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Kayla Pendleton

Professor Miss

UWRT 1104-023

6 February 2017

Rhetorical Analysis

The piece I choose to analyze is my inquiry paper that I did in my Prospect for Success

class. My professor expected us to pick a topic that interested us and perform a more in depth

research on the issue. My group chose to research English Language Learners (ELL) and how

they are affected socially, academically, and what teachers can do to effectively teach them.

English Language Learners are those students who are learning the English language in addition

to his or her native language. The intentions of this paper are to become more familiar with an

inquiry paper format and learn an abundant amount of issues that we will face as teachers.

After analyzing my work, I was able to recognize that during this whole project I was

really analyzing a discourse. James Gee said in Literacy, Discourse, And Linguistics:

Introduction, A Discourse is a sort of identity kit which comes complete with the appropriate

costume and instruction on how to act, talk, and often write, so as to take on a particular role that

others will recognize (Gee 3). Through Gees definition, I was able to observe the

characteristics of what was included in the academic discourse in English Language Learners.

Teachers play a substantial role in English Language Learners academic discourse. In a

teachers perspective, I realized how different this kind of interaction is. Instead of being able to

understand each other through the same language, the teacher has to find different ways to

communicate. Communication is key in academic discourses and that is why this discourse faces

more obstacles than others. Even though many teachers struggle with communicating, they find
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this discourse rewarding because of the different culture they get to be exposed to. Teachers

should learn to embrace this discourse despite barriers.

Personally, I believe that teachers are the most important part of an academic discourse,

so I chose to direct all my focus on what teachers can do more effectively to teach ELL students

while my partners focused on our other topics. I also chose to do this part of the paper because I

wanted my classmates and I to benefit from my research and apply it to our future careers. To be

successful, I chose many different sources and strategies. Our favorite strategy that we believe

all teachers should have in their classroom is a resource box. Teachers can provide a box with

articles and other materials on the subject they are teaching that students can go to when stuck or

when they are not comprehending quickly (Pendleton 9). Not only did I provide examples, but I

got on a personal level and expressed what our group directly thought about how to be a

successful teacher. I believe that through showing personal opinions it helped me get closer to

my reader and get my point across effectively.

Another way to get on a personal and ethos level, I interviewed a teacher who has

interacted with English Language Students. Betsy McCray is a special education teacher at

Ballantyne Elementary School. With her experiences, she advised me to use many visuals and

using an enriching vocabulary helps the students tremulously. I was able to use this interview to

my advantage because I learned an abundant amount of English Language Learner students in

current times and was easily able to take her words and put it into my own in my writing. One

thing that I realized I struggled with is to ask the right questions to get the answers that I wanted,

however it was interesting on getting an insight to those students who have special needs and

who are still learning English. I believe that when I chose a teacher who had experience it made
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my information more creditable and reliable. Also, it helped my audience trust in my information

and allows them to automatically take the advice.

After talking to Mrs. McCray, I realized how much more work and time a teacher has to

put into ELL students. Most teachers who get ELL students in their classroom will think of all

the hardships and negatives when it comes to teaching, however I talked about the issue in a

more positive perspective. If teachers have respect and get to know their students cultures then

their relationships will be more personal and their teaching will have a stronger impact

(Pendleton 9). Instead of being pessimistic about the issue, I used strong word usage to enforce

the idea of how it is up to teacher to make their experiences with their students impactful. I

hoped that my audience felt the most tension at this part of my paper because I truly believe that

through the struggles of teaching English Language Students there is rewards and positivity.

When it comes to rhetorical devices, I found that I used epizeuxis, the repetition of one

word for emphasis, without even recognizing. When it comes to strategies, pictures, pictures,

and more pictures! (Pendleton 9). Out of the whole interview with Betsy McCray, I felt

compelled to use this line in order to get my point across of how important visuals are when it

comes to effective teaching. As I writer, I hope to improve on getting creative with rhetorical

devices to make my writing more powerful and original. Instead of just stating facts and quotes, I

hope to learn how to use these devices more naturally.

As I reflected back onto my writing I see where I need to improve, but also my strengths.

I recognized how important it is to learn how to mushfake. Just like I mushfaked through my

inquiry project I had to mushfake my way through this rhetorical analysis. I found that as a writer

I am able to turn issues into positive content and I am able to strongly use ethos, but I hope to

find strategies to use rhetorical devices. Most importantly, I realized how necessary it is to not
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only analyze other authors work, but also my own. Becoming a strong writer not only takes time,

but discipline.
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Work Cited

Gee, James. Literacy, Discourse, And Linguistics: Introduction. 171 ed., Journal of Education,

1989

Pendleton, Kayla. Investigating the Education of English Language Leaners: An Executive

Summary. Academic paper. University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Charlotte, NC.

Fall 2016. Print.