BUILDING BRIDGESThis pedagogical approach of reading through the lens of Lakoff’s political theory as well as genre theory (Hyland, 2007) supports complex dialogue (Gibbons, 2002) that spurs in-depth analytic writing. Assigning this essay first in an intensive college composition course for multilingual writers, I lay the groundwork for students -- some new to US politics -- to compose insightful comparative political analyses of multimodal texts: Trump's (2017) and Obama's (2009) inaugural addresses. In examining Trump’s & Obama’s rhetorical choices when discussing hot-button topics, students have no option but to analyze rather than summarize--thus avoiding a common pitfall that developing writers often confront. This topic also allows openings for students to merge the personal & academic, as Sommers (1992) advocates.
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