Please watch or read the speech “I Have a Dream” and write a rhetorical essay following the instructions below.
Carefully read the assignment.
Who is your audience?
What can you assume your audience knows about the source text and rhetoric?
1. Establish the source text’s rhetorical situation.
Who is the source text’s author?
What is the source text’s topic?
Who is the source text’s audience?
What is the source text’s purpose?
What was the occasion for writing the source text?
2. Determine the author’s goal.
In a sentence or two, state clearly and specifically what you think the author is trying to accomplish in the source text.
3. Identify and evaluate the source text’s rhetorical strategies.
Strategies involving the text’s content
Use of arguments, evidence, and reasoning
Use of logos, pathos, and ethos
Strategies involving the text’s structure
Strategies involving the text’s style
4. Determine your thesis.
State how successful the author is in achieving his or her rhetorical goal.
State which rhetorical strategies you will examine in your essay.
5. Write your rough draft.
Write the introductory section of your easy, indicating the topic of the source text, its title and author, and your thesis. Capture reader interest as well.
Summarize the source text and its rhetorical situation
Draft the body of your easy, examining one rhetorical strategy at a time and supporting your judgment with specific examples from the source text. Explain how each example you cite supports your claim.
Write the concluding section of your essay, reminding readers of your thesis and maintaining reader interest.
6. Revise your essay.
Make sure your writing is developed.
Make sure your essay thoroughly develops and explains your assertions.
Make sure your writing is organized.
Make sure the assertions in your essay are easy to follow.
Make sure the assertions in your essay are connected logically.
Make sure your essay accurately reflects your thesis.
Make sure your writing is clear.
Make sure you have provided your readers with the information they need to understand your essay.
Make sure you have checked to be sure all of your sentences are clear.
Make sure your essay accurately represents the source text.
Make sure all of the material in your essay that needs to be documented is documented.
Make sure readers can tell which information in your essay came from your source text and which information comes from you.
