Assignment Showcase: Rhetorical Situation Analysis (Jessie Moore)

Memorandum

To:        English 110Y Students

From:    Dr. Jessie Kapper, Assistant Professor of English

Date:     March 27, 2006

Re:        Guidelines and Evaluation Criteria for the Rhetorical Situation Analysis Memos
Your Writing Analysis Memos should examine the conventions for A) writing in your academic field of study and B) writing produced by an office or organization on campus that has a stake in your campus topic. This memo outlines the guidelines and evaluation criteria for your memos, while demonstrating the format you should use for your own memos.

Guidelines for Your Rhetorical Situation Analysis Memos
You should write two separate memos—one focused on writing in your academic field of study and one focused on writing produced by an office or organization on campus. For each memo, you should identify and analyze a text that is representative of writing produced by the rhetorical community. For your campus community memo, you also should interview a member of the rhetorical community that could implement a proposal related to your campus topic so that you can ask an expert about the conventions he or she follows when writing for the community. This interview also gives you a chance to ask this stakeholder questions about your campus topic.

Based on your analyses of the sample texts and your interview with a member of one of the rhetorical communities, your memos should describe the conventions used within each community. Each memo should present the answers to the following questions:

• What expectations does each rhetorical community have for written texts?
• What types of evidence does each rhetorical community use to support arguments? What qualifies as valid evidence?
• How does each rhetorical community use logical, ethical, and emotional appeals?
• In reference to your sample texts from each rhetorical community:
  • What is the purpose of the text you analyzed as representative of the rhetorical community? How does the text attempt to achieve this purpose?
  • Who is the audience for the writing? What expectations does this audience have for texts produced within the rhetorical community? What is the author’s relationship to the audience?
  • If your text integrates evidence from other sources or people, how does it acknowledge the contributions of those sources or people?
  • What persona do the authors of your sample texts present through use of voice and tone?
  • What principles of arrangement or organization (structure) do the authors of your sample texts use?
  • Do the authors use any visual features (charts, illustrations, etc.) to convey information?
  • When and where were your sample texts published? What does each text look like? What form does each text take?

Organize your answers in a logical arrangement. Remember that your classmates are your audience for your analysis, so the information you present about each rhetorical community’s writing conventions should be accessible to them. Later in the semester, your classmates will need to know how to write for the rhetorical communities that you are describing and they will reference your memos for information about the communities’ conventions.

Form
Your rhetorical situation analysis memos should adhere to the conventions of a memo. These guidelines demonstrate the format a memo often takes. For more information about memos, visit: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/pw/p_memo.html

Evaluation Criteria
A well-composed rhetorical situation analysis memo addresses the questions posed above and organizes the information in a logical arrangement. It makes the analysis of the rhetorical community’s writing conventions accessible to the memo’s readers (your classmates) by using examples, diction, syntax, and persona appropriate for the readers. It also conforms to the conventions of a memo and contains few, if any, errors.

When we prepare for peer response for the writing analysis memos, you will receive an evaluation criteria rubric to help you self-assess your memos.

Resources
You might find it helpful to reference chapters 3, 5, and 11 while working on this assignment. In addition, remember that you can visit the Writing Center (online or in-person) to work with a writing consultant at any stage of the writing process.

Due Dates and Schedule
Completed drafts of your peer response memos are due on Tuesday, September 27^th. Your final writing analysis memos are due at the beginning of class on Thursday, September 29^th.

Revised versions of your Rhetorical Situation Analysis memos are due on Friday, April 28^th, as part of your portfolio. If you have any questions about this assignment, please ask during class or see me during my office hours (or by appointment).

Tags: assignment, rhetorical analysis, rhetorical situation