Essay #1: Let Them Rhetorically Analyze Cake!

English 103 | Fall 2019

Professor Ashley Jean Granillo

Figure 1from @troll_cakes

Brainstorming Requirements (Readings)

• Complete assigned readings from The World is a Text (see syllabus).
• Complete the reading: “Introduction to Critical Thinking and Analysis of
Persuasive Techniques”
• “Have Your Epidictic Rhetoric, and Eat It, Too,” Rachel Graham
• “Structuralist Criticism,” Lois Tyson

Prewriting Requirements
• Discussion Board Posts #1-#3

Drafting Requirements
• Introduction and Thesis Only
• Half Draft (2 pages)
• Complete Rough Draft for Peer Review with Works Cited Page**

**Peer Review is a requirement for this assignment. If you do not attend the peer review
(see syllabus for the exact date), and do not have your COMPLETE ROUGH DRAFT on
the date of the Peer Review at total of 20 points will be deducted from you overall
score. Thus, if you earned a 170 out of 200 (B) on the essay, but failed to complete
peer review, you will receive a 150 (C). This information was stated in your syllabus
and was made known to you on the first day of class.

Writing Prompt:

Rachel Graham argues that, “[a]s food items, cakes also possess this potential to
educate an audience about the values of the people receiving and serving the cake, even
apart from the potential of occasional cakes to communicate a specifically epideictic
message” (33).

ü Based on the readings and in class assignments, compose a four-page (4-page)

rhetorical and semiotic analysis of ONE of the cakes from the cake sheet (p. 4).

ü Your four-page analysis should address the following information:

o rhetorical situation
o rhetorical elements (ethos, pathos, logos)
o semiotic situations (color theory, etc.)
o one fallacy

ü Throughout your analysis, evaluate the cake’s social, political, or cultural

message. In other words: “so what?”––give readers a reason to care about and
consider your analysis beyond the obvious.

Essay Format

Write a four-page (4) essay in MLA 8 format on the prompt below. All drafts (unless
stated otherwise) must be:
ü Typed
ü Double spaced (2.0)
ü Written in 12pt Times New Roman font
ü Have one-inch margins
ü Drafts must be printed in black ink only.
ü You will also need to include a separate works cited page as well as in-text
citations, as well as the original source of analysis.

**A guide to MLA 8 Formatting: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/ **

Example Formats

An MLA 8 template, with a works cited page, can be found on Canvas under FILES >
WRITING MATERIALS

Be sure to modify all personalized spaces, such as your name in all of the headers.
Additionally, make sure to input all available information in the works cited spaces.

Thesis Guidelines:

ü Thesis should be 2-3 sentences long

o Avoid trying to cram everything into a single sentence; this usually leads
to muddled language or other grammatical issues.
ü Break down your thesis into parts to ensure you have all of the necessary
elements.
ü Combine sentences, using active verbs, conjunctions and transitions words and
phrases to better streamline your thesis.

Thesis Development
Your thesis should incorporate the following elements:
ü Counterargument
o What claim is the cake making, and who might be against it?
ü Your Claim
o Do you agree, disagree, or are of two minds concerning the overall claim
and composition of the cake?
ü Subtopics (Theoretical Concepts)
o Utilize rhetorical situations, rhetorical elements, semiotic situations (i.e.
color) fallacies to support your claim.
ü So What?
o A “so what?” underscores your original claim and gives your thesis
complexity. In other words, it gives the reader a reason to care about your
argument.
o To underscore your claim, consider what impact the cake has on its target
audience; the significance of the cake within the culinary world; the value
in contemporary America.

English 103 Cake Gallery

1 2

3 4 5

1. Sweet Mary’s
2. Party at Your Door
3. Snacky French Cakes
4. Beth DiBenedetto
5. Wilton Cake Decorating

Example Outline
Use the thesis above to organize your essay.

I. INTRODUCTION
Must be written in this order and should be no longer than ½ a page. Papers, at this level
of English, should never have page-long paragraphs.
a. Hook (Scenario, quote, etc.)
b. Transition sentence (connects the hook to the summary)
c. Summary (introduces a discussion of commercial and rhetoric)
d. Thesis

II. LITERATURE REVIEW

Consider every capital letter as ONE paragraph.
A. Background of Visual Art and Cakes as Visual Art
a. Audience
b. Claim
B. Counterargument (Counterarguments generally come before your claim, not
after.)

III. SUBTOPIC #1 – PATHOS

Subtopics should be conceptualized as ideas which can be expanded into two or more
paragraphs. Assign each paragraph components of the cake to expand on your ideals.
Consider every capital letter as one paragraph.

A. Usage of color adds to the pathos, underscoring its child-like demeanor.

a. Topic sentence
b. Transition
c. Evidence:
d. Theoretical concepts
e. Analysis
f. Warrant (your claim/so what?)

While this is not a complete outline, I hope you can see how I’m using my thesis to
outline my paper, and how I can expand on ideas without limiting myself to 5 paragraphs.