Instructions for Political Speech Assignment

Final Essay: Analysis of a Political Speech

Directions: You will write an essay-length rhetorical analysis of a political speech, employing all that you have learned this quarter. You will present an argument about the effectiveness of the tools used by the author and the validity of the author 's claims. To do this, you will need to identify the rhetorical tools and strategies present in the speech.

Take care to use the elements of strong expository essay writing by presenting a clear and interesting thesis and making sure that all of your paragraphs possess clear topic sentences. Beyond this, make sure that your paragraphs are cohesive units (they flow smoothly on a sentence level and flow smoothly from paragraph to paragraph with strong transitions). Lastly, work towards creating a sense of overall unity in your essay.

To help you write the essay, you should perform some basic research on your speech and the speaker (see additional instructions below).

 At this point, you should have reviewed the speeches contained in the second half of the reader and chosen one of them to use for this final essay. Please note that JFK’s Inaugural Address is NOT available to you for this project since we have discussed them in class already.

 I would like you to do some background research on your speaker/speech so that you can teach us about both the speaker and, most importantly, the speech itself. You should use 2-3 different resources (Internet sites, historical texts, magazine articles, etc). A simple Works Cited list at the end of your paper will be needed for this paper. It is permissible for you to use only Internet sources if you feel comfortable doing so. However, you should make sure that your sources are reliable. University and government sites are considered to be most reliable.

 In your essay, you should include some discussion about the original audience. What were the conditions under which this speech was originally presented? In other words, what were the circumstances that led the speaker to deliver this speech? How did these conditions influence the tone of the speech? What issues were important to the original audience? Was the speech successful? While much of this background information, particularly the information regarding the speaker, will be contained in your introduction, some of it can also be presented in your discussion paragraphs, your body paragraphs. However, this is not simply a historical essay!! The majority of your essay should be focused on rhetorical analysis.

 You will need to identify the rhetorical tools and strategies present in the speech, and decide whether or not they work well in the speech that you have chosen. Indeed, your essay should focus on whether or not the speech was a success considering the audience on hand and the speaker’s use of rhetorical tools and strategies.

General Reminders: You need to stick to the elements of strong expository essay writing by presenting a clear and interesting thesis statement which indicates whether or not you feel the speech was effective. You should also employ topic sentences which clearly indicate the ideas which will be covered in your body paragraphs and which provide transitions between your different points of discussion. Direct quotes and other sorts of references are a must in your discussion of your speech.

Format: This draft should be at least 4-5 pages, double-spaced, in Times New Roman 12-point font.

A successful essay will have an engaging introduction, a clear thesis statement, focused body paragraphs with supportive examples and analysis, and a culminating conclusion.

Cited: list at the end of your paper will be needed for this paper. It is permissible for you to use only Internet sources if you feel comfortable doing so. However, you should make sure that your sources are reliable. University and government sites are considered to be most reliable.  In your essay, you should include some discussion about the original audience. What were the conditions under which this speech was originally presented? In other words, what were the circumstances that led the speaker to deliver this speech? How did these conditions influence the tone of the speech? What issues were important to the original audience? Was the speech successful? While much of this background information, particularly the information regarding the speaker, will be contained in your introduction, some of it can also be presented in your discussion paragraphs, your body paragraphs. However, this is not simply a historical essay!! The majority of your essay should be focused on rhetorical analysis.  You will need to identify the rhetorical tools and strategies present in the speech, and decide whether or not they work well in the speech that you have chosen. Indeed, your essay should focus on whether or not the speech was a success considering the audience on hand and the speaker’s use of rhetorical tools and strategies. General Reminders: You need to stick to the elements of strong expository essay writing by presenting a clear and interesting thesis statement which indicates whether or not you feel the speech was effective. You should also employ topic sentences which clearly indicate the ideas which will be covered in your body paragraphs and which provide transitions between your different points of discussion. Direct quotes and other sorts of references are a must in your discussion of your speech. Format: This draft should be at least 4-5 pages, double-spaced, in Times New Roman 12-point font. A successful essay will have an engaging introduction, a clear thesis statement, focused body paragraphs with supportive examples and analysis, and a culminating conclusion.