Extra Credit: Hair Love

Greetings Class, 

So! — originally, this assignment idea was intended for Black History Month (February 2020). Regardless, it is never too late to appreciate, celebrate, and learn! 

For this extra credit opportunity, we would like to invite the class to the art of reading! We have learned that reading is a complex, multifaceted activity. We still use the skill of reading when language is essentially absent. We read by inferring and hypothesizing conclusions or meanings without answers being explicit. We read sounds or vibrations by their strength (loud or quiet) and learn to react between the two. We read the environment/surroundings to obtain more details. We read the body language of people —including on television — to build a greater understanding. So, let’s continue to practice these reading skills! 

FIRST:  Context
During this semester, we continue to build skills that all improve our reading and critical analysis. 

We continue to practice skills like identifying the author’s main ideas/claims; 

we continue to practice how to identify the audience; 

we continue to practice how to recognize and choose concrete details to support our ideas; 

we continue to practice how to apply specific details to elaborate and developed our ideas; 

we continue to practice how to analyze these developed ideas to gain a larger, deeper understanding;

we continue to practice to employ these skills that create a critical analysis.

SECOND: Happily Watch and "Read" the Film! 

Now, let’s apply these skills in conjunction with a Rhetorical Analysis. 

Remember appeals and the strategies authors use to make them: (we recommend to peruse your worksheet/handout)

Appeal to Reasoning/Logic (Logos)
Appeal to/with Credibility/Character (Ethos)
Appeal to Emotions (Pathos)

Keeping in mind the goal of a Rhetorical Analysis, to articulate and analyze what an author is doing and evaluate its effect on the intended audience, please watch the short film, "HairLove"
*Note: Captions (cc) is available for some dialogue. Hair Love Links to an external site.

THIRD: Application and Practice

Respond to the film by writing a developed, 2-3 paragraph Rhetorical Analysis (minimum of 300 words) in which you identify, analyze, and evaluate at least three strategies used to appeal to reason (logos), emotions (pathos), and/or credibility character (ethos) in Hair Love. For example, you may choose only to focus on the appeal to emotions, and discuss three strategies used to do so; or, you may choose to discuss one strategy for each appeal--there are many possibilities. While you are expected to provide examples from the short film to support and illustrate your analysis, a Works Cited page is not required.

If you have questions or need help, feel free to contact me, aka, Manny.

This extra credit assignment is worth up to 25 points, and you may only earn 25 points of extra credit in this course. If you have already received extra credit, you can still earn points here. For example, if you have earned 10 points in extra credit, that means you can earn up to 15 points here. 

Photograph: Courtesy of short-film, "Hair Love". 
Father and daughter: Practicing skills of hairstyles, perseverance, what else?

Riddle: What skills are we practicing right now?  :)