Rhetorical Artifacts to Consider for your Rhetorical Analysis

If you are struggling to find a choose a rhetorical artifact (example of rhetorical discourse), you might think about times when your own writing was under pressure or stress. In developing academic arguments, it's always more interesting to write about something that's not "yes" or "no" or "black" and "white." It's hard to say much of interested when things are so clear-cut. Rather, think of writing that was hard to write or to read, that made you think, that made you struggle, that responded to a complicated rhetorical situation, that could never find a rhetorical home, that felt like it didn't belong, that challenged the status quo, and so.

What do I mean by rhetorical artifact?

In other words, try to think of rhetorical artifacts with an edge.

Some examples below might get the juices flowing:

Jean Kaunda, a Ph.D. student from Malawi, talks about being asked to write a critique of a local school lunch program and why her political fears caused her to fail the assignment.

Pablo Zapata talks about the direct (almost rude) way he's expected to write in the U.S. He complains that Americans don't take time to establish a relationship with the reader before jumping into their points.

Maho Isono discusses differences in reader expectations in Japan versus the U.S.

This videos are clearly not exhaustive list, but they are meant to get you thinking about some intrigue, conflict, or otherwise interesting artifact to rhetorical situation combination.