WPA Outcome Rhetorical Analysis Reflection

Rhetorical Knowledge
When writing my rhetorical analysis on George W. Bushs Address to the Nation I had to compose
a piece of work that not only analyzed the content of George W. Bushes words to the Nation, but also how
it affected his audience, which was all of America watching and listening. In order to completely evaluate
his speech, I had to, Learn and use key rhetorical concepts through analyzing and composing a variety of
texts, (WPA Outcomes Statement for First-Year Composition), by doing this I used concepts like pathos,
logos, and ethos and viewed his speech with my own eyes and experience via video. It was not only being
able to understand what he was exactly trying to get across to the Nation after September 11 th happened,
but also how and why he used the words he did in order to get America back to normalcy. An example of
my use of rhetorical knowledge would be when I stated in my analysis that:
This traumatizing moment exemplified the presidency of George W. Bush, as he briefly spoke of
what would be the next steps for America. Bush proceeded to convince the nation of the logic of
his actions and the accountabilities he took on as the leader of our country. He also upheld his
qualifications for taking such actions, which stimulated certain emotions from his audience. By
utilizing key elements of rhetoric which included logos, ethos, and pathos, former President
George W. Bush was able to establish an effective message to a broken America.
My quote exemplifies not only why Bush confronted the Nation, but also his effect and how he used his
audience and purpose in order to get the main points across to the Nation in such a short timeframe. From
this I learned how my audience and purpose go hand in hand. In order for you to effectively analyze a
piece of work you must develop and understanding of the over message and how the it came to be
produced to begin with.

Critical Thinking, Reading, and Composing

Critical thinking is done through examining a piece of work by separating, assertion from
evidence, (WPA). When one asks and answers questions about a piece of work they are analyzing. They
are able to retrieve more information than they expected while broadening their range of thinking at the
same time. When I analyzed The Address to the Nation I used critical thinking in order to obtain
everything from reading George W. Bushes Address to the Nation by looking at various angles. I asked
my self questions like: What is his goal? Why did he pick certain words to say to the Nation? What was
he thinking during this time? These questions lead me to draw assumptions to compose the analysis that I
did. By doing this I was able to, Use composing and reading for inquiry. Learning, critical thinking, and
communication in various rhetorical contexts, (WPA). An example of using this in my work would be:
He mentioned the reopening of the economy and governmental institutions to persuade
Americans that with such organizations functioning, everyone is safe and protected. By making
these claims, he reassured the citizens that the government was not panicking. so neither should
its regular citizens.
My example showed George Bushes reasoning for the quote he spoke towards America and the effect of
his words on the Nation and the individuals who were hurt. From that example specifically, it is clear that
I learned to evaluate the material spoken in order to establish a straight forward analysis. By using context
clues and broad thinking I was able to put myself in Bushes shoes as well as a citizen of the nation to
come up with a justification for the use of Bushes words when speaking his address to the Nation and
how those words effectively gave the nation hope.

Processes
Composing processes are seldom linear, (WPA), meaning there isnt an exact order for the way
to effectively write a good paper. When writing this analysis, I, Developed flexible strategies for reading,
drafting, reviewing, collaborating, revising, rewriting, and editing, (WPA). By going through these
different steps I was able to review my piece multiple times to come up with a more precise analysis of
George W. Bushs Address to the Nation. I not only was able to fix how my paper was formatted, but also
the flow and tone of my work. These processes helped create a piece that used effective rhetoric to get my
point across without missing any key details and to help me stay on track as I wrote my analysis. An
example of using processes in my work was:
September 11th will be a day that all citizens of America will never forget. President Bushs
Address to the Nation was not only significant for history but for the American people of this
county. His ability to fix a fallen nation in one particular speech proved that not only was he a
great President, but also an adapting leader. By successfully using logos, ethos, and pathos, and
the inclusive setting of the address, allowed him to launch an active use of rhetoric.
This example showed how I summed up the establishment of the analysis and slowly eased my way into
coming into an end with the paper. I stayed on track, and effectively got my message across to the
audience without having to overly explain what exactly I meant. From this experience, I learned that
without processes a person cant get their paper to level it needs to be at especially when analyzing
someone elses work.

Knowledge of Conventions
Knowledge of conventions helps shape the perception of correctness of readers and writers. It is
the appropriateness of things such as usage of spelling, citations, and mechanics. By doing this you can
also influence content, style, organization, graphics, and documentation, (WPA). The use of knowledge
of conventions can help a person see past the obvious by not just analyzing content but by understanding
what they are analyzing and how it has an impact on its audience. When doing this you will not just figure
out what exactly the person(s) purpose is but also their genre, the audience they are speaking upon, the
decisions they make as a writer, and the intellectual properties they add. For example, in my work I used
the knowledge of conventions when I stated:

The world wind of emotions that were illustrated in this Address brought America
together as one signified unit and brought hope in its citizens hearts. President Bush
claimed that, these acts (of terror) shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of
American resolve, which provoked America not to be in despair of what had occurred
because its destiny only goes up from here.
This quote I used had implemented citations, appropriate use of spelling, correct mechanics such as
quotations, and designed simple sentences. All of which are part of Knowledge of Conventions. I learned
from the conventions that when analyzing a paper, the more correct you are with your usage of
mechanisms, intellectual property, and structure the more understanding your paper will be. Be simple but
proper, make informed decisions, and dont lack details. The rest should all fall into place.