Lab 3.1
Evaluating the Rhetorical Situation
Read the article “Why We Crave Horror Movies” by Stephen King on pp. 641–642 of the textbook Writing
Today. Evaluate this article for the following five elements of rhetorical situation using well-developed
paragraphs (constructed with topic sentences, supporting detail sentences, and concluding sentences) and
specific examples:
What is the topic?
What is the author’s purpose for writing this article?
Who is the intended audience?
What external factors (context) affect and influence how the reader would respond to the article?
How is an angle developed in the article?
Submission Requirements:
Submit your responses in a Microsoft Word document with the following specifications:
Font: Arial, 12-point
Spacing: Double
Format: APA style, including title page and references page
Length: 1–2 pages (excluding the title and references pages)
Note: You will have two attempts to work on this assessment. The instructor will issue a grade on the first
draft submission. After receiving comments and feedback from your instructor, you have the option to
revise the lab and submit for regrading. If a second attempt is not submitted, the grade for the first attempt
will be scored as the final grade for the assessment.
Evaluation Criteria:
Your submission will be evaluated against the following criteria using the lab rubric:
Did you correctly identify each element of the rhetorical situation?
Did you use specific examples from the article to support the ideas by using correct in-text citation
formatting when appropriate?
Are your paragraphs well-constructed with a topic sentence, supporting detail sentences, and
concluding sentence?
Does your submission adhere to the page count and formatting requirements?
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