SUBJECT:
Choose a non-profit organization or
NGO that works internationally. Many
of the organizations will have different
campaigns, so you can focus on a
particular campaign if desired.
Examples:
o Seeds of Peace
I encourage
you to find an organization—large or
small—that you are interested in
exploring. As long as it is a nonprofit/
NGO and it is not solely focused
in U.S., you can work with it.
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RESEARCH:
You may only use sources from the
organization itself for this essay. You can
look at any of the following:
• Their website and/or social media
pages (content, layout, images, tone,
etc)
• Descriptions and history
• Brochures, posters, advertisements,
commercials, articles
• Speeches or interviews (by people in the
organization)
• Specific campaigns
You can think about…
• The kinds of texts and media they
produce
• How and where they distribute them
and if that matters
• How they present themselves and why
• What they believe and what they want
people to believe or do
• Who they target and why
• What kinds of appeals and techniques
they use and why
• How they alter strategies for text,
media, audience, location, and why
Fall 2015 Breaux
2
WHAT TO DO:
1) Identify the significance of the
target audiences, exigence, and
context. And identify the arguments
and purpose of the texts/messages
the organization creates and
promotes.
2) Examine and analyze the ways in
which the aim of the organization is
supported through particular
rhetorical strategies and multimedia
techniques. In order to focus your
ideas, you’ll need to choose a
selection of strategies and techniques
to analyze; do not attempt to discuss
everything. You will also need to
choose specific examples/ excerpts/
parts that illustrate these techniques,
and analyze how the organization
uses them to present their arguments
and reach their audience.
3) Interpret and explain, in terms
of your own thesis, why you think that
the organization makes the
particular choices they do (i.e. #2) in
an effort to convince/persuade (i.e.
#1). You should ask the “so what?”
question because these choices are
never arbitrary. Be specific, show us
evidence of your interpretations, and
make your connections between
points and examples clear to the
reader.
Evaluation:
Your final draft will be evaluated on the strength
of the following aspects:
1) Clear analytical and evaluative thesis
2) Ability to recognize textual and visual
arguments
3) Depth of analysis and understanding of
appeals and other strategies
4) Use of specific evidence and logical
interpretation to support thesis
5) Effective organization of ideas
6) Works Cited page included and correct
4) Evaluate the effectiveness of the
organization’s methods based on
evidence and analysis (#1, #2, #3), .
Ultimately, you will decide on the
persuasiveness of their rhetoric.
Your examples should obviously
illustrate how you came to this
decision.
Context and cultural elements may
come up in your analysis, but they
should be in the service of your
thesis and they should always point
back to the particular texts you are
dealing with and examples within
those.
WHAT NOT TO DO:
Summary/Description/
History:
Be careful that you are not just
summarizing written texts or
describing visual texts. You’re also
not giving us a history of the
organization. Also, be sure to do
more than just point out “Here is an
example of ethos” and go no
further.
You must analyze the purpose(s),
meaning, and effects of specific parts
of the texts/strategies used by the
Argument about Issue:
Most importantly, you are not arguing
about whether or not you agree with
the purpose of the organization or the
arguments they make. You are not
giving your personal opinion in a
debate about an issue, and you’re not
trying to convince people to agree or
disagree with what the organization
puts out.
For example, if the organization
works in the realm of sex trafficking,
you should not make your essay a
personal argument about sex
trafficking.
You are not focusing on an argument
about the issue itself that the
organization addresses. Your analysis
and evaluation of the organization, its
texts, its arguments, and its methods is
key to this assignment