Communications Question

Final Paper Rubric: 200 points (20%)Due Date: BY December 13th, 1:15pm
Overview:
For the final paper, you will write an approximately 10-page essay (body of essay: 2,600–4,000
words, no more or less; Times New Roman, 1-inch margins, 12-point font, double-spaced)
critically analyzing the second artifact(s) you choose to work with during the semester. The
paper will be due by the start of our finals class period: Tuesday, December 13th at 1:15pm.
Your analysis may build off of previous explorations in any of your write-ups, and should utilize
the proposal and context paper as somewhat of a partial draft. Make sure that you edit any
portion from your previous work so it reads cohesively. You will be graded on: cohesion,
clarity, and logical flow; an argument that justifies the choice of artifact and the choice of
method; situating your artifact and analysis in its historical context and larger scholarly
conversations; and grammar. The purpose of this assignment, like the last paper, is for you to
practice your ability to put forth a clear argument, this time in a more in-depth manner.
Grading Criteria:
The essay will be graded on the following: justification and development of each portion; clarity
of your arguments and essay flow; and grammar. More specifically, speak to the following
questions (the points distribution will be calculated based on estimates from each question):
Development (60 points): Does your paper address each part of the critical essay?
Do the descriptions of your artifact and method give enough background, so that
an unfamiliar reader can understand your analysis?
Do you justify why the artifact and method are important?
Do you situate your artifact within its larger context?
Do you argue effectively that this is an important artifact to study?
Do you build a case that your method is an effective way to analyze this artifact?
Does the method allow the analysis to cover the key points of intensity
and frequency? (In other words, does anything seem glaringly omitted?)
Is the analysis about half (or more) of the paper?
Do you situate your artifact, method, and analysis within a larger literature, citing
enough useful sources and explaining how you add to this conversation?
Clarity (100 points): Does each part of the essay flow logically into the next?
Do your research question, analysis, and conclusion all build the general claim
you are making?
Is it clear how and why you are utilizing each source? Do you cite something
when making a claim that requires backing?
Do you build a coherent link between your artifact, its context, the method you
choose, and your analysis?
Does your analysis lead to a conclusion that contributes to rhetorical theory?
Grammar and Style (40 points): Are there a minimal number of grammatical mistakes?
Do you properly cite sources when you quote or paraphrase someone else’s
points? Do you include a page number? Is there a reference page, and is it consistent?
Do you follow the formatting rules outlined at the beginning of this rubric?
Final Paper Rubric
COMM142, Fall 2022
2
Final Presentation:
As a supplement to your final paper, you will also offer an overview of the project. This portion,
worth 50 points, will include a class presentation and Canvas posted slides. (Therefore, the full
final project is worth 250 points, or 25% of your grade.) Our final few course days will be
dedicated to each student offering a brief overview of their project. A separate assignment sheet
will be posted soon with more details.
Additional Information
Coverage
Include all of the parts of an essay according to Foss: first, an introduction, including your
research question/thesis, the contribution, and the significance; second, a description and
justification of the artifact and its context; third, a description of the method that also argues for
its use; fourth, the analysis, or the application of the method to the artifact and a report of its
findings; and fifth, a conclusion, including what your analysis might contribute to rhetorical
theory.
As with the short paper, you do not need separate section headings. That said, since this is a
longer paper, section headings can help organize your thoughts and claims, and fully develop
each section. Therefore, I do recommend that you follow section headings as described by Foss,
but at minimum, make sure you include sufficient content for an introduction and conclusion and
cover necessary information for a description (and context) of the artifact(s), description (and
justification/contributing insights) of method, and analysis. Again, craft an essay that flows from
one portion to the next, and try to order it in a way that enhances the clarity of your analysis; the
analysis should still be about half (or more) of your paper.
Make sure you also cover the following:
Properly cite all of your sources. This includes proper citation within the body of the text
(e.g., endnotes are fine for Chicago style; pages and years are necessary for APA) as well
as consistent formatting in your references/endnotes section. I am most interested in
consistency. Make sure that: a) every piece of information is present in your reference
section (author, titles, publication, year, pages, editors, translators, etc.); and b) the format
stays the same for each type of publication. See OWL Purdue for more information.
Include sufficient sources. You are expected to incorporate theories from the course in
your analysis to explain some of the cultural themes present in your artifact. You must
have at least five (5) academic sources. You are welcome to add more but are not
required. These sources should reflect a collection of method and topic. Any necessary
contextual sources (e.g., critical reviews of a film you analyze) are supplemental sources.
You may utilize the sources from your context paper and annotated bibliography towards
satisfying these requirements.
Note: There is often some confusion on how to find academic sources that talk
about method, especially the later methods that fit under ideological criticism.
These are more difficult because they are more open-ended. Often, the theoretical
basis can act as sources to describe the method. Translation, through an example:
In the essay on the 1963 Birmingham Campaign (assigned October 20th), Johnson
Final Paper Rubric
COMM142, Fall 2022
3
(2007) identifies the theory of “image events” to explain the rhetorical force of
this particular event. The visual rhetoric of image events, as a theory to make
sense of how rhetoric circulates, is the lens used to analyze images from the
campaign and its aftermath. Here, method sources can also be theory sources: the
academic conversation that links visual images and the spread of messages/
ideologies. In such ideological criticisms, the types of criticism (feminist, Marxist,
structuralist/semiotic, etc.) can act as the method: that is, the lens/framework/units
of analysis through which to examine messages.
Overall, ask yourself: How am I framing the way I am going about, or
approaching, my analysis? Through the metaphor criticism procedures? Through
feminist criticism? From there, find sources that also use a similar methodological
frame.
For topic, ask yourself: Has anyone written on my artifact? If not, has anyone
written on an area related to my artifact? For instance, say you want to analyze a
protest song. See if anyone has written about that song. See what is out there
about protest songs in general. If it is war-related, see what exists in war protest
songs. See what exists in the rhetoric of protest (songs or not). See what exists on
the rhetoric of music (protest or not). These are all possible avenues. (See Foss’
section, “Identifying the Literature to Review,” especially the first paragraph on
page 14, for further information.)
Method
You may incorporate aspects of other methods, but follow one framework as your main focus.
Make sure that you have one, overarching claim (or thesis statement, or answer to a research
question), where the method is the guiding lens through which your analysis develops that claim.
Clarify, if incorporating other methods, how you are making use of your methodological tools to
contain your focus.
Keeping Yourself Organized
First of all, refer to the suggestions offered in the Paper One Rubric on outlines, descriptions, and
sources. Also note that the Writing Center can take appointments. As long as it occurs by our last
week of instruction, you may also send me an outline or a couple pages to review.
Submission
Please turn in the essay by the start of our final exam period. You are welcome to turn the paper
in early. Follow the word count listed above, which should make the body of the paper 8–12
pages double-spaced. (Any shorter than 8 pages would be insufficient, but 8 should be fine.
Ensure this length means at least 2,600 words in the body.) Papers will be posted to Canvas and
utilize Turnitin; matches will not include the two prior assignments, so again, you may draw
from these in constructing your cohesive final essay.