To help you explore some possibilities for your Rhetorical Analysis and give you a place to begin drafting, write a prompt for yourself that applies the general requirements of the assignment to your particular interests.

 

In one paragraph, write the following (1-3 sentences for each item):

 

1) Begin by describing some specific aspects of travel writing that you find interesting and want to learn more about and/or explore further in your RA.  You might write about one or more of the following:

 

Are there specific conventions of travel writing that interest you?  What are they and why do you think they are important?

Is there a specific essay that you particularly like?  What features of the essay interest you?  

Or, are you more interested in specific readers of travel writing?  What interests you about these readers and their historical/cultural context?  What do you want to understand better these particular readers?

2) Then, ask yourself some questions about the information you’ve just described--your RA thesis should ultimately address these questions.  Based on what you've just written, what rhetorical aspects can you explore further?  Your questions might consider any combination of the following rhetorical and generic elements:

 

Message and purpose

Specific conventions of travel writing

Social/historical context

Rhetor/persona/ethos

Audience

Your questions don’t have to cover everything, but they should focus on HOW one element affects another, not simply what they are.  At least some of your questions should also deal with audience, context, or both.

 

Your questions should be as specific as you can make them.  Asking something like "how does context affect the message?" is very vague.  A question like "how does the culture of Jim Crow persist in Paul Theroux's description of the 21st century South?" is closer to what you want.

3) Next, describe your own, individual purpose and goals for writing this Rhetorical Analysis essay. What specific skills and knowledge do you want and/or need to demonstrate in your RA? What do you want to understand better by the time you finish writing this essay?  How do you want your RA to contribute to and/or build on our larger classroom discussions?

 

4) Finally, list some requirements and advice for yourself as you write the RA, based on what you know about your writing process and work habits, and the essay requirements. For example, what note-taking and drafting strategies do you want to employ? What potential problems do you anticipate and wish to avoid?  What do you need to remind yourself to do?