The Boston Tea Party: A Rhetorical Analysis
Stacy Schiff
The Boston Tea Party Was More Than That. It Was a Riot.
https://www(dot)nytimes(dot)com/2020/08/13/opinion/protests-monuments-history.html
Introduction
This course is designed to develop first-year students’ proficiency in analytical and rhetorical reading and writing, and critical thinking. Students will read, understand, and interpret a variety of texts representing different cultural perspectives and/or academic disciplines. These texts are designed to challenge students intellectually and to stimulate their writing for a variety of contexts and purposes. Through inquiry-based assignment sequences, students will develop academic research and literacy practices that will be further strengthened throughout their academic careers. Particular attention will be given to the writing process, including an emphasis on teacher-student conferencing, critical self-assessment, class discussion, peer review, formal and informal writing, research, and revision.
Requirements
Students will be required to write three papers: a rhetorical analysis of an essay (1000 words); a critical synthesis responding to essays arguing several sides of a controversial issue (1200 words); and an inquiry-based research paper (1500 words). For each essay, students will be required to submit a draft as well as “scaffolding” exercises to ensure and evaluate progress. Several shorter writing assignments, to be completed both in and out of class, are also required. Detailed directions for all drafts, papers, and short assignments will be given in class; due dates are listed on the syllabus. Students are expected to contribute to all class discussions.
Attendance
The following RIT attendance policy is used in this class: “It is the responsibility of all students to attend their scheduled classes regularly and punctually in order to promote their progress and to maintain conditions conducive to effective learning. Absences, for whatever reason, do not relieve students of their responsibility for fulfilling normal requirements in any course. In particular, it is the student's responsibility to make individual arrangements in advance of missing class due to personal obligations such as religious holidays, job interviews, athletic contests, etc., in order that he or she may meet his or her obligations without penalty for missing class.” When you miss class, I ask that you send me a brief e-mail explaining your absence.
Textbook
There is no required textbook for this class. Readings will be made available through the MyCourses platform or will be handed out in class.
Grading
Rhetorical analysis draft: 5% Research paper draft: 10% Quizzes: 5%
Rhetorical analysis: 15% Research paper: 25%
Critical synthesis draft: 10% Literacy Autobiography: 5%
Critical synthesis: 20% Final Reflection Paper: 5%
The RIT Liberal Arts grading scale will be used, and a rubric will be used to grade some drafts and final essays. To earn an A in the course, you must turn in all work, and the quality of the work must be excellent. Exams and essays will be largely free from errors; essays written in and out of class will be original, thoughtful, and well-supported. Very good work will earn a B; adequate work a C; sub-standard work a D; work that is plagiarized or not turned in by the deadline will earn an F. I do not accept late papers except in cases of extreme emergency. It is not possible to earn extra credit in this course.
Academic Integrity
As an institution of higher learning, RIT expects students to behave honestly and ethically at all times, especially when submitting work for evaluation in conjunction with any course or degree requirement. The University Writing Program encourages all students to read and follow the RIT Honor Code and Academic Integrity Policy. These can be found at:
- RIT Honor Code: https://www.rit.edu/academicaffairs/policiesmanual/p030
- RIT Academic Integrity Policy: https://www.rit.edu/academicaffairs/policiesmanual/d080
Reasonable Accommodations
RIT is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to students with disabilities. If you would like to request accommodations such as special seating or testing modifications due to a disability, please contact the Disability Services Office. It is located in the Student Alumni Union, Room 1150; the Web site is www.rit.edu/dso. After you receive accommodation approval, it is imperative that you see me during office hours so that we can work out whatever arrangement is necessary.
The Writing Commons
One-on-one assistance with planning and completing your writing assignments is available from the consultants in The Writing Commons. They offer both one-time and recurring weekly appointments, and provide walk-in hours every week of the semester. Check their online schedule for the most up-to-date information.
Contact Information
I will hold office hours in my office, Wallace 4531, on Monday and Wednesday from 2:30-3:30, and on Tuesday and Thursday from 4 to 4:30. I am also available by appointment. I can be reached by e-mail at [email protected]. I read and answer e-mail during normal office hours.
Expectations
Please come to class having completed that day’s reading and writing assignments, and prepared to participate in class discussions. Please share your ideas, and listen carefully and respectfully to the ideas of your classmates. You may not use electronic devices in class for any purpose other than note-taking or completing assignments; please make sure all noise-making devices are silenced. Those who violate these requests will be asked to leave the classroom. Written work will be submitted using the MyCourses Assignments feature; all written work must be in the form of a Word document or a PDF. Please make sure you submit your work on time; I do not accept late papers except in the case of a serious and documentable emergency. Please carefully follow all RIT Covid regulations.
