Rhetorical Analysis
ALS 174 Professional Writing for Graduate Business Students
Rhetorical Knowledge
Graphic Organizer
Step 1
Directions: Use the graphic organizer to help your organize and understand the deeper context of the reading.
Why did the author choose to write about THIS position/Main idea?
Author’s Position/Main idea
Why did the author choose this purpose? What did she/he hope to accomplish?
What is the author’s purpose?
What is the reason the author chose to write to his/her primary audience?
Who are the author’s primary and secondary audiences?
What assumptions has the author made? Based on the author’s intended audience, did the author make safe and clear assumptions? Why or why not?
How did the author arrange ideas? How did the author use language to communicate his/her ideas?
Why did the author arrange his/her ideas in this way? How does the author use word choice/arrangement/repetition? Was his/her piece informal or formal?
Step 2
Directions : Use the graphic organizer above to write a 700 word rhetorical analysis. Your writing should focus on the how and why of the author’s choices and NOT on the information she/he wrote. You should also avoid making any assessments or judgments about the author’s choices.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________