Rhetorical Analysis, Gawande

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Rhetorical Analysis Assignment Assignment: Write a 5-6 page (double spaced, 12 pt. font, one inch margins) essay that analyzes a piece of writing by Atul Gawande. This is basically your Reading Response assignment, except that you will be able to develop your ideas more fully, provide more examples, engage with the reading on a deeper level, spend more time revising, and show how you are able to consider the rhetorical situation of the text in a more complete way. To prepare for your analysis, use the reading strategies presented in the CAVT book, Chapter 3. You may elect to print out your article and do a first reading that uses strategies such as underlining, annotation, summarizing, and exploratory writing to make sure you understand the basic arguments. Go back to any sections that need clarification. On a second reading, start to pay attention to what Gawande is doing. You may want to outline the writing and describe the writer’s strategy. Notice how Gawande uses facts and personal experience (in most texts) to support claims, as well as other types of evidence. Once you have completed these preliminary readings and believe you have a good grasp of the writing, you can turn to considering the rhetorical situation. Here are some questions to guide you: * What is the context? Look up any background information that you need to be aware of, such as what the publication is, who the readers of the publication are likely to be, etc. What can you ascertain about this type of genre from reading this example? What are its conventions? (If you wish to include any sources in your paper, make sure you document them correctly.) * What is the writer’s purpose? What is Gawande arguing? Is the purpose stated explicitly or implicitly? * How does the writer use language? What is the writer’s tone? What does the writer’s word choice show about his or her

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