English 1A Final Instructions

In the final in-class essay, I would like you to choose one of the following sources which we have already discussed in class:

• “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell
• “Touching the Earth” by bell hooks
• “Doomsday Fears and Modern Life” by Norman Podhoretz
• “The Story of Stuff” by Annie Leonard (Go to storyofstuff.com.  You may want to look at the transcript of the video so you can quote more easily.)
• Al Gore’s new presentation
  

Then, in your essay, evaluate how effective the use of logos, ethos, and pathos is in your chosen article or presentation. Your thesis should have two parts and should answer both these questions:

1. What is the author or presenter’s overall purpose or message?  Be as specific as you can.
2. How effectively do his or her appeals to logos, ethos, and pathos work on you?

• I recommend you organize the essay with paragraphs on logos, ethos, and pathos.
• Each paragraph should have a topic sentence which tells how well the appeal to that particular rhetorical technique works on you.
• Each paragraph should give at least two quotations or paraphrases with in-text citation. For each quotation or paraphrase, make sure you give an explanation in your own words of how it relates to the point you are making.
• Each paragraph should include a description of both how the author or presenter is trying to influence you and how well the strategy worked.
• Your essay must include a mention of at least one potential criticism of the author’s ethos, pathos, or logos. Explain whether or not you agree with this criticism.
• When you discuss logos, make sure you give an overview of the kinds of evidence and reasoning in the essay.