Rhetorical Analysis

Assignment 1: Rhetorical Analysis Rhetorical analysis closely examines the text, author, audience and context one is interested in knowing more about. Their usually is a conflict in the information that one is trying to learn more about in order to make a decision or simply better understand the subject. A good faith attempt at a clean slated mind that suspends judgment of your own opinions, morale’s, and values is a requirement to gain a good analysis. You also, obviously, need a text with an author with the ability to determine what the context is about and who the audience is supposed to be. It is worthwhile to engage in this manner in order to gain properly from it. If you don’t, you’re not doing a rhetorical analysis and you won’t gain much in the way of better understanding. I consider the terms, processes, and information in this reading to be the framework that is necessary in order to be successful at a rhetorical analysis. Therefore not only being aware of these aspects but understanding them is seriously beneficial. I’m sure I’ve performed a rhetorical analysis, just not at a college level. Thinking back to research on hobbies of mine I can see that I have done this on a lower level. While browsing the internet at websites or forums I often ask myself if the information answers what I’m looking for or if it is close. Sometimes the subject can be the same but not quite exactly the area of the subject I’m attempting to learn more about. Another question I ask is who wrote it? The internet is filled with so called experts or self-claimed experts and it’s wise to question what you read otherwise it’s easy to be misled. If the author is or appears to be someone new in the field I tend to discredit their answer. Or I mark it as possible but need further back up from another source that hopefully shows to be more of an expert or is. Another aspect I’ve noticed is an author can be an expert but is extremely opinionated and I know I have to take that into effect when trying to learn. When I search on the internet for instance whether apples are better than oranges I need to be aware when I click on the first link and it’s an apple website. The more I think about this the more I realize I indeed have used rhetorical analysis, but in a simpler and slightly modified way in regards to what I believe we’ll learn to do this quarter. At the moment I’m very interested in becoming a special education teacher. Unfortunately I don’t know of any specific books I want to even read never mind perform a rhetorical analysis on in my field. Since I’m still completing my general education requirements I’ve been focused so far on doing well on them and taking small bites at school. I probably also haven’t looked too far into my future field because I have a basic idea of what it is about growing up with a disabled brother and doing hundreds of hours volunteering with disable people. I do, however, know that there has got to be books on essential general knowledge that is useful for special education teachers. I’d like to have read quite a few of them before I graduate and I’m sure I’ll have read a few at least. I’d like to do this not only to prepare myself for the workforce but to gain insight from people that have gone before me. Also, now that I’m aware of rhetorical analysis at this level I’m sure if I performed one on even only one of these books versus just reading it and taking it for face value I would gain much more valuable lessons in which I could apply.

Amendment: I’ve chosen an article on special education in regards to constructivism or behaviorism styles of teaching and their benefit. The article can be found here, if interested: http://cie.asu.edu/volume8/number10/ . Being as the author is a Doctor in her field and is writing about this subject I believe it is safe to say the audiences are teachers in the special education field. Due to the context produced by a doctor in this article one is easily led to think the writing is worthy. It does not necessarily mean everything is truth but the ideas conveyed and specific points certainly could be.