Blog Post #2--the prompt (due Thursday, 4/22)

English 110
Spring 2010
Writer’s Blog Prompt #2
Practicing Rhetorical Analysis for a Public Audience

DUE: Thursday, 4/22—please have it posted before class time, as we’ll be referring to blog posts in class.

Choose any object or artifact you’d like (an advertisement, a place, a photo, a piece of art, a commercial…anything!) and apply the skills of rhetorical analysis you've been practicing to analyze that object. (To review specific techniques refer to Writing Analytically, “Rhetorical Analysis" on pgs. 93-96, check out Commonplace chapters 2 and 2.5, review the Heinrichs’ chapters, or take a look at our “Doing Rhetorical Analysis handout.)

1. Choose an object/artifact/text…or even a situation you observed. (Not the one you’re already analyzing for you’re larger project, though.) Spend time recording all the details of that space and impressions you have about the organization, mood, tone, or style. The object can be anything you’re remotely interested in or curious about. It might even be something you’re considering integrating into your RAP later on…or it might be totally unrelated but nonetheless fascinating.

2. Organize those details and gather some basic information (Who made
it? What is it? Where is it? Why does it exist?), as necessary. Offer a brief summary for your blog readers so they know what you’re talking about. Remember that a strong rhetorical analysis relies primarily the author's observations and interpretation, so your summary should be pretty brief, and then launch into your smart analysis!

3. Pull together all your information and look for patterns and themes. Consider larger questions, such as,
• How are people or things encouraged to interact within this object?
• What is the intended function of this object? Does it have a secondary or “hidden” function?
• Does the object accomplish its intended function? Why or why not?

4. Post a picture or video of that object onto your blog, if possible. (For most of you, this should be possible; so try it!)
5. Remember, too, that this is your BLOG! You’re writing for a blog audience composed of your classmates. Think about your blog writing persona and what sort of tone you are working to establish here. In other words, you need to work to adapt this rhetorical analysis to appeal to your public audience. This is exactly the kind of adaptation you’ll have to do in several weeks as we revise and re-imagine our academic writing for the Commonplace audience.