Contextual Analysis Assignment
Writing
3-A-15
Marvin Diogenes
Assignment:
Contextual Analysis of Plato's Gorgias
Due Date:
5:00 p.m. on Friday, February 2 (in my office in Building 460, Room 223).
Length/Format:
Your contextual analysis should be six-eight typed, double-spaced pages
(1500-2000 words) and include a Works Cited page listing Plato's Gorgias
and any other texts you cite in your response. Another primary source
that you can use is the "Encomium of Helen." Gorgias, a well-known
sophist, was certainly part of Plato's cultural context, important enough
to be featured in a dialogue, and thus his speech is a valuable document
illustrating ideas and a form of speaking and teaching to which Plato
felt compelled to respond. You will also cite at least two secondary
sources that help you understand Plato's historical context. Waterfield's
introduction and explanatory notes can serve as one secondary source;
his bibliography provides many more possible secondary sources. Prepare
the paper according to the manuscript format detailed in the syllabus.
Remember to turn in your final version in a folder with all earlier drafts,
peer review sheets, photocopies of relevant pages from your secondary
sources, and a reflection on your process.
Subject
and Purpose:
In this dialogue Plato critiques rhetoric as a form of flattery by developing
the idea that rhetoric aims to create conviction without knowledge and
thus jeopardizes both the audience so persuaded and the rhetorician who
pursues worldly power and wealth at the expense of moral behavior and
the health of the soul.
What
particular historical and cultural contexts was Plato writing in and responding
to in this dialogue? How did these contexts influence his persuasive strategies?
In your
contextual analysis, provide a close reading of Plato's dialogue (reprising
the main task of the rhetorical analysis) and a detailed, well-supported
answer to the questions about context above. You may draw on personal
experiences with language along with observations of language at work
in your culture to contrast Plato's context with your historical moment.
In completing this assignment, aim to fulfill two main purposes: read
Plato's dialogue closely and critically in order to write a thorough summary
integrated into your essay, and explore the historical and cultural contexts
in which Plato produced this critique of rhetoric as a way to increase
your and your readers' understanding of the dialogue's persuasive strategies.
Plato's
characters make many topical references in the dialogue, demonstrating
how fully these characters were shaped and influenced by their times.
Plato assumes that his audience is familiar with the common sayings and
cultural allusions of Athenian culture. In drafting your contextual analysis,
consider these references as guides for developing research questions
that will lead you to fuller understanding of how and why Plato presents
and develops his arguments. Specifically, what current and historical
events is Plato responding to? What behaviors and underlying values does
he argue for and against?
Back to the Handouts Index
Contextual
Analysis Peer Review Guidelines
Writing
3-A-15
Marvin Diogenes
Peer
Review Sheet-Contextual Analysis of Plato's Gorgias
Writer's
Name:__________________ Reader's Name:___________________
On January
29 and 31, class time will be devoted to peer review. The purpose of peer
review is for you to help each other advance beyond the current draft
toward the finished paper. To best achieve this purpose, try first to
describe what this draft is doing and then move on to suggestions for
making the paper more effective. Your goal is not to judge but rather
to mirror and offer specific advice. At the end of class, give this sheet
with your written comments on it to the writer. You may also write on
the back of this sheet. Include the peer review sheet you receive from
your partner with the revision you'll be turning in on February 5 (note
new due date).
First, read
the paper; then write a quick list of dominant impressions. What stands
out? What images or metaphors or phrases are particularly vivid? What
strikes you as most illuminating about the context and persuasive strategies
of Plato's dialogue? After a second reading, answer the questions below.
- Describe
how the writer introduces the subject and purpose of the paper. More specifically,
describe how Plato's dialogue and its context are related to each other
in the opening paragraphs. What would make the introduction more effective
and engaging?
- Describe
how the writer summarizes/highlights an issue or issues in Plato's dialogue
to establish the need for development and analysis of its context. More
specifically, what question or questions about the dialogue is the contextual
analysis addressing? What could be more effectively summarized/highlighted
to set up and then follow through on the contextual analysis?
- Describe how the writer lays out and analyzes Plato's persuasive strategies.
Does the writer consistently use clear summary and appropriate quotations
from the dialogue and other sources to develop the contextual analysis?
How can the writer provide deeper insight into the dialogue?
- Describe
how the writer develops the historical and cultural context of Plato's
dialogue, and how other primary and secondary sources are used to illuminate
Plato's strategies in relation to the audience's experiences, values,
beliefs, and assumptions?
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Contextual
Analysis Evaluation Criteria
Writing
3-A-15
Marvin Diogenes
Evaluation
Criteria for Contextual Analysis
The syllabus
includes an overview of the grading standards of the Program in Writing
and Rhetoric. To supplement these general criteria, each essay assignment
lays out more specific requirements for the particular essay being written.
In the case of the Contextual Analysis, as will be the case for all major
assignments, the criteria below grow out of the Assignment Sheet and the
Peer Review Sheet.
An excellent
Contextual Analysis paper will handle the rhetorical situation and elements
of composition in the following ways.
Topic:
the paper will offer a clear introduction to Plato's dialogue and the
context in which it was composed, leading to a consistent focus on its
persuasive strategies in relation to its context.
Audience:
the paper will demonstrate a strong understanding of university-level
readers' expectations of a close reading/contextual analysis of a complex
text.
Purpose:
the paper will provide in-depth rhetorical and contextual analysis of
the persuasive strategies of Plato's dialogue, effectively blending summary
and interpretation (what the text means) with the dominant genres of rhetorical
and contextual analysis (how the text aims to make meaning and persuade
and how it was influenced by its historical and cultural contexts).
Persona:
the paper will feature a thoughtful, intellectually inquisitive stance
and voice that invite readers to explore and develop their understanding
of Plato's dialogue and its context.
The elements
of composition will be developed to achieve the paper's purpose:
Content:
the paper will provide sustained contextual analysis of Gorgias that is
well-supported with quotations from the dialogue and quotations from relevant
primary and secondary sources.
Organization:
the paper will offer a clear and engaging structure that leads readers
through Plato's dialogue and its context, illuminating and connecting
the persuasive strategies while effectively balancing summary and interpretation
with close reading and contextual analysis.
Style:
the paper will include varied and forceful sentences, purposeful and apt
diction, and a tone that expresses the writer's engagement with the subject
and the value of analysis.
Form:
the paper will be formatted according the manuscript guidelines in the
syllabus, demonstrating strong control of the conventions of academic
discourse in the areas of paragraph structure, punctuation, mechanics,
and documentation; the control should be strong enough to allow the writer
to push the boundaries of contextual analysis in imaginative and effective
ways.
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