Rough Draft!

Assignment: Before you begin writing, review the available options listed below and decide on a political saying that you would like to learn more about and analyze. In particular, you will be interested in the quotation's staying power and current relevance. You will compose a minimum 1,000-word analysis of your chosen quotation. If you want to use a quotation not on the list, please contact the instructor for approval. Your analysis should incorporate effective original context of the quotation (who said it, when, why, etc.), as well as its use and relevance in the modern world. Summary of the original context should not take up a large portion of your essay. Rather, the majority of your essay should focus on an analysis of why your chosen quotation is so rhetorically effective (or ineffective to some) and why it has resonance across large periods of time. For example, if someone were writing an analysis of the famous political phrase "Don't Tread on Me," he or she might explore the recent appropriation of the slogan by the Tea Party and how they use it to try to persuade people to be more aware of constitutional rights and issues. Your analysis should be thesis-driven, making a clear argument about the rhetorical significance and appeal of the quotation or its message. Also, your analysis should incorporate interesting and relevant support. Some questions to consider (though you should not respond to each bullet point in order; rather, use the questions to help you think about multiple ways to focus your essay): • Who was the audience for the original saying? Why? What about today? Why? • How do you judge the ethos, or authority, of the speaker/writer? What about of those who use the message today? • What kind of support did the original speaker/writer provide? What about those who use the message today? • What assumptions did the original speaker/writer and those who use the message today make about audience and people in general? • If we understand rhetoric as the art of persuasion, how is your chosen quotation particularly rhetorically effective or ineffective for the average American? Eligible quotations: •"People need to respect the flag of the government I'm stockpiling arms against." •"Beware the Hildabeast Clinton and its Vagenda of Manocide." •"Do you know how much Scavino spent on Pepe memes?" •"The State and Corporations serve all manner of sinners, if serving sinners is your problem. Viewed from the perspective of Original Sin, you could eventually exclude every single person from access to markets, contracts, civic life, etc. using the government as a proxy for your beliefs." • "If we knew what we were overlooking, we wouldn't be overlooking it, now would we?"~K A Stead •" For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men." •"We are the middle children of history, raised by television to believe that someday we'll be millionaires and movie stars and rock stars, but we won't." •"America is the best country in the nation." Requirements • Minimum of 1,000 words • Standard font, margins, and spacing (Size 11-12 Serif font, 1” margins, double-spaced) •Correct MLA citation of any sources incorporated • Standard academic header (Name, Instructor, Course, Date) • Creative and Descriptive Title