This is not a normal "homework assignment" and is worth 15% of your grade for Project 2. Take care to write careful and revise before submitting.
This is the first of three mini-reviews that you will complete as you work towards writing your “Rhetorical Review.”
- Genre: As discussed on the assignment sheet, a review is more than a summary of the content; it’s also a critical analysis of the text and your reactions to it. Therefore, the mini-reviews should include both summary and evaluation. You should consider not just what it says, but also how it says it. A "mini-review" is a school genre, something I designed, to get you to practice these skills.
- Purpose: The purpose of a this mini review is for you to demonstrate that you read carefully, listened rhetorically, and understand both the argument and rhetorical features of the text. A secondary purpose of a reading response is for you to practice evaluating a text as you summarize it.
- Audience: Your instructor.
Step 1: Read and Annotate
In this module, there are Text Sets. You must work with the same Text Set you used for Mini-review 1. Go back to that Text Set and choose another text from the same list you chose from for Mini-review 1. You will choose a text from your Text Set that you did not discuss in Mini-review 1 or Mini-review 2, but which is on the same topic.
Step 2: Mini Review
For this discussion, you should begin by comparing and contrasting the first two texts you already discussed for Mini-review 1 and Mini-review 2. Are these texts communicating similar or different messages, and in what ways? Based on your evaluations, are these two texts using similar or different strategies to reach their intended audiences?
Then, introduce your third text, explaining how this text fits into your evaluation of the other two. Specifically, what strategies can you identify in this third text that is similar to or different from the other two texts? Does one text help you to more fully understand the others? Do you find one text more/less appropriate for an ENC 1101 book?
Since you only have approximately 400 words, you should focus specifically on the aspects of the texts that seem the most significant to how effectively the texts communicate their messages to its intended audience.
Step 3: Quote
Choose one quote from the text that you found particularly convincing or interesting. The quote should be 2-4 sentences long. Place the quote in quotation marks. Place a page number (34) or timestamp (1:34) or paragraph number (para. 4) next to the quote. This will help me and you locate the quote later.
Underneath the quote, explain why the quote was interesting to you or why it resonated with you. Connect the quote back to the author's main argument.
Post your response to Step 2 and Step 3.