Call to Write, Third edition Chapter Two, Reading for Academic Purposes: Analyzing the Rhetorical Situation

Overview  The chapter looks at two ways of reading, with two sets of strategies: 1. Strategies for close reading 2. Strategies to analyze the rhetorical situation  It includes an essay by Jonathan Kozol as a writing sample and then demonstrates the various strategies using that essay.

Two sets of strategies  Strategies for close reading help you understand what a text says and means, as well as how a writer presents ideas and conveys meaning.  Strategies to analyze the rhetorical situation, referring to the larger context of issues, and how a writer identifies and responds to the call to write.

Reading…is it active or passive?  Reading is more than letting your eyes glance across the page.  The first set of strategies enable you to become a more active reader.

Strategies for close reading  Reading is research, whether it is done to prepare to write a formal paper or decide which movie to go see with friends.  Your reading style is tied to your purpose and the context of the situation.  The purpose of this set of strategies is to equip you to do active and critical reading.

Strategies for close reading  Previewing  Underlining  Annotation  Summarizing  Exploratory writing  Outlining  Describing the writer’s strategy

Strategy one: previewing We preview text to discover two things:  Its genre (or category), such as essay, poem, letter to the editor  The writer’s purpose (and our purpose for reading it)

How to preview  Look at the title, headings, and first sentence of each paragraph.  Answer the five questions listed on page 39.

Strategy two: underlining  Underline words and phrases to help identify key points and main ideas.  The text encourages selective use, so don’t underline too much.

Strategy three: annotation  Annotation refers to comments written in the margins; the purpose is to keep you actively engaged as you read. Several suggestions include:  Point out key features and ideas  Agree or disagree with the writer  Raise questions  Draw connections

Benefits of annotation  Annotation is one of the most powerful skills you can develop; the key ideas you identify should make it much easier to construct an outline.  It helps you to master the content.

Strategy four: summarizing  Condenses material to focus on the key ideas; generally the summary is half or less the length of the original content.  The text lists five steps on page 42.  This section presents a sample summary of the reading about the homeless.

Strategy five: exploratory writing  Also called freewriting, the purpose is to use what you’ve read for a starting point, and then just write nonstop for five to 10 minutes.  Don’t stop writing to fix, edit or revise; just see where your ideas take you before stopping to read what you’ve read.

Strategy six: outlining  Creating an outline helps you see how writers have organized or structured their material.  See page 44 for a sample outline of the reading about the homeless.  Outlines reveal the relationship of ideas, with main ideas as Roman numerals and the supporting details as Arabic numbers.

Strategy seven: analyzing the writer’s strategy  This strategy builds on the outline of key ideas, which helps you to analyze the organization by describing how the writer connects the parts.  It takes a look at the overall purpose of a document. To do this, divide the document into sections, grouping paragraphs together that fit together and label each section and identify its function. See the sample, page 46.

Writing strategies  See the box on page 45 for the complete list.  It lists a dozen strategies.  Strategies include narration, description, illustration, definition, compare/contrast, and explanation of causes and effects.

Combining both sets of strategies  The first set of strategies helps you understand the content of the document.  The second set helps you to understand its context.

Analyzing the rhetorical situation  Use background information about the writer, the publication, and the issues to better understand the essay or document.  The purpose of this is to examine the writer’s purpose and relationship to the readers.  It also includes looking at the writer’s use of language (tone, denotation, figures of speech, and stereotypes).

Sample rhetorical analysis  See the article by Kevin Powell, “My Culture at the Crossroads,” which first appeared in Newsweek magazine.  It is followed by a student sample of a rhetorical analysis; it is annotated to point out the features and show how the writer pulled the ideas together.

Writing assignment  The assignment is to find a persuasive article and then analyze its rhetorical situation, and write an essay that presents your analysis.  More details are found on pages 59-60; your instructor will let you know whether your class will be doing this particular assignment, and provide you with additional guidelines.

Student Companion Website  Go to the student side of the Web site for exercises, chapter overviews, and links to writing resources for this chapter:  Click on the textbook cover, and then select Student Resources.