Read the sample student thesis statement from a rhetorical essay. Bassett’s argument that community service does little to teach students about their obligations as citizens is ultimately not very persuasive. What makes this thesis statement weak? It does not make a judgment about the success of the writer’s strategies. It does not explain what the rhetorical analysis will show. It does not state whether you personally agree with the writer’s argument. It does not include either inductive or deductive reasoning.

Read the excerpt from frederick douglass’s speech “what to the slave is the fourth of july? ” go where you may, search where you will, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the old world, travel through south america, search out every abuse, and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side of the everyday practices of this nation, and you will say with me, that, for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, america reigns without a rival. which phrase best describes the connotation of the word “reigns”? a sense of opportunity and growth a sense of fear and anxiety a sense of compassion and humanity a sense of oppression and domination