*Final essay is due:___/___/2016*
"Do Movies Matter?" by Stephen King
"Grammy Rewards" by Deborah Dalfonso
Trump and Clinton Comparison/Contrast Ethos Analysis Essay
Assignment: After reading, annotating, and watching Donald Trump's speech accepting the Republican Party's nomination for the presidency and Hillary Clinton's speech accepting the Democratic Party's nomination for the presidency in 2016, in no more than one thousand words, compare and contrast the ethos enhancement techniques and appeals to American values that the speeches employ.
Discuss the techniques, methods, and approaches that each candidate uses to enhance his ethos during his speech. Identify the "values of Americans" to which he appeals and allude to specific lines from the speech, quoting directly or indirectly (paraphrase). You may also consider ways in which each candidate reassures his party's faithful as well as how he reaches out to undecided voters.
Also, discuss specific passages designed to emphasize each candidate's character, authoritativeness, and background. Cite several propositions he supports that would likewise be supported by most people in his audience. In addition, explain how he exhibits or employs at least three of the ethos-building devices referred to in your notes as "factors influencing derived ethos."
I.
Introduction
This can be tricky because you must do several things: introduce the communication situation, both subjects, your intention (purpose) to contrast certain elements about them, and, if possible, identify what those elements of comparison and contrast are. The last thing you want for an opening is something as hackneyed as, "Subject X and Subject Y are similar in some respects but strikingly different in others." Rather, introduce your subjects clearly and develop purpose for juxtaposing and examining their appeals to ethos in this essay.
II.
Body
Comparison/contrast essays can be developed in one of two different ways with room for variation within each method.
Subject-by-Subject
The body of a comparison/contrast essay organized according to a Subject-by-Subject pattern covers one topic entirely and, then, following a transition phrase, sentence, or paragraph, covers the second topic entirely, addressing the same sub-points addressed for topic one in the same order that they were addressed. This necessitates references, especially in the second section of the paper, to the comparison/contrast process so that the composition doesn't come across as two completely separate essays hooked together with a transition.
You will need to plan accordingly before writing the first section of the paper because the second section must follow the same pattern of development. Keep the reader, as always, in mind as you plan so as to enable him/her, first to remember easily what was said in the first section while reading the second section and, second, to grasp the comparisons and contrasts that are at the heart of the essay.
Point-by-Point
The body of a comparison/contrast essay organized according to a Point-by-Point pattern shifts back and forth between the two subjects, usually comparing first and contrasting second. The positive aspect of this pattern is that it is easy for the reader to grasp comparisons and contrasts between the two subjects because they are handled closely together.
On the other hand, the most difficult element for a writer using point-by-point development is avoiding a back and forth, back and forth, back and forth... pattern that hypnotizes the reader. Care with sentence variety, choice of transitions, and use of specific examples can be used to overcome the ping-pong effect that might otherwise occur.
III.
Conclusion
Bring the reader back to the two candidates somehow so that s/he is not left with too much stress on whatever was covered last (the second subject in subject-by-subject or the contrasts in point-by-point).
Notes and precautions:
Make sure that your essay has proper balance: comparison and contrast should be approximately equal, and both subjects should be given approximately equal coverage.
Whether something is considered to be similar or contrasting often rests in the mind of the writer. Similar does not mean identical, and contrasting does not mean opposite. For example, if I were comparing two of my friends, I might point out that they are both sympathetic to the underprivileged in an area of similarity and, then, point out how they show this concern. For example, one friend might donate money to a variety of causes, while the other donates time to work for Habitat for Humanity projects. On the other hand, I could use this as an area of contrast pointing out that one gets actively involved and the other doesn't. The point you are trying to make determines the wording.
How finely and in what manner the subjects get dissected and addressed also depends on the writer's conception of the overall essay. One writer might discuss the candidate's stressing of American values as a single topic which is subdivided; another writer might select and discuss in isolation just those American values that s/he feels are important to the task at hand.
For brainstorming what general areas to inclue and how to organize the essay, consider using a Venn diagram or a "T" chart.