ENGLISH 1301 PROJECT 3: RHETORICAL ANALYSIS
3 pages minimum of student-written text, 2 outside sources + video source Stacia Dunn Campbell, Ph.D. ©2021

During Unit 3, you will build skill of rhetorical analysis. We be discussing how music can relay social
justice messages. Our thematic content will come from music videos that express song lyrics that speak
to social issues in America.

We will consider HOW artists relay PERSUASIVE messages through songs delivered with the added
rhetorical content of a MUSIC VIDEO. Students should work hard to study the lyrics (by printing and
annotating them) as well the visual elements of the video (viewing several times and turning off the
sound and taking notes on what is placed, what is seen, what appears how, and pacing of images).
Remember, you do not have to AGREE with the message being sent; your job is to ANALYZE it, which
could include pointing out the biases in the artist’s perspective or choices in how the message was
delivered. YOU ARE ANALYZING, NOT EVALUATING. To analyze means to “break apart” and to consider
how the parts of something contribute to the whole. Keep that goal in the forefront.

We will also be learning and applying key concepts from RHETORICAL & SOCIAL THEORY, including
Kairos, Ethos, Pathos, Logos, Standpoint Theory (positionality), agency/structure, and Stasis.

Be ready to learn! Your learning objectives for this unit are to
1) Learn key terminology from the field of rhetoric that will be useful in analyzing a text and its
artist’s choices
2) EXPERIENCE multimodal texts to stimulate critical thinking
3) STUDY both visual and TEXTUAL (LYRICS) messages as an intellectual playground through the
packaging of a music video and its song
4) ANALYZE using the vocabulary and voice of an analyst
5) APPLY REASONING to point out EVIDENCE of artists’ CHOICES and RHETORICAL STRATEGIES within
a message
6) WRITE college-level academic analysis using THIRD-PERSON POINT OF VIEW to engage a text
7) BUILD WRITING SKILLS of expository analysis, grammar, revision, editing, and proofreading.

TEXT CHOICES (You must choose ONE of these as the subject of your rhetorical analysis)
1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r6A2NexF88 “The Joke” by Brandi Carlile
2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAg3uMlNyHA “Wings” by Macklemore x Ryan Lewis
3) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYOjWnS4cMY “This is America” by Childish Gambino
4) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amwVyRH2B8A “Ain’t No Reason” by Brett Dennen
5) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MKm9TB9b6s “We Americans” by The Avett Brothers
6) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs4dR4YjGPg “Making Do” by Lake Street Drive
7) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClU3fctbGls “What About Us” by P!nk
8) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LI8X-GhFA8 “Get Along” by Kenny Chesney
9) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8Gf4-eT3w0 “How to Love” by Lil Wayne
10) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeTu8xSGpEM “Penthouse Floor” by John Legend featuring Chance the
Rapper
11) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl_GlPquElI&list=PLxuwp_b8zZ4WGo104UieCZ9bgFTXlijui “War” by
Residente (with subtitles in English)

Steps to navigate this project successfully:

1) Watch all of the videos offered by your instructor during this unit

2) Study and consider the kind of music called “social protest music”

3) Select one video from the approved list and watch it without sound; then, close your eyes and listen

only to the sounds and words; then, study the lyrics as words on a page or screen.

4) Spend time taking NOTES; print the lyrics out and write annotations in the margins, commenting on

meaning, effect, and what you think the artist’s intentions are based on the video relaying the message.

5) Engage in RESEARCH to find outside sources that can be incorporated to support the analytical claims

you will make in the paper.

6) Complete a DRAFT and PRACTICE developing your points throughout your body paragraphs

7) Build the skills of REVISING content and EDITING for grammar and style and voice to improve your drafts

8) Complete a review workshop working collaboratively with colleagues in your class.

9) Format and PROOFREAD a FINAL COPY for turning in, complete with a Works Cited page in MLA style.

Grading Criteria (Use this list as a rubric by which you will be evaluated.)
A SUCCESSFUL RESPONSE TO THIS ASSIGNMENT . . .

1) Demonstrates the academic genre of ANALYSIS (studying the parts and discussing how they interrelate
to form a whole)

2) Applies the specific writing strategies of RHETORICAL ANALYSIS (analyzing the communication strategies
the sender/creator of the message

3) Uses at least THREE DIRECT QUOTES from the words of the lyrics to the song and explicates their
meaning through interpretation

4) Incorporates sufficient relevant EVIDENCE from the text in its multimodal forms (words of the lyrics,
visual elements in the video, sounds of the music/auditory effects.

5) Includes at least TWO outside source materials ETHICALLY and ACCURATELY for a total of a minimum of
THREE SOURCES (the video plus at least two more; you may use biographical material, articles on the
social issue the song is about, academic sources on the topic sung about, etc., but SHOW YOUR
INTELLECTUAL connections through your good choices!) If you choose to use the lyrics from a website
that offers them, that is OK, but count them as an additional source, not one of the two required
sources.

6) Shows a sensitivity to AUDIENCE, the RHETORICAL OCCASION created by the speaker or voice of the
song, the PRONOUNS used and the POINT OF VIEW they create.

7) Demonstrates UNDERSTANDING OF and USE of at LEAST THREE TERMS from rhetorical theory learned
during this unit (including but limited to ethos, pathos, logos, Kairos, stasis, standpoint theory
(positionality), agency/structure, conflict theory.

8) Showcases well-developed and unified body paragraphs that have topic sentences at the beginning and
closing statements at the end.

9) Includes a creative title, third-person academic tone, college-level sentence structures that are free of
grammar errors, and care in achieving purpose and audience appeal.

10) Fulfills the length requirements of at LEAST THREE PAGES from the first line to the last line of student-
written text (do NOT count the header, the title, or the source page in this length)