Heading Directions 

The following information must be placed at the top of your assignment at the left margin:

First and Last Name 
Professor’s Name
Course Name
Course ID & CRN
Due Date/of Submission

                                                                                                    Name of Assignment

The name of the assignment should be centered on the page. In this instance, the name of the assignment is Rhetorical Analysis 1 – Do You Speak American, McNeil.

Please note: This heading should be included on every assignment.  Skip a line between the heading and title and the assignment content.

Assignment Instructions

Due Date: This assignment cannot be completed after the established due date and time.

Assignment Prompt: Working independently and using your reading notes or annotations, apply the SOAPSTone rhetorical method to analyze and evaluate “Do You Speak American?” by Robert MacNeil | USA Today Magazine | January 2005.

Don’t forget to include discussion of the medium in your evaluation of the text. The medium is the delivery method, which varies by type of text, including written speech, newspaper editorial, essay, passage out of a novel, poetry, images (i.e., TV commercials, advertisements in magazines or on websites), sound, and multimodal texts (i.e., YouTube videos, performances, digital stories).

Here are some basic terms and concepts that you MUST discuss in your rhetorical analysis:

• Subject: What is the topic or subject of the text? 
• Occasion: What is the occasion? What is the time and place and context of the article? When and where was it written? Published? Was there anything important occurring during that time or in that place that might be reflected in the text (i.e., historical events, political changes, cultural changes, social movements, etc.)?
• Audience: Who is the intended audience, and how do you know? The intended or targeted audience is the reader or group of readers to whom the author writes or addresses. Is it an individual person; a specific group, class, demographic of people; or the general public? How do you know; what clues in the text helped you to identify the intended audience?
• Purpose: What is the author’s purpose, and how do you know? Why did the author write this piece? To entertain, inform, persuade, educate, criticize, satirize, describe, narrate? What is the speaker’s argument? What are people supposed to do or think after they read it?
• Speaker: Who is the speaker? What are his or her credentials? What’s his or her personality? What details (words and verbal or body language) are used to show the personality of the speaker? Is the speaker qualified to discuss the topic? Is the speaker trustworthy, credible? Overall, is the video text a credible source?
• Tone: And what is the speaker’s tone or attitude toward the subject? What emotions are being expressed and how do they influence the audience? What language (including body language) or words are used to show the author’s tone or attitude?