Syllabus
Introduction and explanation of Directed Self Placement (DSP)
READ: Douglass, “How I Learned to Read and Write”; Lamott, writing advice
Timed diagnostic test on MyCourses
READ: Harvard Commencement Speech; “America Flunks Freshman Comp”
Week of August 31
READ: Randall, “My Body is a Confederate Monument”
WRITE: TBA
Week of September 7
READ: Carter, “Just Be Nice”; Coates interview
WRITE: Oxford English Dictionary exercise; rhetorical analysis outline
Week of September 14
READ: Stamper, “Bitch”
WRITE: Draft of rhetorical analysis is due at the start of class on September 18th
Week of September 21
READ: Lanham, “Forever Gone”; Lunsford, “Writing Analytically” and “Managing the Writing Process”
WRITE: Discussion board on September 25
Week of September 28
READ: Lunsford, “Synthesizing Ideas”; Marris, “A Very Old Man for a Wolf”
WRITE: Final Draft of Rhetorical Analysis is due at the start of class on October 2nd
Week of October 5
READ: Laderman, “Why I’m Easy,” and Gentry, “Why Grades Still Matter”; Lunsford, “Quoting, Paraphrasing…” ; “Thesis Development”
WRITE: Thesis statement for critical synthesis essay is due at the start of class on October 7
Discussion board on October 9
Week of October 12
READ: Postman, “Five Things We Need to Know about Technological Changes” and Lunsford, “‘This is where I stand’: Arguing a Position” and “Organizing an Argument”
WRITE: First draft of critical synthesis essay is due at the start of class on October 16th
Week of October 19
READ: Smith, “Racism, misogyny, death threats: Why can’t the booming video-game industry curb toxicity?” ;
APA, “Technical Report…”
WRITE: Research Proposal due at the start of class on October 23rd
Week of October 23
READ: Swift, “A Modest Proposal”; “Evaluating Sources”
WRITE: Final draft of critical synthesis essay is due at the start of class on October 30th
Week of November 2
READ: Muhammad, “The Barbaric History of Sugar in America”
WRITE: Annotated bibliography is due at the start of class on November 6
Week of November 9
READ: Rawlings, “College is not a commodity” and Phelan “What’s all this about Journaling?”
WRITE: Research paper draft is due at the start of class on November 13th
Week of November 16
READ: Research paper drafts as assigned
WRITE: Peer evaluation of assigned research papers due at the start of class on November 20
Week of November 23
READ: Weisenfeld, “Making the Grade”; Mozer, “I Would Rather Do Anything Else,” and Tierney, “Why Teachers Secretly Hate Grading Papers”
WRITE: Self-assessment
Week of November 30 (class will not meet in person)
WRITE: Final draft of research paper is due December 2nd by 5 PM EST
Running head: THE BOSTON TEA PARTY1
“The Boston Tea Party”: A Rhetorical Analysis
Student Name
College/University Affiliation
THE BOSTON TEA PARTY
2
“The Boston Tea Party”: A Rhetorical Analysis
In “The Boston Tea Party Was More Than That. It Was a Riot,” Schiff (2020) reframes America’s founding acts of protests leading up to Declaration of Independence. In contrast to a more conventional (and largely established) account of America’s independence from Great Britain – and, for that matter, birth as a nation and state – Schiff, using largely “hushed up” events in American history to highlight events qualified more as acts of riots and less as acts of revolution. Using a combination of rhetorical devices, Schiff offers a witty yet also an unorthodox account of America’s most “sacred” part of history namely, Independence. Specifically, Schiff employs ethos, pathos and logos in order to make evident, or at a minimum debunk long-standing myths about, events leading up to America’s ultimate act of protest, i.e. independence, particularly unloading chests of East India tea in Boston Harbor. To put matters into more perspective, a closer examination is required of Schiff’s employment of rhetorical devices in “The Boston Tea Party.” This analysis aims, accordingly, to provide a detailed account of and explanation for rhetorical devices employed by Stacy Schiff in “The Boston Tea Party Was More Than That. It Was a Riot” perhaps to develop special cognitive and emotional effects on readers.
First and foremost, ethos. Schiff is – as shown in article’s byline (“Ms. Schiff is a writer and historian”) as well as in a note after articles end (“Stacy Schiff is the author of, among other books,“A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France and the Birth of America”) – is not only a reporter writing about one of America’s most important events yet, more importantly, is a historian. This lends much more credibility to Schiff’s account and, perhaps more importantly, more authority. From a rhetorical perspective, background and expertise do matter in order to
THE BOSTON TEA PARTY
3
gain reader’s attention and confidence. That is, by establishing a solid authority basis for writing, Schiff prepares readers – cognitively and, as shown shortly, emotionally – to accept accounts which might not be so accepted if presented by a “non-expert,” particularly if such accounts run against conventional wisdom. The platform, or medium, a writer – or, for that matter, a speaker – chooses to present his/her ideas is, moreover, no less important, if not more so. The current article is published in one of not only America’s most respected daily publications, The New York Times, yet perhaps one of world’s best. If anything, The New York Times is viewed by professional commentators and general readers as a “serious” publication of a long established history in well-researched news reports and, not least, world-class and Pulitzer-winning reporters, contributors and writers. This prestigious clout adds, accordingly, an additional layer of credibility – and, for that matter, acceptable authority – making readers prepared (willingly) to open up and “listen” to what is being said and, in current case, disputed.
Then again, ethos alone is not enough to make a statement – and, for that matter, a whole piece of argument – acceptable, let alone persuasive, if not supported by a writer’s/speaker’s eloquence and strong rhetorical skills. In “The Boston Tea Party,” Schiff meets, one believes, common criteria for an able and credible writer, rhetorically speaking. Schiff employs, more specifically, logos and pathos in numerous interesting ways in current article. The following is, accordingly, a more detailed analysis of Schiff’s skillful employment of logos and pathos in order to drive her point home to “willing” ears.
So, next to ethos comes logos. Interestingly, Schiff establishes a “fact...
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