reading and journal response

The following announcement is on uLearn; find the reading on uLearn:

For Wed Jan 19:

Print out and read Saunder's "The Braindead Megaphone," found under Course Content (uLearn). Mark up the text as you read, for ex, underlining passages you like, circling passages you don't understand, commenting where you have something to say (this is called annotating the text). This helps you prepare for class discussion; without annotation, we might forget our thoughts on the text by the time class rolls around, or lose key lines we wanted to comment on, etc. 

Come prepared to discuss the following things (we'll call it your first "Journal Response," so write some thoughts on these questions in your journal--again, for you to prepare for discussion):

What is Saunders's central idea (aka Main Claim, aka Thesis)?

What are some examples he uses to support his main claim? 

How does Saunders's convey his claim to us, the readers? What are some techniques he uses? For ex, is his voice sarcastic, humorous, glib, angry? Does he use big academic words? Is he talking down to us? Does he use lots of emotion? Does he use fancy tricks? Is he deceptive or honest, clear or confusing? Can you find any rhetorical strategies? Thinking about these kinds of questions is called rhetorical analysis. 

Rhetorical analysis: To analyze the rhetoric of a text is to figure out how it persuades its readers--not what it is attempting to persuade them of, but how it goes about accomplishing that task. Nor is rhetorical analysis directly concerned with whether the text's assertions are correct. With the ability to understand how you are persuaded, you are less vulnerable to manipulation.

After you have identified Saunders's main claim and worked out how he is trying to persuade us, jump in and evaluate his essay.

With what parts do you agree and disagree? Where was is argument strong, weak?

Can you think of any other types of Braindead Megaphones out there in the world? List a few you find relevant.