WRIT1001 Research Task 1
WRIT1001: Writing and rhetoric – academic essays
Short Writing Task 2: Research Task
Semester 2, 2020

Word count: 556 words (including excerpt and references)


Research Notes for My Essay “The Rhetorical Situation of Speeches by Harvey Milk”

Excerpt from Bessette (“Queer Rhetoric in Situ”):
In this essay I have argued for a revisitation of normativity as an exigency and target
for queer rhetoric—not to remove it as a frame, or to redefine queerness as
something other than antinormative. Rather, I have argued for a more reparative
queer rhetoric that eschews an anticipatory reading of normativity, that does not
prefigure normativity’s form in advance of examining the contingent relations
among locally enforced norms, rhetors, acts, and audiences. This queer rhetoric
instead attends to the historical specificity of an act, and examines with nuance the
complexity of power relations within what seems to be normal and what seems to
be queer. It allows, and even assumes, that a rhetorical act can be both queer and
normative, depending on how it is read, when, and where. This is a queer rhetoric in
situ, a weaker theory that emerges in response to the question of what a serious
engagement with rhetorical studies might do to queer theory. (Bessette 161-162)


Commented [WRIT1]: The instructions say 500 words, not
including excerpt and references. But if your document is
anywhere between 500 and 700 words (including excerpt
and references), that is acceptable. We would rather you
work to create succinct summaries, rather than padding out
your summaries to meet the wordcount.
Commented [WRIT2]: An excerpt is a long quote – 4 or 5
sentences. It provides the exact words from a source. Here,
the source should be scholarly.
Your reference style guide contains information about
formatting a long quote. You should start it on a new line
and indent it. You do not put quotation marks around it.
Academic readers understand that indented text shows a
long, direct quote.
Commented [WRIT3]: The citation for an excerpt or long
quote comes at the end of the excerpt and is outside of the
punctuation (here, it comes after the final full stop).
If your excerpt refers to other sources, use the formatting
from the original text, and then include the additional
sources in your reference list at the end of your SWT2. The
short title in the above subheading makes it clear where
your excerpt comes from.
WRIT1001 Research Task 2

Summary
Bessette insists that queer readings of the rhetorical situation will define the status quo by
examining relationships of discrimination and privilege created at the specific moment that
a text is created or interpreted (161-162).


Paraphrase
Bessette concludes her essay by emphasising the urgent need for queer theorists to
emphasise how texts produce and undermine representations of the status quo (161).
Scholars should abandon any assumptions about what is normal and look, instead, at how
discourses about normal identity and social relationships are created by the affiliation
between speakers, texts, and readers in a particular context (Bessette 161). Those scholars
analysing queer rhetoric can look at how identities, disadvantage and privilege are created
through assumptions about normality and difference (Bessette 161). Attuning this reading
strategy to the rhetorical situation means that the extent to which a text undermines the
status quo depends on the reader’s identity and location—who they are, where they are
encountering the text, and what their experiences and influences are (Bessette 161-162).
Once a textual interpretation reveals the situatedness of assumptions about normality and
queerness it has fulfilled Bessette’s goal of rhetorical analysis that combines the interests of
queer theory and rhetorical studies (162).



Commented [WRIT4]: Here, you summarise the excerpt.
Summaries are short and succinct. They do not use phrases
from the excerpt.
You may have to think hard about how to rephrase key
words. Here, the student has rephrased power relations and
normativity, which are two complex terms.
Commented [WRIT5]: If you do not include a citation in
your summaries, readers will assume that you wrote the
sentence on your own from your own thoughts. That is a
form of academic dishonesty. More on citation style below.
Commented [WRIT6]: Here, you paraphrase the excerpt.
Paraphrases provide more detail than summaries. The first
clue for your marker about whether you understand the
difference between them, is if the summary is shorter (much
shorter) than the paraphrase.

When paraphrasing, do not use phrases from the excerpt.
They are written in your own words.

The structure of a paraphrase should match the structure of
the excerpt. Here, the first sentence refers to the first
sentence from the excerpt, the second sentence to the
second sentence from the excerpt, and so on.
While the structure is similar, the wording is unique to the
student.
Commented [WRIT7]: If you note the citations here, MLA
style requires author name and page number. When a detail
is included in the sentence, it does not need to go in the
parentheses/brackets. Also, as the excerpt is split over two
pages in the original source, here the sentences are cited to
the exact pages on which the sentences appear in the
original. Where the page range is cited (161-162), the
sentence that is paraphrased is split over two pages in the
original.
Importantly, citations are included in every sentence that
refers to the original source.
WRIT1001 Research Task 3
Direct quote (including signal and response)
Bessette synthesises the aims of both queer theory and rhetoric studies when she argues
“reparative queer rhetoric” should not anticipate “normativity’s form in advance of
examining the contingent relations among locally enforced norms, rhetors, acts, and
audiences” (161). This quote, which brings a queer studies goal of discourse analysis for
reparation and social healing into conversation with the context-specific analysis prioritised
by rhetoric studies, provides the grounds for me to suggest that my analysis of Harvey Milk’s
rhetoric can potentially enact social justice initiatives. As my essay, which looks at how Milk
uses US patriotism as grounds for the support of gay rights, aims to reveal Milk’s use of, and
disruption of, discourses of normalcy, I will be preventing the proliferation of queer-as-
abnormal narratives that sometimes justify discrimination and disunity in society.



Commented [WRIT8]: Make sure you have looked at the
lecture on Rhetorical Research, which explains the structure
of the Direct Quote for this task. The quoted words should
come from within the excerpt.
Commented [WRIT9]: Both “synthesises” and “argues” are
signal phrases in this section. Imagine how the introduction
to the quote would change if the student used “confuses”
and “suggests”. The strength of your opinion about the
quote should be reflected in the signal phrases.
Commented [WRIT10]: The structure of this sentence is
essentially “This quote, which says X, will help me say Y”. It is
a good structure for showing that you understand the quote
and that you will use it in an interesting way. That is, the
sentence structure shows you can interpret and strategise
about the information you have found. If you were to split
this across two sentences, that would be okay.
Commented [WRIT11]: This sentence tells the marker
more about the student’s essay and remains connected to
the theme of the quote. You might think of your two
sentences in response to the quote as being close and far.
The first is close to the quote in the sense that it explains the
meaning of the quote in more detail. The second is far from
the quote in the sense that it reaches out to the bigger goals
of your essay.
WRIT1001 Research Task 4
Works Cited
Bessette, Jean. “Queer Rhetoric in Situ.” Rhetoric Review 35.2 (2016): 148–164. Web.

Commented [WRIT12]: The reference here is formatted
for MLA style. Your marker will be looking for:
- scholarly research. Does the source come from an
academic, peer-reviewed journal?
- relevant research. Is the source connected to the study of
rhetoric and the concepts discussed in the unit. Here the
journal is one that was listed as relevant in an Individual
Activity. The word rhetoric is a key term. And it is related to
the rhetorical situation, which was the subject of a Lecture
and an Individual Activity.
- independent research. Has the student used their own
research skills to find an appropriate source? This article is
not from the reading list, but it is scholarly and relevant, so
the student has shown good independent research skills.

Please remember, textbooks will not be counted as scholarly
sources. Encyclopedias are not scholarly sources. You should
also avoid PhD or Masters theses.

If your source is not scholarly, you will not get more than
5/10 for the assignment, as we cannot adequately mark
whether you can understand scholarly sources or strategise
about using academic concepts in your essay.