Question: Analyze and Explain how an Argument uses Rhetorical Strategies and Appeals to Persuade an Audience

RWS 200 Essay 1: Analyze and Explain how an Argument uses Rhetorical Strategies and Appeals to Persuade an Audience

For this paper, read “Survival of the Kindest: Of Selfish Genes and Unselfish Dogs” and evaluate de Waal’s argument by identifying a major claim and analyzing the persuasiveness of his supporting claims and reasons as well as two different rhetorical strategies he uses to advance those claims. Explore how those strategies contribute to a minimum of two different rhetorical appeals (one appeal for one strategy and a different appeal for the other strategy) and the extent to which each strategy identified would support de Waal’s argument and to connect to the appeals in order to persuade de Waal’s intended audience to accept his claims. Identify and discuss his audience and premise that his audience shares in order to find claims and rhetorical strategies persuasive and evaluate the extent to which his audience would be likely to share the premise. (Minimum 5-typed pages, MLA format, include works cited page.)

Successful papers will:

1. Write an academic introduction, thesis, and conclusion.

2. Construct an account of de Waal’s argument: major claim, supporting claims, and reasons he makes those claims.

3. Identify, support, and explain who de Waal’s audience is and explain and discuss the premise de Waal’s audience must share in order to find the argument persuasive.

a. What do they have to know or believe to accept his argument?

4. Analyze, and explain how supporting claims and reason(s) support a major claim and/or other claims.

5. Identify and explain two different rhetorical strategies.

6. Analyze, explain, and discuss how the strategies support claims; how the strategies contribute to the appeals; and evaluate the extent to which they would persuade de Waal’s audience to accept his claims.

7. Have good development in individual paragraphs.

8. Include examples from the text(s) to support your claims, with well-integrated quotations, correct use of MLA in-text citations, and explanation about how your evidence supports your points.

9. Use an effective structure that carefully guides the reader from one idea to the next, demonstrates the ability to introduce and conclude an academic essay.

10. Have a correctly prepared Works Cited page. 11. Use MLA format.

12. Be carefully copy-edited for conventions of correctness.

Assignment Type:

1. Analyze and evaluate an author’s argument, claim, project, and assumptions, as well as the rhetorical strategies used to construct the text. Explain how those strategies contribute to the author’s appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos. Evaluate the extent to which those appeals persuade the intended audience and consider how those strategies are based on key assumptions the author makes about that audience.