Rhetorical Situation

In your ePortfolio introduction, you make a case for all of the skills you’ve gained in 39A outlined in the syllabus. This is different than the other writing assignments you’ve done this quarter because it’s an argumentative essay. If you follow the claim-evidence-warrant paragraph structure, you’ll be on good track for your intro essay. Complete the outline below (clearly labeled, please!) to get a sense of what your intro essay will look like. You must upload the assignment as a Word doc or PDF — absolutely no Google docs or Pages files, please.   1. Rhetorical situation knowledge:   Claim: This quarter, you’ve learned to read and write in several genres. What are they? How did your knowledge of these genres grow in 39A? Were you at all familiar with them at the beginning of the quarter? Have you learned to use awareness of your rhetorical situation to account for purpose and audience? Evidence:  What kind of purpose and audience are you writing for in each major assignment? What choices have you made to let your reader know? How would you describe the intended audience of your sample (style model) texts? What conventions (shared qualities) did you notice among your sample texts? How did you adopt them to your own work? Did any of our in-class activities on context help you better understand rhetorical situation? Warrant: Why does your evidence prove your claim?   2. Ownership and style Claim: How do you feel stronger/more confident in your writing, as compared to the beginning of the quarter? Have you learned to establish your ethos as a rhetor, through the use of different style decisions? Evidence: What model texts did you use? Why are they best for your rhetorical situation? How do you establish your ethos in each major assignment?  What kind of style decisions did you make? How did they help you establish/maintain credibility as a rhetor? What pieces of writing did you most enjoy reading this quarter? Why? How would you describe its style? Did any of our in-class or homework exercises on style help you better understand style? Warrant: Why does your evidence prove your claim?   3. Critical thinking Claim:  Have you learned to analyze, synthesize, interpret, and evaluate ideas, information, situations, and texts? Evidence: How did our in-class discussions help you sort through ideas? What kind of research did you do? Think about the texts you read as style models: Which did you like? Why? Did you use similar techniques? What did you need to research or learn about in order to understand the assigned texts in class? What claims or generalizations did you make in your personal essay and interview? Warrant: Why does your evidence prove your claim?   4. Processes Claim: You’ve learned strategies for reading, drafting, reviewing, collaborating, revising, rewriting, rereading, and editing this quarter. What are they? Evidence: You’ve done three drafts of each major assignment, plus peer review, 1:1 conferences, and in-class revision exercises. Which of these were helpful? Pick an area or two of specific progress that you’d like to focus on. What contexts/occasions have you written for? (See #1). What revisions did you make to better account for these contexts? Were in-class exercises on context (interviewing different kinds of people, pitching UCI to a friend versus newspaper) helpful? How did you apply them to your revisions? Warrant: Why does your evidence prove your claim?   5. Knowledge of conventions Claim: How have you learned to use conventions to navigate for purpose, audience, and genre? Evidence:  What genre conventions have you become aware of for personal essays and interviews? How did you utilize these conventions in your work? Do you understand why genre conventions vary for structure, paragraphing, tone, and mechanics? Where did you make specific choices in these areas in your work? Warrant: Why does your evidence prove your claim?