11.4 Rhetorical analysis of Obama speech

Grade so far.  Each of you should have received an email with a grade so far.  At the beginning of class I talked over patterns in the writing process and products from your portfolios.  I also pointed out that while earlier grade so far numbers weighed more heavily in terms of participation points, as we move towards the end of the semester, the grade will shift to reflect more of the quality (graded writing).  That means that if your grade is on the border, and you are counting on participation points to keep it at the higher grade, you will need to work harder on getting higher marks on the graded writing.

Also, as stated in class last week,  I called your attention to the fact that if you want to change scores for the summary/response unit, you need to turn in missing work + revisions before class next Tuesday, November 11.  I have looked at all additional/re-posted work noted on the homepage of the portfolios I just graded.  If you have additional work you would like considered, send me an email with a link to your portfolio, and a specific list of what you want me to consider.

 I will not re-grade work from the summary response unit turned in after November 11.

Work on Rhetorical analysis.
We spent most of the rest of class working on a detailed analysis of Obama's speech to the NAACP in terms of the content & rhetorical moves she made, paragraph by paragraph, and move by move.  Below is a copy of our observations from that discussion.

1. opening
thanks  (par1-6) thanks individuals (members of organization=> =connect to her target audience, first)

building connections to the audience (par 7-10) discusses history of organization + its audience; pay attention to her use of "we" and "you" => "we" emphasizes connection, "you" acknowledges the work + accomplishments of the group

setting up focus in general (11-14)  charges the group with "more to do" to achieve equality + good lives => for our children (introduces focus on children)

setting up focus in terms of health + obesity + kids(15-19)  problem with obsesity for kids = important the way they feel = health risks

re-state focus in terms of organization's interests (20-21) African American community + the work of the NAACP

2. body of argument
i. first point of argument (25-42)= the culture of activity and eating is different for kids today than it was for us

her generation/ AA culture in terms of activity (25-30) use of "we" => connects to group
her generation/ culture of eating (31-36) use of "we"
what it is like for kids (then AA kids) in terms of activity and eating (37-42)

ii. second point (43 -47 ) these changes are resulting in health issues, connects to NAACP's agenda

iii. Obama's agenda => (48-74) what she proposes to do about these problems (her agenda)

Let's move program
(48-50) defines objectives
(51) identifies partners/stakeholders (interested parties)
(53-74) sets up the 4 components of the program (orients the audience to what she will say) and then discusses them one by one :  the general pattern she uses to discuss each component is to state what the component does, give an example, describe the legislation associated with the component's objectives, identify partners, and transition to the next component.

For the fourth component, she gave much more background material (proof) that this last component was necessary (so if you have a point that your audience won't understand or connect to => give background)

(75-86) sets forward ways to change at the individual level, she moves from general statements to specific examples, then a transition .  covers let's cook, breast feeding + WIC  (3 ways individuals can act + government helps)

87 need to look at our own habits
88 set examples
89-91 community examples
92 transition to conclusion

iv  Conclusion
94-104 connects back to NAACp history (you can do this because you have done this kind of work many times before => a series of examples)
105  Final appeal for Obama's agenda

Map of Obama's moves
1. Opening:  connects to audience through thanking group for their attention to her, using we, acknowledging group's accomplishments, setting up focus in general way, connecting general focus to the group's agenda.  Comparison of "us" (generation/group seeking to address the problem) and "them" (generation with the problem) as transition to set up her agenda for solving the problem.

2. Body:  sets up her agenda in a general way, then in a specific way.
i. Let's Move.
defines plan, breaks into components (sets up overall argument => tells how many points)
in the description of individual components, she describes each component in terms of what it does, how it connects to her actions (government), how to and who can support her actions; transition to next component.  She gives history (additional persuasive facts/context) for any point that might be difficult for the audience to understand.

ii. individual and community actions.

3. Conclusion
connects back to group's agenda, identity + history
restates her request for action.

Assignment for next class.
For the last part of class, you divided into groups to choose and audience and a purpose for an argument you would make to the class in the form of a presentation.  Your argument's purpose + audience should be chosen so that they "fit" with the form of Obama's argument.

Groups + their (so far) audience + argument:
1. Doreen, Austin, Vinson, Wenscent: (audience= senior citizens, older people group (AARP?); argument:  smart phones are important to 21st century communication and here is a plan for integrating them into your life)
2. Taffy, Jess, Sha, Lulu  (audience = young people who use social media; argument: cyberbullying has become pervasive, and here is a plan for all of us to work on stopping it)
3. Erica, JaQuetta, Jesse, Damian  (audience= students at Kean; argument: here is what we can do to ensure that the parking situation gets better)
4. Terrell, Sabrina, Khizer, Kevin:  audience= individuals who communicate extensively with phones; argument: cell phones are changing the quality of our relationships, and here is a plan to change your everyday communication patterns)

For next class:  Each group will write a script for a speech, addressed to their chosen audience, to persuade them of their "agenda", using the form or moves in the order set forward in Michelle Obama's talk to the NAACP.

In class, you created a google.doc (drive) document through your Kean account, and invited everyone in your group as a contributor (so they can 'write" in the page).

During the first part of class, you will be able to "polish"/go over the script.  During the second part of class, you will "perform" your scripts.  All group members should have a role for the performance (we will talk about this in class).