A SOURCE-BASED ESSAY

Essay #1: Source-Based Essay

Assignment Resources (Below are links to Purdue’s OWL website.)

Goals for this Assignment

With this assignment, we want to familiarize you with the rhetorical terms that we list above. We will use these rhetorical terms throughout the semester; they form the basis of the course. Throughout the course, we want to develop your understanding of how rhetoric and writing function in social contexts. We hope that you’ll take this knowledge and apply it when you encounter writing assignments in other classes and in the workplace. We also want to familiarize you with CCNY’s academic databases. You already know how to search for material on the open web; a better understanding of how to make use of academic databases will expand the range of materials to which you have access.

Technical Details

For this assignment, you will write a source-based article in which you will analyze and make connections between the concepts of purpose, audience, genre, and stance. For this analysis, you will choose four sources that you have found on the subject of your choice. You should have at least four sources, and they should include a web site (including social media posts), a magazine article, a newspaper article, and a scholarly source. With the exception of the website, you must locate your sources within CCNY’s academic databases. We recommend that you use Academic One File, Opposing Viewpoints in Context, and the National Newspaper Index, but the choice is up to you.

For each article you choose, you will provide a summary and describe its purpose, audience, genre, and the writer’s stance toward their subject. Your rhetorical analysis–your discussion of your source’s purpose, audience, genre, and stance–has two parts. When you identify, for example, the writer’s purpose, you’ll want to tell us both what that purpose is (to inform, to persuade, to argue, etc.) and what in the text tells you what the purpose is. If, for example, I think the article’s purpose is to inform, I might note its frequent use of statistics. (That being said, quantitative data is not a prerequisite of an informative article.) To complete your rhetorical analysis, you’re going to want to look at both the article you chose and the overall publication. Looking at the publication’s web site will give you a lot of information about your article’s purpose and audience. You will then make connections between the various articles that you analyze. What are the similarities and differences among your articles?

Please provide citations of your sources that include the database in which you found them.

Once you have completed your essay, you will also write a 2-3 page reflection piece in which you begin to develop your own theory of writing, considering the concepts of genre, audience, and purpose, and how they connect.

Format

Instead of making an argument, as school essays often do, you’re exploring your sources from a rhetorical perspective. The essay should include:

  • A general introduction, that informs the reader of your subject
  • Rhetorical analyses of four sources
  • Your thoughts about the relationships between the rhetorical elements of your sources

Length: 5-6 pages (1,250-1,500 words)

Timeline

Short Assignment: Summary of Four Sources (Write approximately one page.) — Due on September 17th by 9am via Blackboard.

First Draft — Due in class on September 24th. Bring two paper copies.

Final Draft — Due in class on October 1st. Turn in final draft, draft reviewed by peers, and draft reviewed by instructor.

Reflection #1 — Due on October 3rd by 9am via Blackboard.