Argument Mapping Essay

As we have discussed in class, there are two methods for analyzing texts: analyzing for content and analyzing for structure. In this essay, you will analyze one of these articles on the basis of its structure:

· Robert Reich (“Why the Rich are Getting Richer, and the Poor, Poorer”)

· Andrew Carnegie (“The Gospel of Wealth”)

· Judith Butler (From Undoing Gender)

· Germaine Greer (“Masculinity”)

While it is important to know the main ideas each author puts forward, the focus of this essay is more rhetorical in nature and less content-based.

When we speak about doing a rhetorical analysis, the content of a paper in this style should be concerned with analyzing how certain authors are making their arguments and not just summarizing what they are arguing. When we try to map an argument, the goal is to categorize the types of claims an author makes according to the elements contained within a central model. To accomplish this aim, you will want to focus on the concepts presented in Chs. 8 – 10 of the Barnet et al. text. Here are the three models you can choose from:

· Toulmin

· Rogerian

· As they Barnet et al. call it “The Logician’s view: Induction, Deduction and Fallacies”

Remember these important notes as you write for this prompt:

· The goal of this essay is to characterize your chosen essay as an example (whether effective or ineffective) of ONE of these types of arguments. Saying “It’s effective because it integrates multiple styles” and doing a general overview of all three types is NOT the goal of this assignment. Rather, you want to talk about how the argument type is effective or ineffective for the author’s purpose.

· Rhetoric is largely concerned with the effectiveness of arguments, so as you choose areas of the texts for analysis, remember that you always want to keep in mind the effect of these argumentative tactics on an audience or audience(s).

· You should also analyze how your chosen author integrates certain literary and rhetorical devices (metaphor, allusion, ethos, pathos, logos, rhetorical situation concerns as expressed in Bitzer’s model, syllogism, etc.) to make his or her claims more persuasive to the audience(s) they seek to influence.

· If you choose the Toulmin model, you can include an argument mapping flow chart like the one on Canvas and the one we completed in class as a part of your analysis.

The following are MANDATORY guidelines. Not following any one of them will lose you 5 pts.:

· 12 pt. Arial or Helvetica font ONLY

· 1 in. margins on all borders; double spaced

· Blackboard submission due by 11:59 PM on July 3rd

· For quoted material, observe MLA in-text citation rules

· Minimum 4 outside sources. You do not need to cite the Barnet et al. text in your Works cited page, but you will have to do so when quoting chapters in the text of the essay. The Barnet et al. text counts as an outside source.

· Length: 5-7 full pgs.

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