Assignment:
Like writers, stand up comedians need to make rhetorical choices on how to get the best reaction from their audiences. For this assignment, you will pick and watch a stand up comedy routine of your choosing (must be at least ½ hr long) and analyze the rhetoric or persuasive elements the comedian uses to get laughs from the audience. Your job is to analyze not just what’s said, but HOW it’s said. You do not need to compare comedians and writers in this essay. Ultimately, you will just be evaluating the effectiveness of the comedy routine by looking for and judging the use of various rhetorical devices. If you don’t have a favorite stand up comedian, look through a list posted in Announcements on Sakai. You are the sole evaluator, so do not use or consult outside sources for this essay. (You can find stand-up comedies on Netflix, YouTube–make sure they’re not just clips, Amazon Prime, Comedy Central, etc).
Rubric:
The introduction should hook the reader, introduce the comic, state the title of the stand up comedy routine and the year it aired, summarize in a few sentences what one can expect in watching the routine, and describe the rhetorical situation (who is the comic(what persona does the comedian display on stage?), who is the intended audience, what’s his/her purpose, what’s the exigence (think about how the comic makes the audience think about certain topics in a new way), what’s the context, what are the logos techniques that the comic mainly uses (comparison/contrast, cause/effect, definition, inductive/deductive reasoning etc), and for the majority of the show, how does the comic make the audience feel? Please do not answer these questions in a row in your introductions. Weave your answers together with the summary so the information is seamless. Finally end with a they say/I say thesis in which you argue to what extent the comedian is effective based on the rhetorical appeals. (30 pts)
The body paragraphs should all focus on all the techniques/devices the comic uses in order to be effective/funny. Please note that this is NOT a traditional 5- paragraph essay, so don’t try to cram your analysis of techniques into three neat paragraphs. You need to have a minimum of ethos, pathos, and logos covered, but additional paragraphs can focus on the use of fallacies or other rhetorical devices. For ethos, discuss how the comedian portrays him/herself and attempts to build a bond with the audience (trust/credibility) and how that helps to “manipulate” the audience. For pathos, discuss how the comedian makes the audience feel. Do the jokes make the audience feel bad about themselves? Good about themselves or other emotions? For Logos, what is the comedian attempting to teach the audience and how (comparison/contrast, Causes/effects, problem/solution,using inductive or deductive reasoning? (50 points)
Topic sentences all mention one specific appeal/rhetorical device/ theory/or fallacy and whether it is used successfully or not (note: in academic arguments, fallacies are never successful, but in comedy they can be used effectively for the purpose of making the audience laugh). Your paragraphs can combine theories and appeal. For example, one can examine relief theory in relation to pathos and how audiences feel the relief of tension after the speaker makes them feel uncomfortable.
Provide at least two pieces of evidence from the comedy routine to prove your topic sentence
Explain how the two examples attempt to use one of the appeals (ethos/pathos/or logos)
Add your opinion—why are these examples persuasive or not? How do they relate to the overall message of the comedian? Would another technique or something else make it more effective?
In your conclusion, respond to the comedy sketch as a whole—what was your overall reaction? What did you learn about how the comic connects with his/her audience? Would you recommend this comedy show, why or why not? (10 points)
MLA and constraints: This should be a 3-5 pg paper. Be sure that your essay follows MLA 8 formatting and the following constraints: 12 pt black font, Times New Roman, double spaced, 1 inch margins all around (default setting on Google Docs and Microsoft Word), heading with your name, my name, the class and section, and the date, a header, your title, and a separate Work Cited page. Avoid using you/your or any 2nd person pronouns unless it’s in the hook or something you quote. For the stand up comedy, cite it as an online video on the Work Cited page. For your intext citations use the time from the video. Please check all of your citations since all intentional and unintentional issues of plagiarism will receive 10 pts off (10 points)
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Like writers, stand up comedians need to make rhetorical choices on appeared first on Homeworkassisters.
