Page 1 of 8 Socio-political Writing Assignment Composition Courses Those who need votes, sponsors, support, or want to get things done, often rely on persuasive writing skills to create logical, emotional, and moral petitions. Objectives This assignment assesses your mastery of the Socio-Political Learning Unit objectives: • Identify forms of persuasive writing in a socio-political writing situation • Analyze visual images • Write clear and comprehensible sentences • Navigate the persuasive writing process Writing Process 1. Complete all lessons 2. Complete the Peer Review assignment before the deadline (online students) 3. Revise and visit the Writing Center in the Library’s Lower Level 4. Submit your final copy and prepared envelope to Dr. Bodily before the deadline 5. Submit electronic copy to eCampus and www.turnitin.com before the deadline Areas of Emphasis Point-of-view, audience, voice, clarity, action verbs, sensory details, showing description, persuasive appeals (logos, pathos, ethos), and business letter formatting Format This letter shall be word processed in MS Word file format, utilizing a minimum of 350 words and a maximum of 700 words, formatted according to business letter guidelines taught in the lessons. This letter does not require sources or a Works Cited page; however, you may provide citations in MLA formatting style to strengthen your Logos. This assignment also requires you to prepare a professional No. 10 business envelope according to formatting taught in the lessons and by the US Postal Service. The envelope must be word processed and printed in a printer. Place a stamp on your envelope or purchase a pre-stamped envelope from the US Postal Service. Page 2 of 8 US Postal Service Verification & Submission You are required to send this letter to your audience as follows: • LECTURE STUDENTS: Submit your hardcopy signed letter inside your printed envelope with stamp to me before the deadline posted in the syllabus, and I will send your letter via US Postal Service. • ONLINE STUDENTS: Capture a photo of your letter placed inside your printed and stamped envelope and capture a second photo of your US Postal Service receipt or photo of your delivery (dropped in a mailbox). Paste these images to the end of your digital file. WARNING: If I cannot determine you sent your letter as required, you will not receive credit for this assignment. • ALL STUDENTS: Click the Submit Assignments button in eCampus and submit a digital file of your letter in MS Word file format. Penalties Letters will be rejected without grading in the following cases: • Plagiarized text • Does not address the topic and/or objectives • Late or missing submission • Incorrectly formatted (incorrect file and/or rhetorical form) • Provided no hardcopy letter and/or stamped envelope • Ref ...

1. Page 1 of 8
Socio-political Writing Assignment
Composition Courses
Those who need votes, sponsors, support, or want to
get things done,
oftenrely on persuasive writing skills to create
logical, emotional, and
moral petitions.
Objectives
This assignment assesses your mastery of the Socio-
Political Learning Unit objectives:
• Identify forms of persuasive writing in a
socio-political writing situation
• Analyze visual images
• Write clear and comprehensible sentences
• Navigate the persuasive writing process
Writing Process
1. Complete all lessons
2. Complete the Peer Review assignment before
the deadline (online students)
3. Revise and visit the Writing Center in the
Library’s Lower Level
4. Submit your final copy and prepared envelope to Dr.

2. Bodily before the deadline
5. Submit electronic copy to eCampus and www.turnitin.com
before the deadline
Areas of Emphasis
Point-of-view, audience, voice, clarity, action verbs,
sensory details, showing description,
persuasive appeals (logos, pathos, ethos), and
business letter formatting
Format
This letter shall be word processed in MS Word
file format, utilizing a minimum of 350
words and a maximum of 700 words, formatted
according to business letter guidelines
taught in the lessons. This letter does not
require sources or a Works Cited page;
however,
you may provide citations in MLA formatting
style to strengthen your Logos.
This assignment also requires you to prepare a
professional No. 10 business envelope
according to formatting taught in the lessons
and by the US Postal Service. The
envelope
must be word processed and printed in a printer.
Place a stamp on your envelope or
purchase a pre-stamped envelope from the US Postal
Service.

