Thursday, March 27, 2008

Weekly Writing Assignment & Extra Credit

WRITING: This week, you only have 1 writing assignment. You will be asked to search 1 of the remaining presidential candidates' websites (e.g. Nader, Obama, Clinton, McCain, etc) & select an issue they have articulated a stance on. Using direct quotation from his/her site, demonstrate how the candidate you have chosen implements 1) rhetorical strategies, 2) rhetorical appeals, & 3) how they address opposing arguments. When engaging these 3 aspects, make sure you use the terminology from Envision chapters 2 & 3. Remember, analyzing rhetoric is NOT about stating your personal opinions on a given issue or text, but examining HOW one constructs an argument. Responses will be 500 word in length, contain 1 video or image, as well as 2 relevant hyperlinks. DUE Sunday, 30 March 2008 @ midnight.

EXTRA CREDIT: On Thursday April 3rd at 7PM, short story writer William Henry Lewis will be visiting the Nebraska Wesleyan University campus. Lewis is the author of two collections of short stories, I Got A Man in Staunton (Amistad/Harper Collins, 2005) & In the Arms of Our Elders (Carolina Wren, 1995). I Got a Man in Staunton was a finalist for the PEN Faulkner Prize for Fiction, was a Fiction Honor Book for 2005 by the Black Caucus of the American Library Association and included in Kirkus Reviews listing for Best Books of 2005. Lewis received a 2008 Creative Writing Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. He is currently teaching in the MFA program at University of Maryland.

As with previous extra credit assignments, if you attend the event, then write a 300 word response to a phrase or passage from the reading within 1 week of the event, you will receive 1 extra credit toward your final grade.

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