulk of the essay). Clearly introduce specific, relevant information from at least 2 secondary sources. Use direct quotes and summarize information accurately. Don’t plagiarize. Make a logical, evidence-based argument about the text and the topic based on your analysis. Consider the role of discourse and ideology in the rhetorical context. Employ Standard English conventions of capitalization, spelling, and punctuation. Employ APA formatting style throughout the document. Include an APA-style References page and provide full bibliographic citations for each source. WHAT IS RHETORICAL ANALYSIS? Rhetorical analysis is the systematic evaluation of specific pieces of media. All forms of media can be analyzed. This includes art, literature, film, television, gaming, social media, and more. Any time we think critically about how media conveys ideas or impacts audiences, we are doing a form of rhetorical analysis. A formal rhetorical analysis essay focuses on one or more specific media texts. Here, “texts” refer to any form of media, not just the written word. The purpose of a formal rhetorical analysis essay is not to simply describe or summarize the text and its messages. Instead, our purpose is to explain what this piece of media communicates to its audiences and how. In order to accomplish this, an analysis essay must contain two key elements: 1) specific evidence from the text and 2) specific information from secondary sources. Secondary sources help us understand the context or rhetorical situation of the (primary) text. By combining evidence from the text with information from the context, we are able to make reasonable claims about the relationship between text, context, audience, and more. It can help to think of rhetorical analysis in terms of “how” questions. Here are some examples: How does a film like Mean Girls (2004) depict high school in the United States? How do shows like 13 Reasons Why (2017) or Euphoria (2019) represent abuse, self-harm, or trauma? How does a game like Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2020) make an argument about capitalism, the natural world, or friendship? You must choose your own topic and you can approach this assignment in many different ways. However, our fundamental purpose is to interpret what different media are “saying” about different topics and how that message might impact their audience—and our society more broadly.

WRITING & RESEARCH PROCESS You may find it useful to begin in one of two ways: By selecting a text or by selecting a topic. However you start, you’ll need to analyze the text and do research about your topic to be able to conduct effective analysis. Starting with a text If you have a text in mind that you would like to analyze, start by reviewing it closely. As you watch, play, read, view, or listen, take notes about the major elements of the text that you notice. If you want to analyze a film, use Wikipedia and other general sources to familiarize yourself with the basic elements of cinema. If you want to analyze a game, use those sources to learn some of the basic elements of game design. Use this vocabulary to help you analyze the text more precisely and productively. As you analyze the text and make notes about its different elements, look for a theme that interests you. This theme represents a topic you can analyze. Starting with a topic You might already have a topic in mind that is interesting to you, but you may not know which text(s) would be best for analysis. In this case, start by using general sources to learn more about your topic. For example, if you’re interested in romantic relationships and how they are depicted in media, simply read about this topic to begin. Use these readings to identify specific media examples that others have found relevant to the conversation. Your reading may also help you identify media you already know well that could fit your topic. Use this reading process to select a text that could be effective for analysis of your topic. Next step: Advanced research and analysis Once you have a specific text and a general topic in mind, its time to deepen your analysis of the text and deepen your research into the topic. Your essay will need to introduce reliable secondary sources that provide context about your chosen media, that discuss your chosen topic, and that help you analyze how your media text depicts the topic. In the Assignment Resources folder, you can find detailed guidance on how to locate, evaluate, and integrate sources into your essays. Pay attention to the different types of sources that exist. Learn how to use databases and boolean search to find ideal sources. As you acquire sources through the library, make sure to save the permalinks not the URL or web address in your browser. If you plan to use a source in your paper, you can also copy the auto-generated citation provided by most academic databases (look for a link icon). Continue your research by learning about the relevant aspects of the rhetorical situation, the context in which audiences are engaging with the text. Collect sources that help you understand the creators, the audiences, the text itself, and any relevant contexts or purposes involved (see Perusall readings for more information). Your goal is to understand how the text was produced, how it was received, and what it “says” about the topic you’ve identified. Bear in mind that a secondary source doesn’t have to be “about” a text to be useful for analysis. For example, if we want to understand how Mean Girls depicts high school, we can’t simply rely on film reviews or interviews with the creators. It also wouldn’t be logical to simply compare the film to our own experiences. Instead, we need to look for empirical research on “adolescents in the United States,” “high school,” and other, more-specific key terms. This information, which may seem unrelated to Mean Girls, can be highly useful. While it’s not about the film, it’s about the topic whose depiction we are analyzing. If we can collect expert analysis of empirical evidence collected through peer-reviewed studies, we’ll have a strong logical basis to analyze how a text depicts a given topic. This is the quality of evidence I expect to support any explanation of how rhetorical choices might impact specific audiences and our broader society, As you conduct research, continually return to your text for analysis. Review it several times. If it’s a film, have it on in the background on repeat. If it’s a TV show, select a couple of episodes for close analysis. If it’s a larger, more complex text (like a series of novels or a video game), it might help to use a fan wiki to help you navigate all of the different elements of the text. As you analyze, take a lot of notes. At a certain point in the research process, you’ll notice that you aren’t learning much new information. This is a good sign that it’s time to start writing. Remember that you can always email me with questions about research. However, I strongly encourage you to seek help directly from library staff. The library homepage has links that allow you to chat with librarians or make a one-on-one appointment. Decent research is difficult, but (as long as you don’t procrastinate too much) you don’t have to do it alone. Compiling your notes, free writing Review the notes you took during your analysis and research. This is your content and context. Try to draw connections between specific elements of the text (the content) and the relevant elements of this context. These connections represent the evidence you’ll use to support your claims in the essay. These connections are a good foundation for your body paragraphs. As you progress through this process, you should develop a more-precise perspective or argument about how the text engages in a discourse on your chosen topic. For example, you may find that your film is critical of a given idea. You may find that a particular game encourages a particular worldview. Your goal in the essay is to demonstrate how this is the case. Strong analysis goes beyond telling us what a text is saying. How (and even why) matters most of all. Our study of media, genres, discourse, ideology, rhetoric, and the rhetorical situation should inform your analysis, research, and argumentation.

