Essay 1 – Examining Sources – Assignment Instructions

The purpose of this assignment is for you to think about the types of sources,
perspectives, opinions, and ideas you are bringing to the reading of our course text,
Rhetorical Analysis and our writing course and how these sources may impact your
writing process.

Assignment Instructions:
As we begin our semester thinking about knowledge construction, perspectives,
arguments, and sources, we should first pause and reflect upon the opinions, ideas,
experiences, and perspectives we are already bringing to the table. As we will see in our
textbook, Rhetorical Analysis, arguments are not created in a vacuum, but respond to an
on-going conversation. The on-going conversation we will join in this course is a
conversation about Latinx peoples and cultures as we examine the rhetorical strategies
and argument constructions in Rhetorical Analysis.

During our discussions of Rhetorical Analysis, what sources are you bringing to
conversations about Latinx peoples and cultures? In other words, what preconceptions,
ideas, opinions, and perspectives do you already have? How have your ideas about Latinx
peoples and culture been influenced by social media, commercials, advertisements,
newspapers, movies, books, community, friends, income, social class, etc? What is
writing to you? How might these sources influence your writing this semester?

For this first paper, you will write a 2-3 page exploration of the sources and opinions you
are bringing to the class and develop a working hypothesis on how these sources may
affect your contributions to the course. Topics for this paper will focus on (a) particular
perspectives that you have and (b) how these perspectives may influence the way in
which you develop your writing skills over the course of the semester.

Suggested Topics (Part A):

• The campus theme this year is “Defining America.” How have you seen
“America” defined? What impact have definitions had on you? On those around
you?
• The media, especially social media, has an effect on almost all aspects of life.
How has TV, Facebook, commercials, or print advertisements molded the ways
you think about Latinx peoples and cultures?
• Explore how your perceptions of culture difference in general have changed since
you’ve arrived on campus. Why/how have these changes taken place? What are
some contributing factors? Be specific.

Suggested Conclusions (Part B):

Based on your exploration of what and how you think about Latinx peoples and cultures,
and the sources that contribute to your opinions, how might what you think about these
topics shape the way you read and respond to Rhetorical Analysis and this writing class?
Be as specific as possible. Will your perspectives make you difficult to persuade to other
ways of thinking about cultures in the US?
1
Dr. Paul M Worley
ENGL 101 Fall 2018
Basic (Minimum) Requirements
• Length: approx. 500-650; words 2-3 pages (absolutely no less than 500 words)
• Layout: MLA-style: 12 point Times New Roman font, double-spaced pages, 1”
margins, page numbers and last name in the top right corner
• First Page: Top left-hand corner should have (in this order) Your Name, My
Name, Course Number and Section, Due Date, Essay 1 – Examining Sources
(name of draft) and a descriptive title centered on the page; no title page
• Word count at the end of the essay
• Free of grammatical and mechanical errors. Absolutely no misspellings.
• No fragments.

Note: A paper that fails to meet the minimum length requirement on this assignment will
receive a grade no higher than a D.

See Syllabus for Draft and Final Version due dates

2
Dr. Paul M Worley
ENGL 101 Fall 2018