The Rhetoric of Everyday Objects

The Rhetoric of Everyday Objects
Writing Assignment
The project is the Object Analysis, which will look more like the type of analytical argument that you are
accustomed to producing for academic situations.
The primary objectives of this assignment are to give your reader a new way of looking at an everyday object
and to go about doing that by answering one of the following two Core Questions:
•What purpose—other than the function for which it was designed—does this object serve in U.S.
culture or in another culture with which you are familiar?
•What does the use/possession of this object reveal about U.S. culture in general or about the culture
or subculture in which the object is most widely circulated?
The object you choose as your focus can be:
•a specific object (such as the Nike Air Jordan).
•a type of object (such as sunglasses or coffee).
•a collection of a single kind of object (such as baseball cards or postage stamps).
•an object that has disappeared (such as the eight-track tape) or seems to be in danger of
disappearing (such as globes or books).
The object cannot be:
•an art object or something that was designed to be of purely aesthetic value.
•an animal, a person, a part of a person, or an intangible element, such as pride or intelligence.
Tip: As you make your selection, you should avoid choosing an object simply because it is your favorite
possession or you think it is really cool and take into consideration how the object you have chosen might
allow you to address one of the two Core Questions above.
Criteria for Evaluation
When grading this assignment, I will be looking for:
•an original analysis of the object that goes beyond stating the obvious.
•a compelling introduction that engages the reader.
•a well-crafted thesis statement.
•a unified focus and sustained development of ideas in the analysis.
•clear and correct writing style.
•use of MLA style for text and the works cited page.