1.

Landscape – Give
• Landscape: disability
• Topic: deaf culture
• Argument: parents of deaf and hard of hearing children should learn american sign language
and use it with their child rather than subjecting them to life-altering and potentially dangerous
surgeries.
2. Rhetorical Situation – Decide on and carefully specify. . . .
• Audience: hearing people, parents of deaf children
• Message (Same as Argument, but maybe more specific): not knowing american sign language
due to growing up with hearing aids/cochlear implants alienates deaf people from their
community.
• Personal Connection/Ethos: as I am a deaf person who was forced to have surgery to fix their
hearing (albeit at an older age than most people) I do not have acess to a community that
should be mine.
• Tone: Wistful, melancholy, imploring
3. Appeals/Organization – Using the Classical essay form, or deviating from it for a particular
reason, layout the content of your essay. Make sure to indicate goals (such as appeals) and
techniques for each part of the classical form. Pay particular attention to the argumentation
within your confirmation section. Provide quotations, graphs, images, etc. where they would be
placed in your dynamic essay.
The introduction and narration would be in the same paragraph, with the narration maybe
spiraled off a little, detailing the experience of someone else, then going a bit into my own. I’d
also mention those videos that people seem to adore of “Deaf People Hearing Sound For The
First Time” and how they impact deaf people. The confirmation would use mostly pathos and
kairos, saying that in this world of changing views and treatment of disability Deaf people should
not be left behind. Refutation and concession would include little concession: mostly just an
acknowledgement of opposing arguments rather than any consent to them at all. Finally, the
conclusion would restate the argument and add a concluding quote from the person I talked to
and myself. I’d include these dynamic elements:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xROgp1Ujh40
“Videos such as this are popular on social media, often called ‘miraculous’ and ‘inspiring.’”
“Cochlear implants are a new technology that more and more hearing parents of deaf children
have embraced to help them ‘live a normal life’”.

“Nowadays, most children who know ASL are CODA (children of deaf adults).”

“Better-known than cochlear implants, many hard of hearing children use external hearing aids.”
• Please also provide MLA citation information for your 2nd and 3rd articles
Donvito, Tina. “Parents of Deaf Children, Stuck in the Middle of an Argument.” The New York
Times, The New York Times, 24 May 2016, well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/05/24/parents-of-deaf-
children-stuck-in-the-middle-of-an-argument/?rref.
Greenfield, Rebecca. “The Forces Pushing Deaf Kids Away From Sign Language.” The Atlantic,
Atlantic Media Company, 27 July 2011,
www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/07/forces-pushing-deaf-kids-away-sign-
language/353340/.

4. Surface Features – Though you will not be writing this piece, give some thought to ways in
which you can adjust your language to build the tone you identified in the Rhetorical Situation,
and to reach your audience. How can you shape language to reinforce your appeals?
I’ll use a bit of humor, but mostly portray the situation as bleak: this will give a nice balance and
give the melancholy feeling I’m after. It’ll also help me to include more “sad” things, building
pathos. Last but not least, I’ll make sure to use pleas to the audience, building kairos
(something must be done soon).