Researched Exploration of the Context in which an Argument is Made

Researched Exploration of the Context in which an Argument is Made

For this paper, you will focus on one of the texts we’ve read for this unit on the rhetoric of social change and the American Indian Movement. In your writing, explain what the author wants us to see and think about in his/her text. For your research, investigate oneof the four aspects of context we discussed in class. Conduct research of your own that helps you to understand the story that your author tells or the work that the text attempts to do.

You may choose to focus your analysis on:
-AIM’s “Alcatraz Proclamation”
– “Native History: AIM Occupation of Wounded Knee”
-“Occupy Wounded Knee: A 71 Day Siege..”
-“Leonard Peltier and the Indian Struggle for Freedom”
-“Rhetorical Exclusion: The Government’s Case Against..”

Then, choose three sources for your paper that include at least two articles and at least one non-internet source (a book or one of the films from class, for example).You may, as one of your sources, pursue your own original research in current newspapers or your own environment.

Successful Essays Will:

• Incorporate3 valid sources smoothly and effectively.
• Provide a thorough, thoughtful analysis using the key rhetorical terms and zoom in on an aspect of the text’s context
• Create a Works Cited list according to MLA guidelines.Include in-text citations anywhere you have quoted or paraphrased or referred to material from your outside sources.
• Be thoroughly edited to an academic audience who is assumed to not know the reading material
Here’s an idea of how your essay might look:

Introduction
• Identify the text and author.
• Describe the main claim being made by the author in the text.
• Provide general identification of contextual element(s) you have researched.
• Give readers an indication of how the paper will proceed (what you will discuss and how it will be organized).

Central Analysis
• Answer the questions in one of the areas of context we discussed in class (e.g., author’s life, works, purpose, historical context) about one of the assigned readings.
• Present information from other sources that serve to amplify or complicate or modify your text’s central claim, and smoothly integrate this source material into the essay.
• Comment on how your topic fits into the context of the larger conversation about this issue, using your research sources as reference points.

Conclusion
• Given your research, offer your conclusions about the text’s argument. Stay focused on the text,and make sure not to wander into an argument of your own point of view.