Discourse Smishcourse
English 1B
Length: 1200-1600 words—no less, no more (the word count does not include your heading, title, or works cited page). Be sure to indicate the word count of your essay in your heading.
Note about sources: There is no specific source requirement for this essay. However, the quantity and quality of your sources will serve as indicators of your ability to collect a reliable, representative, and sufficient sample to work inductively from (see note #1 in “Considerations” below). Also, using block quotes, full and partial quotes, and paraphrases in your essay is an effective way to demonstrate your ability to integrate and document source material.
Grading Criteria Sheet for this assignment
Sample Student Essay: “He Said/He Said”
Write an essay in which you analyze and evaluate the language of ONE successful word-driven discourse(a successful discourse is one that accomplishes its goals).
Some discourse examples:
□ Official political discourse—e.g. republicans, democrats, greens, libertarians, etc; a particular politician or political activist; etc..
□ Popular political discourse—i.e. particular TV talk show hosts (e.g. Wolf Blitzer), radio hosts (e.g. Rush Limbaugh, Al Franken), discussion boards, etc..
□ Discourse of power (those who control institutions of power and define “mainstream”—e.g. the religious right, neoconservatives, etc.) or dissent (those who resist and/or challenge institutions of power and the mainstream—e.g. environmentalists, war protesters, etc.).
□ Discourse of advertising/marketing—e.g. print cosmetic ads, etc.
□ Media discourse—e.g. TV news programs like "The O'Reilly Factor," radio shows Democracy Now!, general talk shows like Oprah, soap operas, TV shows like "Fear Factor" or "Seinfeld" etc.).
If you have another discourse you are interested in or a unique approach to the assignment, talk with me ASAP.
It might help for you to think about this assignment in the following way: Imagine you’ve been asked to use the linguistic style of a particular TV show or advertising campaign or political party or movement, etc as a model for a new product. In other words, you are tasked with creating a TV talk show like The Situation with Tucker Carlson or a radio show like Rush Limbaugh’s or an advertising campaign like Maybeline’s eye shadow campaign or ADT’s home security system campaign. You’ve been asked to replicate a discourse like one of these (i.e. to use language as it does), and your essay will explain what this proven discourse does that works. Or create an Amy Goodman-like political radio show? Or start a Christian Coalition-like movement? Or a George Bush-like politician? Or create ads like Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s reelection ads? You would probably examine some of the following (as relevant):
Diction (i.e. word choice)
Tone
Style
Assumptions and values
Appeals to values
Appeals to emotion and emotional manipulation
Appeals to logic
Use of facts and data
Use of graphics, i.e. charts, images, tables, etc.
Considerations
Sample the discourse!! This is crucial. As we’ve discussed, your sample needs to be representative and sufficient. The more observations you have, the more reliable your conclusions can be. Not having a representative sample of the discourse is a major mistake.
An equally major mistake is merely summarizing rather than analyzing and evaluating the discourse. A summary of what George Bush says in his speeches is not nearly as valuable as your insights into the features that make his speeches “George Bush speeches”—speeches that many people respond to favorably.
The evidence you offer to support your analysis and evaluation is essential. Use quotes and data to substantiate your claims. Otherwise, you’re asking your readers to accept your conclusions without reason.
Make sure you are clear about the assignment. You are not being asked to analyze the issue or to offer an argument on the issue; you are being asked to analyze the ways an issue is discussed or the ways a particular group or media discusses issues. The focus here is the discussion itself, and your job is to analyze the important qualities of that discussion.