I’ve already done some, just need your help finishing
When we do research, we have to be aware that all the sources we are using are rhetorical, which means that the sources have specific purposes, audiences, and contexts that impact the information they share and the ways in which they distribute and present this information. To be a skilled and competent researcher in this class and in future academic and professional contexts, you will need to be able to consider the rhetorical aspects of your sources. In other words, you will need to be able to research rhetorically.
Researching Rhetorically 1 (the first assignment within your Unit 1 Project) will get you started on what it means to research rhetorically. Specifically, for this first assignment of the project, you will read, compare, and analyze two different texts that participate in the same research conversation. The audience for this assignment is your instructor, and your purpose for completing the assignment is to explain what you learned by comparing two very different texts. The genre you are writing in is what writing scholars call a “school genre.” It is assigned by your instructor to help you learn course material. This assignment will give you practice with selecting sources, rhetorical analysis, and summary.
Step 1:
To start, you will find two sources on your approved topic. The two sources should be different from each other in terms of at least one of the following: audience, purpose, genre. Both texts should be writtentexts.
For example, you can find a persuasive source and an informative source (that would be two different purposes); or you can find a source that’s written for scientists and one that’s written for a general audience; you can find one that’s a newspaper article, and one that’s a scholarly journal (that would be two different genres). Once you’ve found two sources that share at least one major difference in audience, purpose, and genre, and which are both discussing your topic, you’ll read both of them and complete the summary and analysis described in Steps 2 and 3 below.
- Note: as discussed in the assignment sheet for your Unit 1 project, you must find sources that actually build on your knowledge and understanding of your topic in interesting ways. At the end of this unit, you will be required to narrow your topic significantly. Please be sure to do the following: a) find sources that answer questions for you (remember that information gathering must be driven by questions) and b) find sources that are interesting to you ("research creatively"), and c) find sources that make good use of your time ("research efficiently"). You can find these ideas explained in the Information Literacy video from week 1.
Step 2: (Three parts to this)
- Write your research question at the top of your page.
- Summarize each of your sources.
- Note: Summaries follow a very particular structure. In other words, there are "rules" for writing a good summary. If you want help making sure your summary is correct, you can find more information here. (Should be around 150 words).
- Also read about Summarizing in our textbook on pages 80-82, and pages 556-560.
- Then, discuss how their arguments compare: What do they agree on? How did they build on each other? What did you learn from one source that you didn’t learn from the other source? Which do you think was most useful to helping you understand the topic and why? Was that related to the information included, or the way that information was "packaged"? (should be around 100 words)
Step 3:
Analyze the rhetorical choices made by each text, paying particular attention to how the sources are different from each other. You'll want to consider how they are different (in terms of audience, purpose, and genre), what stylistic choices they make, and how their differences shape how these texts can participate in the conversation.
Please read pages 271-
To help you write your answer in this section, please see these guiding questions, which I have provided for you. Please use specific examples from the text to support your analysis. Your answer to this section should be at least 250 words long.
Note: Include the link for your source or include it as an attachment.
Here's how you'll be graded:
- Does the student choose appropriate texts to discuss (related to their topic and different in at least one of the following: genre, purpose, audience)? (5%)
- Does the writer summarize both texts and address the way the arguments of the texts are different from or build on each other? Are these written effectively? (5%)
- Does the writer show in-depth engagement with texts' rhetorical choices and contexts, including thoroughly addressing the provided guiding questions? Does the writer address how the texts are different from each other, and how that may impact factors such as: the information included in the text, the usefulness of the text (to the student), the design choices of the text, etc? (7%)
- Does the writer make specific references to the text(s) for support? (5%)
- Is the writing organized and polished showing evidence of audience consideration, as well as an effective proofreading and editing process? (3%)