1. Writing Exercise
Find one paragraph from the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” that makes a particularly compelling argument. Record its page number. Sentence by sentence, analyze the strategies King employs in constructing his argument in this paragraph. Consider rhetorical appeals, arrangement, and style. Your response should be written in paragraph form. You may submit on Canvas if you wish to type. It will be collected at 11:15.

2. Day 3: Rhetorical Analysis
30 June 2017

4. Practicing rhetorical analysis with MLK’s “Letter”

5. Rhetorical Analysis Identify the elements of the rhetorical situation.
Analyze how the rhetor has constructed their message.
Consider these strategies
appeals to pathos, ethos, and logos
arrangement and media
style
Once several compelling strategies have been identified, figure out how they function and why they are included in the argument.
Remember:
What? (classify strategy)
How? (explain how strategy works)
Why? (argue for how strategy affects the overall text)

6. Example: Analyzing arrangement & Medium
What? (classify strategy)
Culmination of MLK’s letter in a prediction just before he concludes: in the future, the heroes of the integration movement would be the lowly yet strong protestors (page 9)
How? (explain how strategy works)
King prepares the reader to accept his prediction by preceding it with a far-reaching overview of history and justice, from Biblical prophets to US democracy.
Why? (argue for how strategy affects the overall text)
By conveying this vision of future triumph at the end of the essay, King motivates readers who feel like “the disinherited children of God” to hope for the “goal of freedom” in America (9).

7. EXAMPLE: ANALYZING STYLE
Find a stylistic strategy (consider tone, juxtaposition, repetition, parallelism, irony, contractions, pronouns, vocabulary, sentence structure, paragraph length).
Focus on Paragraph #4 on page 9.
What? (classify strategy)
How? (explain how strategy works)
Why? (argue for how strategy affects the overall text)

8. Your turn! Identify the elements of the rhetorical situation.
Team A: pathos
Team B: ethos
Team C: logos
Team D: pathos
Team E: ethos
Team F: logos
Recall:
Types of pathos: An array of possible emotions; desire, humor, fear, pity, and anger are commonly evoked
Types of ethos: reputation; trustworthiness and credibility; authority; honesty about motives
Types of logos: hard evidence (facts, statistics, surveys and polls, testimonies and narratives); reason and common sense (degree, analogies, precedent)
Identify the elements of the rhetorical situation.
Analyze how the rhetor has constructed their message.
Consider the appeal your team has been assigned
Once a strategy has been identified, figure out how it functions and why it is included in the argument.
Remember:
What? (classify strategy)
How? (explain how strategy works)
Why? (argue for how strategy affects the overall text)

9. More practice!
Exchange PE #2 with a partner. Take a minute to read it.
Now, explain to your partner exactly how their appeals to pathos, ethos, and logos work.
What? (classify strategy)
How? (explain how strategy works)
Why? (argue for how strategy affects the overall text)