1. At the top of the first page include your name in the upper right hand corner and then, centered and in bold print, the complete bibliographic source citation for the essay, article, or book chapter you are reviewing in this paper.

2. Introduction: gain the reader's attention (you might do this with a quote from the essay, a surprising fact based on what you read, a personal story that somehow links to the information in the essay, etc.). Note your overall reaction to the essay you read and then preview the body of your own essay.

3. In the body of the paper you must do the following things:

a. Identify the thesis claim(s) of the author.

b. Summarize how the author reaches those claims. You should rely mainly on paraphrase to do this, but may also have occasion to quote. Regardless, you should use parenthetical references to page numbers in the essay as you refer to specific parts.

c. Evaluate the author's development of ideas. Here is where you make your own contribution to the paper. You might ask, for example: Is the essay clear? Are you convinced by what is claimed and why or why not? Does the essay help you better understand the speech? Does the essay help you better understand the speaker? Does the essay include information or a bibliography that would lead someone who wanted to know more about a speaker to additional research materials? Those of you who have taken SpCm 412 might reflect on whether the essay demonstrates a particular approach to criticism.

As you write, be sure to follow the advice about writing here.

FAQ

What do I write about?

You might begin by referring to the Library Resources page to see if your speaker is covered.  You can use an index to take you directly to an article about your speaker in one of the journals or you may begin with materials on the resources list. For indexes: American History and Life or the Social Science Index are the places to start. You should be sure that you have an essay by the third week of September.

If your search for an essay is frustrating or fruitless, you may choose to read an essay from the list below.  Any of these essays can help give you insight into how scholars in rhetorical studies go about talking about rhetorical texts.  If you cannot locate these articles in the library [few if any are available through ISU's online resources] come see me over in Ross Hall and I may be able to loan you a copy--I have most, but not all of them.  Enjoy!

Michael C. Leff and Gerald P. Mohrmann, "Lincoln at Cooper Union: A Rhetorical Analysis of the Text." in Quarterly Journal of Speech 60 (1974): 346-358.

Karlyn Kohrs Campbell, "An Exercise in the Rhetoric of Mythical America," in Campbell, Critiques of Contemporary Rhetoric.  Wadsworth, 1972.

David Ling, "A Pentadic Analysis of Senator Edward Kennedy's Address to the People of Massachusetts, July 25, 1969," in Central States Speech Journal [now Communication Studies] 21 (1970): 81-86.

Leland M .Griffin "The Rhetorical Structure of the Antimasonic Movement," in The Rhetorical Idiom; Essays in Rhetoric, Oratory, Language and Drama.  Cornell University Press, 1958.

Karlyn Kohrs Campbell and Kathleen Hall Jamieson, "Inaugurating the Presidency," in Presidential Studies Quarterly, 15 (1985): 394-411.

Karlyn Kohrs Campbell, "Stanton's 'The Solitude of Self A Rationale for Feminism." Quarterly Journal of Speech 66 (1980): 304-312.

Michael Leff "Dimensions of Temporality in Lincoln's Second Inaugural." in Communication Reports, 1 (1988), 26-31.

Stephen E. Lucas, "The Stylistic Artistry of the Declaration of Independence," in Prologue: Quarterly of the National Archives, 22 (Spring 1990), 25-43.

Edwin Black, "Gettysburg and Silence,"  Quarterly Journal of Speech 80 (1994): 21-36.

Marie Hochmuth "Lincoln's First Inaugural" in American Speeches, edited by Wayland Maxfield Parrish and Marie Hochmuth, p. 21-71.  New York: Longman's, Green and Co. 1954.

Halford Ross Ryan, Roosevelt's First Inaugural: A Study in Technique," in The Quarterly Journal of Speech 65 (197): 137-49.

Robert Newman, 'Under the Veneer: Nixon's Vietnam Speech of November 3, 1969," in The Quarterly Journal of Speech 56 (1970): 168-78.

Barry Brummett "A Pentadic Analysis of Ideologies in Two Gay Rights Controversies," Central States Speech Journal [now Communication Studies] 30 (1979).

Suzanne Daughton "Metaphorical Transcendence: Images of the Holy War in Franklin Roosevelt's First Inaugural."  In The Quarterly Journal of Speech (79) 1993: 227-46.

Randall Lake, "Enacting Red Power: The Consummatory Function in Native American Protest Rhetoric," in The Quarterly Journal of Speech 69 (1983): 127-42.

Robert Scott and Donald K. Smith, "The Rhetoric of Confrontation," in The Quarterly Journal of Speech," 55(1969) pp.1-8.

Stephen E. Lucas, "Genre Criticism and Historical Context L The Case of George Washington's First Inaugural Address." Southern Speech Communication Journal 51 (1986): 354-70.

Karlyn Kohrs Campbell, "The Rhetoric of Women's Liberation; An Oxymoron." Quarterly Journal of Speech 59 (1973): 74-86.

Bonnie Dow and Mari Boor Tonn, "Feminine Style and Political Judgment in the Rhetoric of Anne Richards," Quarterly Journal of Speech 79 (1993): 286-302.

Phyllis Japp "Esther or Isaiah?: The Abolitionist-Feminist Rhetoric of Angelina Grimke" Quarterly Journal of Speech 71 (1985): 335-48.

Martin Medhurst "Reconceptualizing Rhetorical History: Eisenhower's Farewell Address."  Quarterly Journal of Speech 80 (1994) 195-218.

Slagell, Amy, "Anatomy of a Masterpiece: A Close Textual Analysis of Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address," Communication Studies 42 (1991): 155-71.

Slagell, Amy, "The Rhetorical Structure of Frances E. Willard's Campaign for Woman Suffrage, 1876-1896," Rhetoric and Public Affairs 4 (Spring 2001):1-24.

Barbara Mae Gayle and Cindy Griffin, "Mary Ashton Rice Livermore's Relational Feminist Discourse: A Rhetorically Successful Feminist Model," Women's Studies in Communication (21) (Spring 1998): 55-76.

Susan Schultz Huxman "Perfecting the Rhetorical Vision of Woman's Rights: Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Anna Howard Shaw, and Carrie Chapman Catt," Women's Studies in Communication (23) (Fall 2000): 307-336.

Laura Behling, "Reification and Resistance: The rhetoric of Black Womanhood at the Columbian Exposition, 1893" Women's Studies in Communication (25) (Fall 2002): 173-196.

Suzanne Daughton, "The Fine Texture of Enactment: Iconicity as Empowerment in Angelina Grimkes Pennsylvania Hall Address,"  Women's Studies in Communication 18 (Spring 1995): 19-44.

Diane Helene Miller "From One Voice a Chorus: Elizabeth Cady Stanton's 1860 Address to the New York Legislature," Women's Studies in Communication (22) (Fall 1999)152-189.

Robert Terrill, "Protest, Prophecy and Prudence in the Rhetoric of Malcolm X," Rhetoric and Public Affairs 4 (Spring 2001):25-54.

Stephen H. Browne, "'The Circle of Our Felicities': Thomas Jefferson's First Inaugural Address and the Rhetoric of Nationhood," Rhetoric and Public Affairs 4 (Fall 2002):409-438.

Gary Selby, "Mocking the Sacred: Frederick Douglass's 'Slaveholder's Sermon' and the Antebellum Debate over Religion and Slavery," Quarterly Journal of Speech 88 (2002):326-341.

William Harpine "Bryan's 'A Cross of Gold: The Rhetoric of Polarization at the 1896 Democratic Convention."  Quarterly Journal of Speech 87 (2001) 291-304.