Listen/read ONE of the following videos, TED Talks

A TED Talk from any of these list

https://www.ted.com/playlists/175/the_struggle_of_mental_health

These options allow you to choose to focus on <> as it relates to either medicine specifically or social justice/ the world at large. This might inform the direction of your longer research essay as well!

Write a 4-6 page well-structured essay that provides a rhetorical analysis of the video, TEDTalk. This will give you a chance to practice using all of the terminology from the first half of the semester and to display your ability to read actively. I will be grading for how well you:

have a core thesis statement/claim
organize your paragraphs. (You may label TS, MP1, ELAB, MP2, ELAB, CS)
provide SPECIFIC EVIDENCE throughout via close paraphrase, direct quotations, and interpretations.
cite all sources using MLA and include Works Cited pages.
use MLA formatting (double space, 12 point font, etc.), even if you number and label your paragraphs.

Guidance for essay structure:

For your introduction, provide a summary of the talk. Include the author’s name, title, date of publication, brief biographical information, if relevant. Identify the author’s OVERALL main claim and 2-3 sub-claims. Who is the INTENDED audience? (consider the year, publication, etc.) Include a transition and thesis to preview the core claim of your rhetorical analysis.
In the body of the essay, analyze 1-2 aspects of the writer’s rhetorical choices. To what extent is the argument justified? How persuasive is the overall claim? How persuasive is the evidence offered in support of that claim? Which evidence did you find most convincing? Which did you find problematic? Why?

APPEALS: Analyze the writer’s appeal to his/her audience. How does the writer display an appeal to ethos, pathos and logos? Are these appeals utilized in a balanced manner? Are the appeals effective? Provide specific reference to the talk.

EMOTIONAL APPEAL, or appeal to pathos: Analyze the emotions that the writers want you, as a reader or viewer, to feel? Include specific moments in the argument that exhibit an emotional appeal in support of its claim. Are these emotions genuine or do you think the writer is being manipulative?

ETHICAL APPEAL, or appeal to ethos: Arguments often rely on expert opinion. Analyze the experts who are offered as support. Include names and titles. Can you trust these experts? Why or why not?

LOGICAL APPEAL, or appeal to logos: Analyzespecific logical evidence (historical facts, statistics, examples, illustrations) that is used to support the claim. Can you trust the evidence? Why or why not? Include compelling examples from the text.
Analyze whether the author falls victim to any fallacies? If so, what are they? And/or analyze whether the author effectively address his/her opponents’ fallacies? If so, which ones?

STRUCTURE: Analyze the writer’s structure. Does the writer utilize the classical structure? (Introduction/Exordium, Narration, Confirmation, Refutation, Conclusion/Peroration). If not, where does the writer deviate? How does this affect the writer’s argument? Provide specific reference to the talk.

TONE: What is the writer’s tone? How does this affect the writer’s argument? (See below for questions to help guide your analysis.)

(Optional): STYLISTIC CHOICES: Analyze the writer’s style. Does the writer rely on figures of speech? Provide specific examples. How does the writer’s style affect his/her argument? (See below for questions to help guide your analysis.)

In your conclusion, make connections to either “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and/or Mary Piper’s Writing to Change the World. Why is the issue important? What are the implications of the controversy? Why should the reader care? What actions should be taken in the future?

Review rubrics and updates on Canvas for grading.

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