Reading Against the Grain

First Rule of Rhetoric: Read Against the Grain:

1. Read the Introduction to Persuasion (xvii - xxvii)
2. Read 'Reading Against the Grain.' (1 - 5)
3. Find an editorial, a piece of writing with an obvious slant in favor of one position on a topic, copy and past it into our website, and read it against the grain. [Place a question in square brackets next to everything you would like the author to rethink or revise.] Your goal is to imagine helping the author gain insight into the weaknesses of their argument, as if you might be able to help them modify their position. Don't be snarky. Don't just fight back. Be or at least try to be constructive. Don't rant back.

   Rubric: Graded out of 100. Worth 5% of final grade. Fifty points for picking a piece of writing that can be read against the grain -- something argumentative rather than expository or journalistic. Plus two points for each apt [parenthetical question]. Arithmetically, that means you need at least 20 apt questions to get 100% on this assignment. But don't just count. Think. Is this a legitimate critique?

   Example