WRITING NATURE: 
DISCOURSES OF ECOLOGY

 Reading Presentations:  Reading Like Writers 
Rhetorical Analysis of Readings

Each student should be prepared to give a five-minute oral presentation on one of the key readings scheduled for discussion in class at some point during the quarter.

In your presentation, focus on a rhetorical analysis of the reading (or film) that you are presenting on. In thinking like writers (or filmmakers), you might consider the following questions:

€ Is there any context or background of the piece (historical, social or political? in terms of publication or delivery of the piece?) that is important to consider?

€ What constitutes the author's expertise?

€ Are the author's knowledge and research credible?

€ Can you classify the genre and rhetoric of the piece? (Examples of "genre" might be a magazine article, a speech, or an introduction to a book. Examples of "rhetoric" might be a report, an analysis, or an argument.)

€ What is the author's central argument or point?

€ Can you characterize the intended or primary audience for the piece?

€ What is the author's purpose, related to audience?

€ What effect or results does s/he wish to achieve ?

€ How has the author introduced and concluded the piece to help achieve the desired effect or accomplish the desired purpose?

€ How has the author organized the piece overall to help achieve the desired effect or accomplish the desired purpose?

€ How has the author styled the piece to help achieve the desired effect or accomplish the desired purpose? (For example, what kinds of appeals does the author make in argument, or what kind of language, phrasing, or imagery does the author use, and why?)

You need not address all of these questions in detail in this brief presentation; in fact, you won't have time to. Rather, focus on what you believe to be the most pertinent considerations, depending on your judgment. Consider how your answers to these questions might relate to one another in the selection you are presenting on.

Remember that your presentation itself is a kind of argument. I don't mean that it is an argument in any aggressive or defensive sense, but it is a persuasive analysis of the text, meant to convince your audience (those of us in the class, who have read or viewed the same piece that you have) that your particular reading of the text is sensitive, insightful, and logical.

Please end your presentation with two or three questions, pertaining to the author's ideas, arguments, and/or rhetorical strategies (or the intersection of these) that you would like to pose to the rest of us in the class. A tip in doing this is to remember your audience -- us -- and how we might relate personally to the questions that you raise.