RA Reflection

I believe I deserve an A on my rhetorical analysis because I did make an insightful claim about what makes the article persuasive and not persuasive. I identified various rhetorical tools and fallacies used while carefully explaining each one. I focused on how the author created an effect on the audience rather than summarizing and reverting to personal opinions. My analysis was well written and I blended my quotes effectively. My analysis was unified because each paragraph supported my thesis. Transitions sentence to sentence and paragraph to paragraph were effective and each paragraph had a focused analysis based on my topic sentence. If I had another chance, I would go into a little more depth with each analysis. I believe I did a fair job, but I think I could have expounded upon it a little more to bring the reader to the same page I was on. My biggest challenge with this paper was talking about a specific audience. I didn't know how to incorporate a more specific audience and relate the author's tools to how they would effect them specifically. I found a way though, and I believe I did a decent job of it. My greatest strength, I believe, is identifying rhetorical tools the author used. I found plenty of examples of devices Malcom Gladwell used, such as irony and juxtaposition as well as various fallacious arguments including false dilemma, oversimplification, red herring, and straw person. I included these and explained their effectiveness versus the author's intent.

Debate

Rhetorical Strategies:

Obama mentions it's his wife's anniversary. It's a red herring fallacy used to distract from the argument and pathos to make the audience sympathetic.

Romney congratulates Obama on his anniversary and jokes about how romantic it is to be there with him. This connects the audience with Romney in a way

Romney tries to make eye contact with Obama when he is criticizing his policies. It makes him feel somewhat victimized and on the defensive.

I got five boys. I’m used to someone telling me something and repeating it, hoping I’ll believe it. This is an analogy that compares Obama to a boy.

Romney uses a rhetorical question when he asks "Why lower the rates?"
Obama alludes to Donald Trump and his idea for small business. 

When Romney brings up the guy from St. Louis with a small business, he uses asyndeton to list the types of taxes that man has to pay.

"Is the program so critical, it’s worth borrowing money from China to pay for it? This is another rhetorical question used by Romney.

Romney addresses Obama as Mr. President and says it’s with all due respect. This shows that he’s not trying to attack Obama personally, just trying to make his arguments.

Romney alludes to the Bull Simpson Commission

Romney says, "Middle income families are being buried and crushed." This is imagery used for pathos.