FIELD OF STUDY BIOLOGY

In this assignment, you locate and analyze a piece of technical communication that relates to your own field of study. The goal of this assignment is to determine whether the document was effective for its intended purpose, audience, and context based on the author’s use of rhetorical appeals. You will also evaluate such elements as clarity, conciseness, user-friendliness, and professionalism in your analysis.

In the article “Rhetorical Appeals (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.,” you read about the four primary types of rhetorical appeals, which are ethos (ethics), logos (logic), pathos (emotion), and kairos (timeliness/relevance). Using the reflective questions provided in the article, craft a rhetorical analysis of 700-1,000 words.

Find an article in a popular magazine, a blog post, or a transcript of a television program (or another similar alternative) that includes scientific or technical information that has been written for a general audience. The article must have been published within the past two years. Even though the article does not need to be lengthy, it must be long enough and provide enough substance to allow you to write a paper evaluating the author’s use of the four primary rhetorical appeals.

Be sure to include an introduction that identifies the following information:

• Title of the document
• Author(s) name(s), if known, or corporate author
• Type of document
• Purpose of the document
• Brief audience analysis in which you identify the intended readers
• Tone (formal or informal)
• A thesis statement that is supported throughout the remainder of the document

The body of your document should provide an analysis of the four rhetorical appeals. You must analyze whether the author(s) used each rhetorical appeal, provide evidence of how, and assess the effectiveness of each appeal. If the author(s) clearly did not use one or more rhetorical appeals, explain how you determined it was not used, and describe how the author(s) could have included it to make the document more effective.

The document should end with a conclusion in which you analyze the overall effectiveness of the document. Be sure to support your conclusion by summarizing the evidence you included in the body of the document.

The document should be formatted using standard APA