nThis paper asks you to develop an argument about some aspect of American Indian rhetorics that interested you. You might study a topic in greater detail (i.e., Cherokee removal or boarding school narratives), or explore a concept from a new perspective (i.e., survivance, Indian politics and rhetoric), or offer a rhetorical study of a contemporary or historical American Indian text, treaty, or issue. You might further study the rhetorical practices of a figure of interest that we read about (i.e., Sarah Winnemucca, Zitkala-Sa, Red Jacket, trickster figures). If you hope to become a teacher, you might study pedagogical approaches to teaching American Indian rhetorics. In other words, you'll need to do some substantial research to determine the focus of your rhetorical discussion and compose a clear, thesis-driven discussion.
Aims
• Demonstrate specific knowledge and understanding of your focused area of study
• Craft a specific, non-obvious, and coherent purpose that contends with some curiosity, question, or problem you identify related to American Indian rhetorics
• Develop a focused discussion using sufficient evidence and examples from our texts and additional sources
Basics
For conducting research, I recommend the following databases: ERIC, MLA, and Comppile (http://comppile.org/search/comppile_main_search.php) as most appropriate to the discipline of rhetoric and composition. Also, you'll want to do research in the subject area of Native American Studies. See this site for database recommendations: http://guides.lib.montana.edu/sb.php?subject_id=41223 See also the additional sources listed under class texts to help you get started and the annotated bibliographies classmates created.
Plan ahead and spread out your work on this paper. Start as early as possible and work on it a little at a time.
Undergrad final papers should be between 2,500-3,000 words. Graduate final papers should be about 3,750-5,000 words. Upload your final paper to your Google Drive folder; please make sure you convert your text to the Google Docs format, so I can easily comment on your text. Use MLA style.
Evaluative Criteria. I will comment on your success doing the following:
Demonstrate specific knowledge and understanding of your focused area of study;
Craft a specific, non-obvious, and coherent purpose;
Develop a focused discussion/analysis using sufficient evidence and examples;
Make an organized argument;
Engage and persuade readers of the value of your purpose;
Compose a fluent, well-edited text, reasonably free of errors
Follow MLA style or the style of your choice in language approaches and citation usage.