1. The assignment to post a draft of a 1000 word rhetorical analysis translates into *drafting* a couple of pages based on the notes you have taken of the reading. As you've tried to answer the questions which comprise a rhetorical analysis of the letter, chances are you've got MORE ideas than you can fit into 1000 words.
By definition, a draft isn't finished work. It needs to be revised. A first draft, which is what you are posting, needs to be revised a lot. Over the next week or so, we'll be going over what specific aspects of your paper you'll look at as you revise. Because it is a draft essay, you should strive to write in complete paragraphs and sentences, but again with a draft you can revise the organization; you can beef up the examples; you can decide if the opinions you express are clear and fully explained; and, you can notice you need to add a conclusion or better focus your introduction. These will happen after you get your first stab at the essay on paper. So? Remember: you are writing a document you *expect* to revise. Over the weekend, get your ideas down on paper and post what you get down. All I expect is you get 750-1000 words of your ideas into the form of sentences and paragraphs.
2. Here's an example of a longish version of what I expect for the second weekend writing assignment:
In "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," King uses a number of rhetorical moves to build his ethos, that is, to get his audience to trust him. For instance, he addresses his audience directly, repeats their position, and then offers his response or take on their position. Repeatedly, he says things like, "You deplore the demonstrations..." or "In your statement you assert our actions..." By repeating the position of his opponents, Dr. King proves to his audience that he has listened to them and gave a lot of thought to what they have to say.
My brother and I argue a lot about politics, but I tend to introduce my position by asking a question like, "Have you thought about...?" So, our arguments then to jump from the point he wants to make to that I want to make. If instead, I were to follow Dr. King and take a moment and say, "If I understand you correctly, you are saying..." Not only would by brother know I was listening to him, I could use the time I was summarizing what he said to think about my response. This is a rhetorical move anyone could use when they argue.
Take a moment and re-read the example above. Notice how it is structured:
In the first paragraph I make a claim about a rhetorical move I noticed in the letter. I explain what I think is going on in the move. I then provide an example, and I then explain part of the effect the rhetorical move has on King's audience.
In the second paragraph, I show how I might use the move King makes in my own everyday communication. I talk about how what I'm doing in arguing with my brother differs from what King does when arguing with the letter the clergy wrote. This is what I mean "by taking a rhetorical move you see King making in the letter and showing how you might use it in your own everyday discourse.
The second assignment has you thinking about the rhetorical tricks King is using. Then figure out how you might steal King's trick and use it for yourself. The trick here is notice something King is doing and to try and think of a similar situation in your own life where King's move will solve your rhetorical problem.
Since I'm betting this is the first time you've done anything like this assignment, all I am expecting is you take a stab at it.
Writing is about taking risks, trying, and learning from the try for next time. In fact, you can often learn more from a message which doesn't succeed than from those which do.
Last but not least, feel free to use the example above as a template for your own response.
Steve
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