Columnists Homework over Holidays

The Rhetorical Square: Four questions for analytical reading To analyze a writer's rhetorical situation, ask these questions:
Pathos:   How does the speaker anticipate and manipulate the audience’s emotional reaction? Who is the audience? Which of their emotional characteristics does the speaker keep in mind?	Ethos: How does the speaker establish common values with the audience? How does the speaker create a common ground for speaker and audience? What persona does the speaker assume? What values does the speaker call on?
Logos: How is the message presented? What figurative language? What mode of discourse (compare/contrast, cause/effect, classification and division, et al.) does the speaker employ to convey the message? What is the writer's method of persuasion?	Purpose: What action does the speaker want the audience to take? What is the writer's purpose? What does the speaker want the audience to do?

Sources for Synthesis:

Adopt a columnist: You will submit summary and an analysis of one editorial each week that we are on holiday from school (that will mean three summaries and three analyses will be due when we return) This will continue through the month of January. Your last week of following your columnists will be January 27. That will mean that you followed him/her for seven total weeks.

Summary: 4 pts

Analysis: 7 pts

The first task, summary, will develop your comprehension skills as well as your skills to summarize succinctly.

The second task, analysis, will develop your ability to determine the validity of an argument.

STAPLE the editorial (on top), the summary (in the middle) and the analysis (bottom) before you hand them in.

http://www.headlinespot.com/opinion/columnists/

How to Write a Summary of an Article

Step One—Skim & List

a)      What information do you find in the article? Skim it once to get the general idea.

b)      Then read the selection carefully, paying special attention to the main ideas, any important people or organizations. Make a list of the key ideas in the article.

c)      Check your list against the article to make sure you haven’t missed anything.

Step Two—Write a Rough Draft/Use Your Own Words (except for the key words)

a.       Your first sentence should clearly state the main idea of the article.

b.      Stick to the essential (only the most important) ideas in the article (no need for detail).

c.       Try to state each idea in a clear sentence.

d.      Put the ideas in the most logical order.

e.       Finish the summary with a sentence that ties all the ideas together.

Step Three—Review My Summary

a.       Have I included all of the key ideas?

Could another person get the main idea of the article by reading my summary?

Questions to answer before your write your analysis (please note that you need not develop a thesis. You will simply indicate whether or not you agree with the column’s thesis). This analysis must be a finished piece, NOT a list of answers to the questions. Make the piece your own:

·         What is the writer’s argument? Summarize the editorial’s argument in a sentence of no more than seventeen words.

·         How does the writer prove it? What evidence does writer give?

·         How does the writer explain the evidence? What does the writer explain about the evidence that shows how or why it proves the argument?

·         Do you agree with the argument? Why or why not?

·         Write down three things you would like to ask this writer.