3. Page 2 of 8
US Postal Service Verification & Submission
You are required to send this letter to your
audience as follows:
• LECTURE STUDENTS: Submit your hardcopy
signed letter inside your printed
envelope with stamp to me before the deadline
posted in the syllabus, and I will
send your letter via US Postal Service.
• ONLINE STUDENTS: Capture a photo of
your letter placed inside your printed and
stamped envelope and capture a second photo of
your US Postal Service receipt or
photo of your delivery (dropped in a mailbox).
Paste theseimages to the end of
your digital file. WARNING: If I cannot
determine you sent your letter as required,
you will not receive credit for this assignment.
• ALL STUDENTS: Click the Submit
Assignments button in eCampus and submit a
digital file of your letter in MS Word file
format.
Penalties
Letters will be rejected without grading in the
following cases:

4. • Plagiarized text
• Does not address the topicand/or objectives
• Late or missing submission
• Incorrectly formatted (incorrect file and/or rhetorical
form)
• Provided no hardcopy letter and/or stamped
envelope
• Refused to send letter
Bonus
If you receive a response to your letter before
our course concludes, I will add extra-credit
to your composition grade. Please let me
know via email at the time you receive a
response
and let me know what the sender said. I
enjoy receiving thesereports!

5. Page 3 of 8
Topic Choices
Begin noticing and thinking about images, signs,
and symbols you find problematic. Look
for propaganda in your neighborhood.
For example, a Vietnamese restaurant in Dallas
choose a red star as part of its logo.
The
red star may represent communist propaganda to
many refugees who escaped the Vietnam
War. Is this a good idea for business?
Probably not.
Traditional and SAGE Student Topic Ideas
Rejected topics
Many of the following companies and
organizations have corrected or resolved cases of
discrimination, slander, and propaganda. Sending a
letter to thesecompanies will be silly,
so do not writea letter to the following
companies or organizations:
• Sports teams using Native American images,
mascots, and logos
• Dove Soap company’s discrimination against Black
Americans
• Makeup companies who do not offer various shades

6. of makeup
• The Kellogg’s Company’s use of racial
profiling on cereal boxes
• Victoria Secret’s lack of plus-size models and use of
skinny models
• Carl’s Jr. restaurant’s use of sexual imagery in
their ads
• Cities that have removed racist statues
Do not search and copy an online image; rather,
use your own camera and capture a
visual image of propaganda in your
neighborhood, workplace, campus, church, or
community center.
Page 4 of 8
Acceptable topics
1. Capture a photo of a monument that
represents propaganda in your neighborhood.
This can be a monument of a person or
historical event. Remember, you are
analyzing the problematic aspects of the monument,
its shape, symbolism, position,
composition, context, and so forth. For
example, don’t just argue a statue of
Robert

7. E. Lee is racist because Lee was a Confederate
General and the confederates
supported slavery. Show us how and why Lee’s
statue perpetuates racist
propaganda in your neighborhood, how its features
hurt residents, and then
persuade an authorized person such as a city
manager to remove, alter, or improve
the monument.
2. Capture a photo of propaganda created by
a government or political organization
near your home, work, campus, church, or other
area. Persuade a person at this
organization to discontinue, alter, or improve
the image and problematic message
behind the image. A few examples may include
the following:
• A government agency such as the EPA uses
imagery to promote its
environmental agenda. Some of theseimages
may be propaganda, promoting
the US President’s political partyor interests since
presidents choose EPA
directors. Don’t argue the EPA is doing
nothing to resolve global warming;
rather, showyour reader how and why a certain
image used by the EPA is a form
of propaganda used to cover up scientific facts
concerning global warming, or
showhow it is changing people’s minds for or
against global warming or
encouraging them to vote in a certain way.

8. • A political partysuch as the Green Party,
Republican, Democratic, Independent,
or Libertarian Party uses imagery to promote
their political agendas. What
image in your neighborhood intends to deceive
the public into voting for one of
thesepolitical parties? How and why does this image
accomplish this agenda?
• A political action committee (PAC) or non-
profit organization backed by industry
may be using ads, posters, or otherimages to
promote certain behaviors such as
promotingwar to boost weapon manufacturing profits,
discounting global
warming to encourage people to burn more gasoline, or
blaming others to hide
responsibility (e.g. drug companies blaming school
shootings on guns rather
than pharmaceuticals to hide the fact that many
active shooters use drugs).
• City governments use posters and ads to
promote city programs. Do you see any
propaganda being used in your town?
• North Lake College creates posters, ads, and
promotional materials for
programs. Any propaganda on campus?
• Planned Parenthood publishes many images of
certain gender, race, and age
groups. Is this a problem?

