Submit this essay on Canvas and print a copy to turn in on March 8.
For this essay, I am asking you to analyze the appeal to logos and ethos found in Aziz Ansari and Eric Klinenberg’s essay titled “How to Make Online Dating Work” that is posted on Canvas if you missed getting the handout in class on Thursday, March 3.
Make sure you include the following elements:
MLA format: Double-space everything, complete heading, insert page number and type last name, use Times New Roman 12 pt. font
Original, engaging title
Introduction: include author, title, summary of the essay (three to five sentences), and the main claim the authors are making. The last sentence of your introduction should tell the authors’ claim! Use the word “claim” in this sentence; Ansari and Klinenberg claim that . . .
At least two body paragraphs: analyze the authors’ appeal to logos in one paragraph and their appeal to ethos in the other. In the paragraph about the appeal to logos, use specific examples from the essay (Refer to SICDADS from Types of Proof PowerPoint). In the paragraph about the appeal to ethos, use specific examples that help make the authors seem knowledgeable and believable. Think of the sources they use to support their points. Use paragraph numbers when you quote, summarize, or paraphrase information from Ansari and Klinenberg’s essay. For example:
Ansari and Klinenberg appeal to logic in this essay at the end when they point out that “In 1932, the sociologist James H.S. Bossard examined 5,000 marriage licenses filed in Philadelphia. One-third of the couples had lived within a five-block radius of each other before they wed, one in six within a block, and one in eight at the same address” (par. 26). These statistics help the authors logically prove their point that online dating apps are useful for helping users find partners who don’t live too far away. It is logical to conclude that most dating app users want to date and possibly marry people who live fairly close by.
Be sure that the topic sentence of one body paragraph uses the words “logos” or “logic” and the topic sentence of the other body paragraph uses the words “ethos” or “credibility” so that the audience knows exactly what you are analyzing.
Conclusion: first explain your personal response to the essay and then which type of appeal you believe the authors use most effectively (logos, ethos, or pathos).
Your essay should be one and a half to two pages long.
Things to remember:
The rules of grammar and mechanics are not exactly the same in journalism as they are in MLA format. In MLA format, you must capitalize all the important words in a title, write out the word for most numbers, and put a comma after the last word before “and” in a series.
Don’t refer to an essay as a story. A story is usually fictional whereas an essay is not.
Don’t say that the authors “use” ethos. Say that the authors appeal to ethos or that the authors establish their credibility.
Never begin a sentence with a quote. Instead, always introduce your quote.
Never end a paragraph with a quote. Always end with your own words.
Be sure to punctuate a quote within a quote correctly. For example:
Ansari and Klinenberg say that Christian Rudder explains, “’people appear to be heavily preselecting online for something that, once they sit down in person, doesn’t seem important to them’” (par. 13).
Do not use the same quote that I have used in the example
Never refer to an author by only his or her first name.
Remember that you are referring to the authors’ points in the essay. Write Ansari and Klinenberg state, or, the authors state, not the article states
Write out most numbers.
Always use present tense when you refer to what an author has written: Ansari and Klinenberg say, not Ansari and Klinenberg said, or Ansari and Klinenberg assert, not Ansari and Klinenberg asserted
Do not address the audience directly! Avoid “you” and “your.”
Attention to the rules of grammar and punctuation is expected.
Don’t use a hyphen (-) when you need to use a dash—two hyphens
Do not add a works cited page.