WRITING THE ESSAY Remember that this paper isn’t a description of a piece of media. It’s also not a research report about a particular topic. It’s an analysis of how a media text engages with or depicts a particular topic. What follows is general advice for how you can lay out your ideas. Adopt this advice as you see fit and reach out for guidance when you have questions. Open your essay by clearly introducing the text(s) you will analyze. A thesis or topic sentence should indicate the angle of your analysis by drawing a connection between the text and a real-world topic. Try to craft a topic or thesis statement that sets up your analysis clearly. A topic sentence indicates what the essay will discuss. A thesis sentence presents your argument more directly. Next, introduce secondary sources to provide more information about your topic and your text(s). Throughout your essay, attribute information to your sources using signal phrases and citations. Use your sources to clearly define the topic and discuss how it appears in the text. Explain why this topic is relevant to the creator, the audience, and the text itself. After this, introduce specific examples from the text for closer analysis. Your analysis of these examples should make up the bulk of your essay. Discuss specific elements of the text. Discuss the rhetorical choices reflected in the examples you discuss. Explain how these choices impact the depiction of the topic. Discuss how these rhetorical strategies might impact different audiences based on their assumptions, beliefs, or values. Consider how these choices might reflect contemporary ideas in culture and society. Finally, synthesize the various points you’ve made so far to draw a broader conclusion about the text. Explain the meaning or significance of your text in relation to its social context. Consider answering the following questions: How does this media reflect the culture that produced it? How might this media impact society going forward?

FORMATTING THE ESSAY APA formatting style is complex and involves several different elements. Rather than trying to learn it all at once, I encourage you to use the APA formatting resources available in the Unit 4 folder. Please note that we’re using APA student formatting, not the full, professional version. In particular, I encourage you to use the available template documents for Microsoft Word or Google Docs. Save a copy of the template, then edit it as needed. Use the other resources in the APA folder to ensure that your formatting is correct. The References page is a key component of an APA paper. Make sure that your essay includes a References page at the end. This page should contain full, APA-style citations for each source that is cited in your essay.

DRAFTING THE REFLECTIVE COVER LETTER On a single page preceding your research report, include a letter that describes your process of analysis and research. If you participated in peer-review, you can talk about how you used that feedback. Here are a few questions to help you develop your reflection: How did your analysis change as you collected sources and reviewed evidence? What challenges did you face when analyzing your text or conducting research? What peer feedback was most helpful? What feedback was least helpful? Why? Throughout this project, how did you try to overcome the challenges that emerged? How would you describe what we learned this semester? How can you use the concepts and skills we studied in the future?