9. • The military relies heavily on posters of
soldiers. Do you see any propaganda
there?
Page 5 of 8
3. Capture a photo or image of a
company or nonprofit organization’s advertising
imagery. Notice how companies and nonprofits
choose to display certain ethnicities,
genders, religions, economic statuses, or types of
people doing certain things while
feeling certain ways as a way to attract
customers or support. Some of their
promotional imagery is propaganda.
Persuade a guilty company or organization to
discontinue, alter, or improve their
problematic images and messages behind the images.
A few examples may include
the following:
• Energy company: Sustainable energy companies
use logos or images of green
pastures and clean air on advertisements.
Does this work for them? Fossil Fuel
energy companies also use logos and images to
promote their energy products.
Do their images work for their types of resources?

10. • Fast Food: In the case of fast food
restaurants, Burger King oftenuses images of
Black Americans more than otherethnic groups.
Why? Black Americans
experience greater chances of suffering from
diabetes and heartdisease which
are linked to diet. Is therea problem with
this?
• Textiles: Clothing manufactures oftendisplay
images of cotton farmers and
people happily working in factories, yet many
countries allow clothing
manufacturers to enslave workers. Is this a
problem?
• Gender bias: A plethora of companies display
certain images in form of gender
bias. Is this a problem?
• Groceries: Many food manufactures display
farms, bucolic sunsets, healthy
plants and animals on their product packaging.
Often slogans such as “all
natural” accompany theseimages. How does this
reconcile with the fact that
most food in packages is grown indoors, on feed
lots, and within monoculture
environments? How can the food be natural
when its grown or raised with
artificial fertilizer, chemicals, feed, and then preserved by
more chemicals?
• Church or religious group: somechurches use

11. images to scarepeople, attract
people, or reject people. Do you see any
religious literature using propaganda?
4. Analyze and critique an existing form of
propaganda found in an advertisement
produced by a company or organization in your
neighborhood, create an original
image, and persuade the company or organization to
discontinue using their
problematic image and adopt your image.
Show your reader how and why your
image is better.
Page 6 of 8
Visual Analysis Rubric
NLC English Department Visual Analysis Paper
Rubric
CRITERIA
Excellent
(18-20 points)
Proficient

12. (16-17 points)
Satisfactory
(14-15 points)
Unsatisfactory
(12-13 points)
Deficient
(0-12 points)
Thesis
Engaging opening
that introduces the
paper’s topic, a
problem, research
question, purpose,
and method for
writing; the thesis is
an easily
identifiable, well-
Generally engaging
opening; areasto
be strengthened
may include
presentation of
general topic,
development of
transition between
general opening
Opening is functional
but too brief and/or
simplistic; topicis

13. apparent but needs to
be developed to
engage the reader;
weaksense of purpose
and claim; paragraph
topics are
Opening is
ineffective, poorly
organized, and
underdeveloped;
thesis statement
may summarize
plot points rather
than present
argument about
Fails to fulfill the
requirements of the
assignment.
phrased argument
that recognizes the
intended message, as
well as its purpose
and audience. The
thesis reflects sound
critical, interpretive,
and analytical
thinking; title and
author of work are
appropriately
identified.

14. and specific thesis
statement;thesis
statement is
phrased as an
argument but may
be strengthened
through
clarification of the
main idea being
offered and
purpose.
Recognizes the
broad intended
message but misses
somenuances.
vague or disconnected
from the thesis; thesis
may be too general,
vague, or imprecisely
presented;thesis may
not directly address
the prompt. Recognizes
the intended message
and its purpose but
does not demonstrate
knowledge of its
significance.
text or may be
missing; thesis may
not address the
prompt or a viable
topic; author
and/or title of
image may not be

15. referenced properly
Does not identify
the deeper purpose
of the image.
Page 7 of 8
Development
Each paragraph
clearly connects to
the thesis and offers
identifiable,
wellphrased ideasto
be fully argued in
each paragraph;
concrete details are
incorporated in the
body paragraphs
and describe the
image and the
different elements
used; paragraphs are
well-organized to
create a coherent,
carefully developed
and supported
argument;
transitions between
ideasare logical and
each idea builds on

16. the preceding.
Each paragraph
generally connects
to the thesis but
one or more main
ideasmay need to
be clarified;
concrete details
are generally
wellchosen though
somemay be
irrelevant or
insufficient as
evidence to
effectively support
the thesis and/or
paragraph;
recognizes the
relationship
between the image
and its physical
characteristics;
paragraphs are
generally
wellorganized,
although some
transitions may be
awkward; focus
and control of
argument may
need improvement
because the point
of a paragraph may
not always be
clear.

