Analysis of Phiny’s Letter to Trajan

* Type your paper in Times New Roman or Arial 12-point font, double-spaced. This includes the heading. The font should be consistent throughout
* Number pages using MLA format
* Give the paper a title
* Use 1” margins on all four sides
* Use MLA documentation to credit all sources, including lecture and Internet material. 
Prompt: This assignment asks you to focus on one primary source text and write a short essay analyzing its purpose, rhetorical strategies, and how it is written to accomplish its aim.  You will make an argument about what your analysis reveals about the text and its historical context.
Text assigned: Pliny, Letter to Trajan 
Note: Do not use sources outside of the course for this assignment, the primary focus is your analysis of the assigned text.
The final draft of the essay will need to include the following elements:
* An introduction that summarizes the text, provides necessary context and states a thesis that makes an argument about what your analysis reveals about the text and its historical context.  In order to make this argument, you’ll need to answer the following questions for the assigned text:
1. What conversation is the text entering, and how does the author try to position themselves in that conversation?
2. What audience is the author addressing?
3. What argument is the text making?
4. What rhetorical strategies (pathos, ethos, logos) does the author use to make the argument convincing?  
5. How do rhetorical choices, such as genre, organization, tone, style, and word choice relate to its purpose?
* Body paragraphs that analyze the text, either by themes or patterns, or section by section, with evidence cited from the text. Include topic sentences that tie each paragraph to your thesis
* A conclusion that non-repetitively and briefly restates your thesis and discusses the significance of your analysis
500-600 words