Rhetorical Analysis: The First Timed Write By Wendell Chavez

Two timed writes rest on the desk before me, titled rhetorical analysis. The first contains an analysis about Wendell Phillips’s speech to persuade Northerners to allow African Americans to serve in the military. Written in October, the paper was given a five while the second timed write was awarded a seven. The analysis talks about an article in a magazine written by Cesar Chavez who makes his argument about nonviolent resistance, that timed write was written six months later in April. The first Timed Write starts off with a list in the introduction, which Dunbar strongly opposes since it reflects poor skills and novelty writing. The essay lists the rhetorical devices found in Phillips’s speech but cannot seem to explain their utility in corroborating

with the purpose of the speech. Elaboration is at a minimum and the syntax is confusing to follow. The sequence of ideas do not fluidly go together because the lack of transitions between evidence. There are spots of brilliance but the jumbled thoughts scattered in the paper make the overall value lower and at times it is unclear to understand what is being explained. It also gets repetitive later in the paper, no new content is displayed but it does further explain ideas brought up earlier in the paper. The second Timed Write about Cesar Chavez is written more clearly and provides more detailed explanations about the rhetorical devices. Written more sophistically, the vocabulary drastically improved which allowed a more precise, detailed clarification of concepts. The previous essay used multiple sentences to explain a simple matter while the second one had less circumlocution, which allowed more time to outline the paper into a smooth transition among the different concepts presented.