17. Supporting ideas
within body
paragraphs are
present but weak in
one or more following
areas: main idea not
discernible, a fact
about the text is
summarized, and/or
unclear connections to
thesis exist. Concrete
details are present but
weak because they
provide insufficient
evidence to support
the body paragraph
and/or lack insightful
inference. Paragraphs
identify the type of
image and some
physical
characteristics. Lack
of coherent
organization of ideas
within paragraphs;
abrupt transitions that
impede flow.
Topic sentences
absent or
consistently lack
focused ideas, either
offering
general, irrelevant
comments or

18. stating facts about
the text; thereis no
discernible
argument or point
guiding the paper;
concrete details are
absent or
ineffective/
insufficient;
consistent lack of
coherent
organization of
ideas within
paragraphs and
from one
paragraph to the
next; points of
paragraphs are
unclear. Identifies
the type of image
and some of its
physical elements.
Fails to fulfill the
requirements of the
assignment.
Interpretation
Recognizes all of the
elements of style
included in the
image and
thoroughly explains
their effects on the
image’s message;

19. analyzes the image’s
contextual influences
and how
they affect the
message;
demonstrates a
thorough analysis of
the image, as well as
Recognizes most
elements of style
used in the image
and attempts to
explain their
effects on the
image’s message;
attempts to
identify the image’s
contextual
influencesbut
provides an
incomplete
analysis of their
effects; provides a
Discusses the elements
of style used in the
image, but does so in a
general sense;
explains only the
obvious contextual
influencesof the
image; overlooks some
aspects of visual
interpretation.

20. Identifies most of
the elements of style
used in the image,
but does not explain
their significance;
does not
demonstrate
recognition of the
image’s deeper
purpose; attempt at
analysis is
rudimentary.
Fails to fulfill the
requirements of the
assignment.
its techniques and
message.
good analysis of
message and
technique that is
generally
comprehensive.
Page 8 of 8
Language &
Style

21. Paper reflects an
argumentative mode
of writing
appropriate for the
topic; it is academic
in tone;writer's
voice is evident,
confident, and
sophisticated;
vocabulary and
phrasing are
academically
appropriate,
persuasive, and
sophisticated
without being
pretentious.
Writing is generally
academic in tone;
writer’s voice may
not be consistently
persuasive but is
discernible; writing
demonstrates an
awareness of the
purpose to
persuade;
vocabulary in some
places may be
simplistic or
ineffective.
Writing tends to be
mechanical in tone;
writer’s voice is not

22. discernible in the
paper; writing
demonstrates
inconsistent awareness
of the purpose to
persuade; vocabulary
tends to be simplistic,
marked by instances of
informal or imprecise
diction.
Writing is
mechanical in tone;
writer’s voice is not
discernible; writing
demonstrates no
awareness of the
purpose to
persuade;
vocabulary is
simplistic and/or
inappropriate.
Fails to fulfill the
requirements of the
assignment.
Grammar &
Mechanics
Paper includes
sentence variety;
effective syntax and
grammar;
demonstrates a
mastery of writing

23. conventions and
serves the author’s
purpose; consistent
adherence to MLA
guidelines; accurate
Works Cited page;
absence of grammar,
syntax, and
punctuation errors.
Paper’s sentences
generally effective
but may lack
appropriate variety
(some repeated
opening words and
structure); syntax
and grammar may
be awkward in
places (but not
distracting); a few
grammar and
mechanical errors
(but not
distracting);
consistent
adherence to MLA
guidelines; accurate
Works Cited page.
Essay sentences lack
variety (frequently
repeated opening
words and sentence
structure); awkward
syntax and grammar

24. confuse writer’s point
and distract reader;
misspellings,
contractions,
fragments, referring to
“you” which
diminishes the
academic nature of
the writing;
inconsistent adherence
to MLA guidelines(but
does not compromise
integrity of essay);
Works Cited page may
contain inaccuracies
(but does not
compromise the
integrity of essay).
Frequent syntax,
grammar, and
misspelling errors
that distract the
reader; lack of
adherence to MLA
guidelineswhich
undermines the
integrity of paper;
inaccurateWorks
Cited page
compromises
integrity of essay.
No adherence to
MLA guidelines
(missing citations,

25. lack of proper
format); missing
Works Cited page;
paper is
incomprehensible.