Essay #1 asks you to ANALYZE a written piece for its RHETORICAL SITUATION. Your THESIS should grow out of this analysis, in that the rhetorical tools selected by the author point to a particular trend, train of thought, sympathy, agenda, or motive for writing that piece.
Select a piece that is fairly lengthy. A 1-2 page article is probably not long enough. Editorials would make good choices since the author is at liberty to reveal his or her persona.
Consider ALL of the following when analyzing the piece you've selected:
1) Organization: How is the work organized? Does the author present a simple claim that is later deepened? If so, how is that achieved? What evidence is given first? Last? Why in that order?
2) Purpose, Persona, Audience: The WHY, WHO and FOR WHOM of the piece is important to figure out. Often, your thesis may be derived from answering these questions.
3) Fallacies: This is an argumentative failing. Where does the piece fall short? Why? Do you think it was purposely done?
4) Appeals: How has the author employed LOGOS, ETHOS and PATHOS? Are these used correctly or poorly?
5) Diction: What does the author's word choice say to you? Does he or she reveal any bias?
You must address all of these to some degree in your paper if you are going to fully analyze the rhetorical situation of your selected piece. Essays that don't address all of these in some way can earn no higher than a C. Essays earning an A will speak to the rhetorical situation AS WELL AS defend an original thesis concerning either the selected piece itself, or the sustainability issue being discussed using the selected piece.
Obviously, you must have at least one source which to analyze, but you may use more than one if you'd like, either for comparison/contrast purposes, or as support for sustainability issue you've chosen here.
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