Ban the Burqa By Claire Berlinski:
Essay: Rhetorical Analysis
Write a rhetorical analysis of Claire Berlinski, “Ban the Burqa,” online at https://www.nationalreview.com/articles/243587/ban-burqa-claire-berlinski, following the guide to writing a rhetorical analysis on pages 124-129 of Everything’s An Argument. In your essay, discuss the following:
1) Audience: Who is the intended audience? How can you tell? Where did the piece appear? You may want to look up the newspaper or magazine’s web site and Wikipedia entry to establish significant information about the original source.
2) Purpose: What is the stated thesis? Is the stated thesis the real thesis, or do you see another purpose at work here?
3) Rhetorical strategies: Where does the author use logos, ethos, and/or pathos? Give specific examples of each. Is the use of the appeals relevant to the intended audience? How well does the author deal with opposing arguments and viewpoints? Does she lean too heavily on one of these three appeals?
4) Diction and style: How does the author’s word choice relate to his or her audience? Does the author use a more or less formal vocabulary? Are words chosen for their specific connotations, e.g. “tax relief” vs. “tax cuts” or “moms and dads” vs. “parents”? Give concrete examples. What types of sentences (simple, compound, complex, compound-complex) does the author seem to favor? How does the style work towards establishing ethos? Does the author use imagery as a way of evoking pathos?
5) Weaknesses: Are there any logical fallacies, faulty reasoning, vague sources, or dubious “facts”? Does the speaker undermine his or her own character or credibility? Does the piece suffer from emotional overkill? See RFW 47-48.
In addition to the guide in Everything’s An Argument, you can find numerous examples of rhetorical analysis and guides for writing them on the web. Here are two good sites that may help:
https://web.cocc.edu/rquay/Classroom%20WR123/writing_a_rhetorical_analysis.htm
https://myweb.uiowa.edu/egand/writing_RA.html
Pre-Writing: Essay #2: Rhetorical Analysis: Due: 09.15.2014
What is the thesis of Claire Berlinski’s “Ban the Burqa”?
What style of argument is she writing? (For example, is her essay an “Argument to Inform,” an “Argument to Explore,” etc? See: Everything’s an Argument Ch.1 for a refresher on the list of various argumentative styles.)
Who is the audience? Who is her opposition?
List three quotations from Berlinski’s essay that you plan to use in your rhetorical analysis:
Why did you choose these three quotes?
How would you cite Berlinski’s essay in your in-text citations and your Work Cited Page according to MLA style? (See Rules for Writers, 55a and 55b, for assistance)
Essay
Thesis
Audience
Purpose
Rhetorical Strategy
Diction/Style
Integration of Quotations/Paraphrases
MLA Documentation
M.U.G.S.
1) How is the author critically evaluative of CB’s essay? Specifically, what components of her argument does the author say succeed, what fails? On what grounds? If the author isn’t critically evaluative, how could they improve this aspect of their draft going forward?
2) Are there places where, in your opinion, the author is simply misreading CB’s essay and argument? Underline or otherwise notate such places for revision.
3) Write out on your own what you think the thesis of the author’s rhetorical analysis is? Is this an effective or ineffective thesis? Why or why not? If they don’t have a thesis, suggest one for them based on your reading of their argument.
4) Are there places where the author is personally responsive to CB’s essay as opposed to critically responsive? Underline these places or otherwise note them as suggestions for the author to cut from their draft.
5) Does the author offer an analysis of any underlying purposes to components of CB’s essay? Do they specifically speculate about a potential purpose behind CB’s argumentative style or her argument in general?