Analyzing Africana Studies Essay

Analyzing Africana Studies Essay
This assignment further develops your rhetorical awareness and critical reading by challenging you to analyze how two writers present arguments about the meaning of the lyrics in the National Anthem. As an active observer, you will choose a newspaper article or scholarly journal article that offers an opposing viewpoint to the article: “Colin Kaepernick is Righter Than You Know: The National Anthem is a Celebration of Slavery” by Jon Schwarz.
Your goal is to identify the purposes and claims of each author, locate their arguments in a rhetorical situation, and analyze the appeals the writers make to support their arguments. You will then evaluate the arguments: which author better satisfies their readers? Which author crafts the more fitting response? Why?
To further support your claims, you may include additional multi-modal texts as support for your position, i.e., videos, film, and commentary from experts on the topic.
Choose your 2nd article carefully, as you may want to make an informed argument about the same issue/topic for Essay Three: The Argumentative Research Paper.
The main goals for Essay Two are:
1. Identify the purposes and claims that two authors make about a significant issue.
2. Locate the arguments in a rhetorical situation (what exigencies do the authors address? What
constraints and resources exist for the authors? To whom are they writing? When and where
was each article published?
3. Analyze the appeals (logical, ethical, emotional) put forth by the writers.
4. Evaluate the arguments. Which argument is more fitting? Which author better satisfies
readers? (Your evaluation need not be either/or: maybe one author is more effective logically,
for instance, while the second author is more effective ethically and emotionally.)
This paper must be at least 1000-1250 in length, and you need to appropriately cite your two sources in MLA style.
The first draft is due Wednesday, October 2nd. This draft should be at least 1 ½ pages (one-half or more of your final paper), should include an analysis of the rhetorical strategies applied by each author, and a working thesis statement in the introduction, and reflect a brief summary of each article. This draft will peer reviewed. Any requirement above not included in draft should be identified with a formal outline.
The final draft is due Monday, October 7th. Be sure to bring a hard copy of your final draft to class, and submit a copy to the Dropbox on Beachboard (prior to the start of class).
Nate Boyer’s Open Letter to Colin Kaepernick
Make this viral for every person that suggests “Colin Kaepernick is disrespecting the military and our country” pic.twitter.com/9VgxVX36hp
— Steve Byrum ➐ (@Nikesmilez) September 6, 2018
THE BLACK NATIONAL ANTHEM
Lift Every Voice and Sing The Black National Anthem (1900)
Words: James Weldon Johnson Music: John Rosamond Johnson
Lift every voice and sing, till earth and heaven ring, Ring with the harmonies of liberty; Let our rejoicing rise, high as the listening skies, Let it resound loud as the rolling sea. Sing a song full of faith that the dark past has taught us, Sing a song full of hope that the present has brought us; Facing the rising sun of our new day begun, Let us march on till victory won.
Stony the road we trod, bitter the chastening rod, Felt in the days when hope unborn had died; Yet with a steady beat, have not our weary feet, Come to the place for which our fathers sighed? We have come over a way that with tears has been watered, We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered; Out from the gloomy past, till now we stand at last Where the white gleam of our star is cast.
God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, Thou who has brought us thus far on the way; Thou who hast by Thy might, led us into the light, Keep us forever in the path, we pray. Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee, Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee. Shadowed beneath Thy hand, may we forever stand, True to our God, true to our native land.
Lift Every Voice and Sing
Essay Two Rubric. Author:
This rubric is designed to make clear the grading process for written communication by informing you, the writer, what key elements are expected by the university in a “good” piece of work.
Your writing will be evaluated by the criteria below in order to give you specific feedback to help guide your development as a writer. Your writing will not be graded point by point by these items; it will be graded for its overall quality.
Excellent