Analyzing & Using Rhetorical Appeals

Danielle Clapham, Ph.D.
Teaching Demonstration, Clarke University
Monday, April 8, 2024

Relevant Learning Objectives

  • Build Rhetorical Knowledge
    Understand and demonstrate awareness of rhetorical situations, purposes, and audiences in diverse writing contexts.
  • Practice Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing
    Construct well-organized and coherent essays that present and support ideas effectively.
Lesson Plan (PDF)
Lesson Slides (PDF)
Link to Clarke University Brochure
Link to In Practice (OER Textbook)

Context

This lesson is designed to fit in week 9 of the existing CMPS115 calendar as students prepare to write their proposal essays.

When teaching rhetoric, I introduce Bitzer’s concept of rhetorical situation early in the semester and return to it several times throughout the year to emphasize intentional rhetorical choices. In this lesson, I imagine revisiting this concept with a focus on audience leading into an essay proposing a solution to a problem of consequence. Proposal writing requires students to imagine an audience with the power to enact change which often presents a new rhetorical challenge for students who are used to thinking of their audience as their professor. To help them navigate this shift, I use examples from their own experiences—like an admissions brochure for which they were recently the intended audience—to investigate how rhetorical appeals function in real-world contexts.

This lesson only represents a portion of a longer class period. I typically follow up the in-class analysis of an existing text with a formative writing assignment in which students identify the “stakeholders” for their proposal essays and identify which rhetorical appeals will best suit that audience’s needs and values. I offer individual written feedback on these formative writing assignments, and students are encouraged to use the feedback to revise the text for use in their final essays.

Advanced Reading or Assignments

In the interest of promoting equal access to education and supporting affordable textbook initiatives, I assign readings from Open Educational Resource (OER) textbooks.

Prior to this lesson, students should read:

  • “6.4 Rhetorical Appeals: Logos, Pathos, and Ethos Defined” in In Practice: A Guide to Rhetoric, Genre, and Success in First-Year Writing from Cleveland State University

I am assuming prior knowledge of rhetorical situation based on the Writing Seminar syllabus, but additional readings from Chapter 6 of In Practice could be assigned to address that content as well.