Reflection on Project 2 Draft

In the following post I will reflect on the suggestions made on my Rhetorical Analysis Draft by referring to the Student's Guide advice on revision.

Steve. "Focus on the Point" 9/30/2008 via flickr. Attribution NonCommercial 2.0 Generic License.

The draft's I looked at for the peer-review process were Morgan's, titled, "Blame The Parents: How Authors Utilize Rhetoric To Argue Against Spanking Children," and Nick's, titled, "Geoengineering Can Solve The Planet's Global Warming Problem, According To David Keith." 

Revision 

Do you have an identifiable thesis? Does it point to the specific rhetorical strategies you analyze in your essay, or are you merely using vague terms like ethos, pathos, and logos?

I spent a considerable amount of time reworking my thesis to ensure it was a strong representation of my paper. I did point to specific rhetorical strategies and did not ever refer to the terms ethos, pathos and logos. 

How have you decided to organize your essay? Does each paragraph have a central point that is supported with evidence from the text and in-depth analysis?

I separated each rhetorical strategy I identified into a different part of the essay. While each strategy had multiple paragraphs designated to its analysis, I still attempted to input clear transitions when the next strategy was introduced. I believe I may have been lacking in a sufficient analysis in some places, this is what I will go back and improve.

Did you clearly identify and analyze several important elements of the text's rhetorical situation and/or structure?

Yes, as stated in my above answers, I took a lot of time focusing on the organization and overall "clearness" of my analysis. I believe I sufficiently identified all the elements, it is the analysis part that I consider improving/adding more to.

Did you explain how and why certain rhetorical strategies were employed? Did you discuss what effects these strategies have on the intended audience and overall effectiveness of the text?

Yes. I referred back to the audience very frequently and followed every piece of evidence with my analytical explanation, as is stated in the PIE paragraph format. 

Are you thoughtfully using evidence in each paragraph? Do you mention specific examples from the text and explain why they are relevant?

This is the aspect that I'm not sure my essay fully clarifies. I mention many examples; however, my concern whenever I write analyses is if I ever appeared to be drifting and thus not "thoughtfully" using my evidence. I will closely analyze what my classmate-editor wrote on this respect. 

Do you leave your reader wanting more? Do you answer the "so what" question in your conclusion?

I am still working on developing a really solid conclusion. I find conclusions to be the most challenging portion of a paper, especially an analysis, as you want to leave the reader with a good impression while still wanting to avoid all the cliche conclusion trends in writing.