Thursday, October 2, 2014

RA Proposal Reflection

     My essay will be based on a letter written by Einstein to a girl in response to her question. I came across this letter in the eleventh grade in my English class. It's Intrigued me since.
     I feel like this essay has a lot of potential if i but can discern  Einstein's figurative language. He says a lot of brilliant things, and who is going to argue with Einstein? My concern is that I won't be able to get four pages worth of Einstein's brilliance. It's a short letter.
     This assignment was easy because his letter is oozing with rhetoric. It's easy to read it and pick up on it. Plus, I've written rhetorical analysis in the past so my eyes and brain are accustomed to discerning rhetoric.
     Hopefully this won't end up being terrible to write. Here's my proposal:



Candela Lattanzio
Debra Reece
English 1010                                                        
2 October 2014                                                                                                       
Rhetorical Analysis Proposal
Topic: Rhetorically analyze Einstein’s response to Phyllis’s question about whether scientists pray or not.
Situation and Explanation: Phyllis writes a letter to Albert Einstein asking whether scientists pray or not. Einstein cleverly responds using quite a few rhetorical strategies. Einstein tries explaining that it’d be silly for scientists to pray because they believe that everything has a very not super natural explanation.
Rhetorical Context: Einstein is our rhetor. Phyllis, and anyone else wondering if scientists pray, is the audience. The issue is whether or not scientists pray and why.
Rhetorical strategies: Einstein uses A LOT of rhetoric in his letter. First off, he is a scientists widely known. No one would argue about science with Einstein. He also uses logic, saying that it’d be strange for scientists to pray because scientific research is based on the idea that everything is determined by the laws of nature. He appeals to pathos in that he refers to a supernatural being and faith. Towards the end he also insults Phyllis by calling her naïve.

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