Rhetorical Criticism with Dr. Elif Guler

Due by the class period on Friday, April 1st

This posting is supposed to be the first prewriting exercise for our upcoming Critical Essay #2 (conference length essay).

1. What method of rhetorical criticism do you plan to use for this essay?
2. What artifact do you plan to use? Why? What is the significance of analyzing this artifact from a rhetorical perspective (significance of uncovering its underlying messages)?
3. What is the rhetorical situation of this artifact? In a few sentences, identify the elements of the rhetorical situation for this artifact: rhetor, topic, audience, purpose, context).
4. Finally, in a few sentences: why do you think your selected method is appropriate to analyze this artifact? (Does it indicate use of metaphors to uncover? Is it crucial to uncover any human motivation by identifying the artifact’s pentadic orientation? Is the narrative constructed such as special way to guide our interpretation of the situation? Is there a new genre? Application of a genre, or participation in a genre? Etc. Be specific!)

*Be ready to share and brainstorm ideas with your peers on Friday.

Due by the class period on Monday, March 28th

Post your responses to the following in your own blog, and be ready to share your responses during our upcoming class meetings.

1. Find a short commercial or a video (a few minutes), and identify its pentadic elements. Then, in a few sentences, explain the rhetorical implications of each element.
2. Now, also identify the elements of the artifact through narrative criticism (its objective, its features [setting, theme, etc]. Just identify the elements (you don’t need to explain the implications for all elements at this point).
3. Finally, think about the narrative breakdown compared to your preliminary pentadic criticism, and consider the similarities and differences between what you have found as a result of each. Based on your observations: What are the similarities and/or differences between narrative criticism and pentadic criticism of this artifact? What are the possible overlaps in the findings of each analysis? What else (in addition to the findings of a narrative criticism) can pentadic criticm help us reveal about the underlying rhetorical messages of an artifact?