Assignment Paper

Final Paper Assignment

Assignment:

For this assignment, your first job is to find a topic from the graphic novel, Here, that the author presents that you are interested in researching further. Ideally, this will be the topic that you send to me via email. I will respond to your topic and “approve” it. I am not looking to keep you from researching something but rather, I want to make sure it is a topic that you will be able to find research for. However, your topic can really be anything and I want it to be something you are interested in!

Your job is to examine how your chosen topic is presented in the graphic novel and then find three sources that deal with the same topic. In this paper, you will evaluate the main point through the “author’s” use of rhetorical devices to communicate this topic. One of the sources must be a “reputable” article from one of the news sources listed below. The other two sources can be anything that you want, i.e. a music video, a magazine, a blog, an advertisement, etc. Try to have fun with what sources you find and get creative!

As always, you will be looking at the rhetorical situation, (logos, pathos and ethos), as well as audience, exigence and constraints. You must address each of the elements that are relevant to each source in your essay and then evaluate how successful each source is at communicating this idea. In other words, if I was looking at Howard Zinn’s essay for my topic of “America’s Discovery”, I would address how he uses ethos and logos throughout his essay and what is intended audience is, as well as the exigence; I probably wouldn’t address constraints or pathos because it is isn’t relevant to the essay or his main point. You need to evaluate each source and how they use certain rhetorical devices.

Your conclusion will be evaluating which source is the most successful at communicating this topic and why.

Possible Sources: N+1, NPR, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, BBC, The Wall Street Journal, The Associated Press, The New Yorker, The Economist, The Atlantic, TIME, The Los Angeles Times.

Your final paper will be due on Wednesday, 5/13.

Requirements:

Paper #1 should be at least six full pages, double-spaced, and follow MLA format. Standard 1 ½ -inch margins, a works cited page, 12-point Times New Roman font, header, and page numbers are required. What is important is that you fully address the prompt and make sure that you are providing analysis for the prompt, not summary of the sources you find.