Comp II Assignment Ideas

I’ll be teaching Comp II next semester with a focus on rhetorical strategies in argumentative writing, and I plan to assign three main projects. The second will be a speech analysis, and the final will be a traditional argumentative paper. For the first project, though, I’d like to assign something fun—a shorter 3–4 page essay that allows students to dip their toes into analysis.

I’ve been considering a visual analysis essay, where students select an image that’s persuasive in some way and analyze the rhetorical strategies embedded in it. Another idea I had was a song analysis essay, but I’m unsure if that would fit well with the emphasis on rhetorical strategies in Comp II. I’d love to hear your thoughts or any other suggestions for a first project that’s engaging yet still aligned with our course focus.