First assignment: a critical review / rhetorical analysis 10% of Final Grade Due: Wednesday, October 11th Write a three-page critical review / rhetorical analysis of Nancy Mairs' "On Being a Cripple," analyzing its framework or logical structure. First, describe at least three of the essay's rhetorical strategies. Second, in light of these strategies, address how Mairs approaches her audience. Lastly, identify the goal she sets for herself (her purpose) and evaluate how successful she is in achieving it vis-a-vis her strategies. The purpose of this assignment is to practice a close rhetorical reading. Rather than focus on what the essay says (on interpreting its content or meaning), concentrate on how it gets the point across and how effective are its strategies. Watch out that you do not wind up exploring your sentiments vis-a-vis the disabled. Do not take a stand regarding either disability issues or politically correct attitudes. Avoid explicating Mairs' insights about impairment or praising her courage, bluntness, and/or wisdom. Instead, analyze the essay in light of both how it works and how well it works. Do not accept (as a foregone conclusion) that this essay is beyond criticism simply because a disabled person wrote it. Also, do not accept Mairs' self-representation(s) at face value. In sum: be critical! To begin, reread the essay numerous times until you discern the wheels turning behind its powerful emotional content. Look for stylistic mannerisms (for example, a characteristic way of concluding paragraphs or a conspicuous reliance upon interrogatives). Watch also for gaps in the presentation, parts where the author does not deliver all of the information. Begin to amass evidence that you will use to prove your points. You might ponder these lines of investigation: evaluate physical space in relation to her subject matter. Ask yourself where she locates herself in the first paragraph and what this intimate location signals. Or think about her "frankness": ask yourself how she creates the illusion of it. Or assess her relationship with her audience: who is she addressing and in what tone? Does this relationship change? Or consider the way she juxtaposes contradictory information and insights: does any pattern emerge? Or think about where she places her most succinct statement of purpose: what leverage does she obtain by placing it where she does? Or evaluate her mode of self representation. Does she offer the reader a single, unified vision of herself, or does she delineate multiple images? If she offers more than one self representation, what is the relationship between them? Are all of them equally effective? Remember to plan ahead: this assignment is due at the beginning of class Wednesday, October 11th. |
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