Reflection on Project 2 Draft

I reviewed Isabel and Kelly's drafts.

For this post, I answered questions on page 197 of the Student's Guide about my Project 2 draft.

1. Do you have an identifiable thesis? Does it point to the specific rhetorical strategies you analyze in your essay?

• While my thesis is clear and identifiable, I need to rework it to be more specific. I did avoid using the word "ethos, pathos, and logos",  but I didn't reference exactly what strategies I'm going to analyze. Alyssa, one of my editors, mentioned in a comment that my introduction would be more effective if I named all of the applicable strategies that I am discussing and evaluating. 

2. How have you decided to organize your essay? Does each paragraph have a central point that is supported with evidence and and analysis?

• I organized my essay with each paragraph analyzing and discussing either one rhetorical strategy or one aspect of the rhetorical situation. 
• Alyssa went through my draft and identified the main point of each paragraph, which basically answered this question for me. It was clear to her, as a reader, what each paragraph was focused on, so I don't think I have any problems here. 

3. Did you clearly identify and analyze several important elements of the text's rhetorical situation and/or structure?

• In my essay, I discussed the audience, the author/her credibility, the use of statistics, and the use of expert opinions. I then used evidence and analysis to prove why each strategy was either helpful or destructive to the argument. 

Image by CatDancing. "Puddle Reflection." Uploaded 3/3/10 via Flickr.
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4. Did you explain how and why certain rhetorical strategies were employed? Did you discuss what effects these strategies have on the intended audience and the overall effectiveness of the text?

• I analyzed the effectiveness of each strategy that I mentioned, and wrote about why the author used each. In doing this, I related the use of each particular strategy to the audience and what effect its use had on the author's argument. 
• For example, Samakow used expert opinions to strengthen her argument. This strategy is essential to her rhetoric because it augments both her argument and her credibility, which in turn makes her audience more receptive and believing of what she is saying. 

5. Are you thoughtfully using evidence in each paragraph? Do you mention specific examples from the text and explain why they are relevant? 

• I used quotes and/or direct evidence from the text in each of my body paragraphs. 
• In my paragraph about the author, I pointed out where readers could find more information on the author instead of providing a direct quote (mostly because there weren't any as Samakow doesn't use a strongly ethos-based argument). 
• Whenever I used a quote, I provided commentary about how that quote was used or how it effected the argument.

6. Do you leave your reader wanting more? Do you answer the "so what" question in your conclusion?

• I think that my paper covered the most important strategies and usages of the rhetorical situation that Samakow employed in her article. I used my conclusion to discuss the impact that this article could have on the controversy as a whole, which in a way does answer the "so what" question.