The Dog Ate My Home Work Rhetorical Analysis

Rhetorical Analysis Carolyn Segal Foster, a writer and an English professor at Cedar Crest College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, writes about some of the things she has experienced as a teacher in “The Dog Ate My Homework and Other Tales of Woe.” Segal’s purpose is to describe her opinion and the stories that her students have come up with in order to get out of doing the assigned homework. A sarcastic tone is used throughout the paper to help students and teachers find humor. The author of, “The Dog Ate My Homework and Other Tales of Woe,” Carolyn Foster Segal, uses rhetorical questions, sarcasm, and narration to share her opinion on her experiences from stories of students who have tried to avoid homework deadlines by creating a common ground for teachers and students to understand. The essay begins with Segal writing about how all the excuses that she has heard to get out of turning in homework on time fall into five categories. The

An example of narration is found in the section called, “The Evils of Dorm Life.” She sums up all the stories of excuses in this section by writing, “My roommate, who is a horrible person, likes to party, and I, who am a good person, cannot concentrate on my work when he or she is partying” (Segal 462). It is important that Segal uses this rhetorical device because her paper would not make sense without it. She uses it to explain every bizarre story she has heard from her students. When she narrates, she provides a commentary on the story which shows her opinion. Her narration relates to students because they have been through similar experiences while trying to get out of a homework deadline. Her narration relates to teachers because they have probably heard many excuses from students. The rhetorical device, narration, really helps Segal to show her opinion and helps for teachers and students to