Essay 2: Evaluating Two Arguments
For this essay, you will read one article, “Blue-Collar Brilliance” by Mike
Rose and one TED Talk, “The Danger of a Single Story” by Chimamanda
Adichie. Your essay should do the following:
1. For each author, identify rhetorical strategies used to support the
argument and analyze how these strategies contribute to the authors’
appeals.
2. Evaluate the extent to which the appeals effectively persuade the
intended audience and analyze assumptions the authors make about their
audience.
3. Analyze the extent to which evidence and reasoning support their
arguments.
• Use an effective structure that carefully guides the reader from one idea to
the next and be thoroughly edited so that sentences are readable and
appropriate for an academic audience.
• INCLUDE DIRECT QUOTES
Pages
Scoring Rubric / RWS 100, Essay 1: Constructing an Account of an Argument
Your grade reflects your ability to: Instructor’s Comments Strong Satisfactory Needs
Improvement
Accurately and effectively introduce and
contextualize the rhetor, their article/text,
their project, and their argument in your
introduction. (10%)
Clearly signal to your reader what you plan
to discuss in your paper and say how you’ll
present/organize your analysis. (5%)
Accurately describe and explain the rhetor’s
key claims and their relationship to the
overall argument. Demonstrate a critical
comprehension of the rhetor’s argument and
use of key terms. (15%)
Critically discuss the rhetor’s use of
evidence and strategies to support his
argument. Listing evidence is not a critical
discussion – the discussion must include
how the evidence supports a specific claim
(15%)
Effectively use textual evidence to support
your analysis. Adequately introduce,
correctly cite, and effectively comment on
the sources. (15%)
Conclude your paper by presenting a
thoughtful, persuasive analysis of
one of the following: a) the significance of
the argument, b) how the author has
impacted your thinking/views on this topic,
c) the effectiveness of the argument (a key
strength or weakness) (15%)
Use an effective structure that smoothly
guides the reader from one idea to
the next. Your careful attention to
transitioning and topic sentences will be
considered here. (10%)
Have thoroughly edited your paper so that
sentences are readable and appropriate for
an academic audience. Adhere to MLA
format, grammar, and sentence structure.
