Merits or Faults?
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| funestis "Logic" (1/12/2015) via KnowYourMeme |
In this post, I will share a couple thesis statements that I have crafted for my rhetorical analysis and discuss how each could affect my take on Project 2.
- In her essay "Those kinds of books: religion and spirituality in young adult literature," Margaret Auguste appeals to fellow school librarians as well as parents, administrators, and the library community at large to shatter the taboo on the presentation of 'religious' books to children. The author achieves this message by using personal stories of encountering this issue to build their credibility with the audience while convincing them of the presence of 'religious' censorship, emotionally compelling narratives of a certain spiritual book that is a prime example of 'religious' literature being suppressed in schools and homes, and a multitude of convincing statistics that illustrate the positive link between interaction with spiritual texts and growth in youth.This author uses a well-organized arsenal of rhetorical tools to enlighten her audience's perspective on the issue of denying children access to spiritual texts, and inspire within them a motivation to dismantle the system which denies children access to 'religious' materials.
- It would be fairly easy to create a rhetorical analysis around this thesis because it encompasses the main strategies the author uses to strengthen their argument. I also personally identify with this thesis more because I feel that the author did a good job of explaining this complex and emotionally touchy issue, and used rhetorical devices well to achieve her purpose. I would have an easy path to writing an essay because these strategies and effects really jump out at me, and I can more easily form an analysis.
- In her essay "Those kinds of books: religion and spirituality in young adult literature," Margaret Auguste appeals to fellow school librarians as well as parents, administrators, and the library community at large to shatter the taboo on the presentation of 'religious' books to children. The author impairs this message by using personal stories that seem to belittle the feelings and actions of members of her audience, using statistics which deem youth who are not religious to be relatively unimportant, and binding the terms "religion" and "spirituality" to "identity" as if without either of these elements, one cannot know oneself.This author uses rhetorical tools to their own disadvantage: they weaken the power of their message, undermine the opinions held by their audience, and invite criticism of the role of religion and spiritual texts in developing a sense of identity.
- It would be slightly more difficult for me to follow this thesis in my analysis because I personally feel that the author did a great job of approaching the situation rhetorically overall. However, the merits of this thesis are that I can show my audience examples of improper use of rhetorical strategies and how to recognize them. These rhetorical strategies were also buried in a sense, and it was difficult to find these weaknesses in the essay. For me, this may make identifying multiple examples difficult.
Reflection: After reading the thesis statements of Charles and Clay, I have come to see that my thesis statements may be over-complicated.... I tried to mirror the example thesis in the Student Guide by combining all the information they suggested. I am unsure if my complexity will be helpful or harmful in the context of Project 2, but overall I think it will work out. It seems that everything is a bit more stretched out and complex in Project 2, so at least I'll be following that trend in my thesis! I also noticed that some of us are still confused about the purpose of this project, and how that relates to our choices of style when it comes to forming a thesis statement. For me, thankfully, that is not an issue (for now...).
The main thing I noticed reading your thesis statements was just how long they are. Even though they are really long there doesn't seem to be any excess or unnecessary words in there you just seem to have a lot to say in your thesis statement which is good. I also think that in your first one you did a good job of creating a map you can follow by developing further on each strategy of hers you described.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the thesis statements are quite long. Though they are effective in their descriptiveness, they would most likely benefit from being more concise. The analysis after the thesis is good, and does provide insight into the though process going into them.
ReplyDeleteI agree that your theses are a bit large at this point. If placed within an introductory paragraph, it may be helpful to spread some of the information out in the preceding sentences, to let your thesis be a really easy blueprint to follow, both for writing and reading.
ReplyDeleteRose, although they may be long, your sentences are very detailed and provide a close look into your argument. If you compared it to the other students' examples in the Student Guide, theirs is also more like a thesis paragraph than a thesis statement. I think the main thing to keep in mind is how effective each idea is, and if it's worth it to include in the thesis statement.
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