Rhetorical Analysis of The Shallows by Nicholas Carr

For this paper you will analyze rhetorical strategies used in ONE chapter fromThe Shallows. You will identify the author’s key argument presented in this chapter and describe, analyze, and explain how Carr uses rhetorical strategies found in this chapter to support the overall thesis of the book.

Common rhetorical strategies: (note that logos, ethos, and pathos are APPEALS, not strategies).

Alliteration

Analogy

Antithesis

Climax

Metanoia

Polysyndeton

Allusion

Apophasis

Parenthesis

Synecdoche

Litotes

Personification

Understatement

Antiphrasis

Chiasmus

Epithet

Eponym

Metaphor

Amplification

Exemplum

Metonymy

Rhetorical Question

Catachresis

Epistrophe

Expletive

Onomatopoeia

Anadiplosis

Apostrophe

Hyperbaton

Oxymoron

Enthymeme

Hyperbole

Parallelism

Simile

Anaphora

Assonance

Enumeration

Hypophora

Parataxis

Asyndeton

Analogy

Appositive

Pleonasm

Zeugma

Requirements:

  • Accurately and effectively introduce and contextualize The Shallows--the project and argument in your introduction.
  • Clearly signal to your reader what you plan to discuss in your paper and hint how you’ll present/organize your analysis.
  • Accurately describe and explain the chapter’s key claims and their relationship to the overall argument of Carr’s book. Demonstrate a critical comprehension of the argument.
  • Critically discuss 2 or more strategies in this chapter. Explain WHAT these strategies are, and present evidence to support their existence. Explain HOW they work, WHY they are chosen, and WHAT they are used to achieve. What effects do they have, and how effective are they? How do they persuade, and how do they advance the argument?
  • Effectively use excerpts from The Shallows to support your analysis. Adequately introduce, correctly cite, and effectively comment on excerpts.
  • Use an effective structure that smoothly guides the reader from one idea to the next. Your careful attention to transitioning and topic sentences will be considered here.
  • Have thoroughly edited your paper so that sentences are readable and appropriate for an academic audience. Adhere to APA format, grammar, and sentence structure.
  • Thoughtfully and eloquently conclude your discussion. Discuss the effectiveness and the significance of The Shallows.
  • Demonstrate a strong command of the written language. Voice and style will be considered here.

Submit typed final work to to by March 6th AND bring typed printed paper to class on March 6th. This is a major written assignment and any late work (to both class AND turnitin.com) will result in a 20% penalty for each day it is late.

Class ID & Password:

2nd period: 17581865password: bishop2

5th period: 17581872password: bishop5

Suggested Organizational Structure for Rhetorical Analysis Essay

Introduction + overview of your project

“A Rhetorical strategy is a particular way in which authors craft language so as to have an effect on readers. Strategies are means of persuasion, ways of using language to get readers’ attention, interest, or agreement. It is important to be able to identify these strategies so as to…”

“In my paper I will begin by briefly describing the project and argument made by…”

“I will then identify and examine some of the rhetorical strategies used by…Next, I will present an explanation of these strategies, explaining how they work and why they are used…Finally, I will conclude my paper with a discussion of the significance of these authors’ work [or] a comparison of their use of rhetorical strategies.”

Project and Argument Statements: “In article X, Tannen,professor of linguistics at…investigates Y… Tannen’s project is A, or as she puts it “B, C and D.” Tannen uses several primary methods to achieve this, most notably E, F and G…”

“Tannen’s central argument is H, or as she puts it, “Bla bla bla.” Tannen claims X is the case/advances argument Y/asserts Z.”

Rhetorical Strategies: “Chua uses a number of rhetorical strategies throughout her text. However, I will focus on J and K, which appear in her discussion of L…”

“A clear example of this strategy occurs on page iv, when Chua states… This strategy works by doing C…it is effective because it does K…it has the effect of P… Why engage such a strategy? Chua chooses this strategy in order to…”

“A second example of this rhetorical strategy is…”

Conclusion: “The significance of Chua’s project can be discerned in F…She stresses the importance of Y, and argues that insufficient attention has been paid to Z…Chua claims that it is crucial that X… This paper demonstrates the value of H, and how by paying close attention to the way authors do J we can see T