Rhetorical Analysis 1

2024

Rhetorical Analysis What is it?

Definition

✤ Rhetoric refers to language that is meant to be persuasive. Let’s break this down further…

✤ rhetoric: the use of language as a means to persuade

✤ analysis: a close examination (evaluation) of something

✤ So…a rhetorical analysis is simply a careful evaluation of a particular text. Pay close attention to strategies used by the writer to persuade (ex: intended audience, purpose, support, etc.)

The purpose

✤ The main goal with a rhetorical analysis is to interpret someone else’s argument (how do they get their message across? what rhetorical strategies do they use, and are these successful?)

✤ A rhetorical analysis is persuasive in that it is your job to provide textual evidence that proves that the argument you are analyzing is strong and credible, or weak and flawed.

✤ It requires you to assess the modes of persuasion that are used, and to identify weaknesses.

✤ What are modes of persuasion?

✤ These are the strategies that the author uses to get their message across in a persuasive way (use of ethos, pathos, logos, textual evidence, etc.)

✤ The rhetorical analysis, then, accomplishes two goals:

1. It helps you understand the work that you are critiquing, in-depth, and,

2. It helps readers (those who are reading your analysis) view and understand the work as you do.

Audience

✤ You are writing to an audience that is seeking a deeper understanding of the argument.

✤ Your audience may be other students or citizens who are trying to make an informed decision about a particular topic or view.

✤ However, in your analysis, consider the author’s intended audience too—who is the author writing to or for?

The basics…

✤ The length of a rhetorical analysis varies depending on a few factors:

1. the source being critiqued

2. depth of your critique

✤ Until you’ve fairly and thoroughly analyzed the argument, you are not done.

✤ That being said, most student need structure, so for the sake of simplicity, in this class, a 2-3 page (APA format) analysis will do.

Approach

✤ It is important to read the article that you are analyzing multiple times.

✤ Read it once from start to finish while playing the “believing game”- that is to say, read it while accepting everything that the author says at face value first, and jot down your reactions as you do this.

✤ Every time you read it after that, read it playing the “doubting game”—that is to say, read it as a skeptic, noting all of the article’s shortcomings. This will help in your analysis.

✤ Be mindful of confirmation bias (the tendency to seek out information that confirms what we already believe); make sure information that you disagree with is NOT rejected, simply because it contradicts your beliefs.

Read Defensively

✤ One of the reasons Aristotle believed rhetoric was needed by all, was that it served as a method of self-defense—it was a way for people to protect themselves from deception, manipulation, and lies.

✤ When reading…

✤ do NOT accept information at face value

✤ DO question assumptions

✤ DO scrutinize claims (carefully)

✤ do NOT rush to judgment

Remember

✤ Now is not the time to be kind—don’t be disrespectful toward the author or the text, but be critical.

✤ Critique the argument, not the individual

✤ Ultimately, I want to see you put your critical thinking skills to good use. The quality of your analysis will tell me how well (or not) you’ve grasped the content discussed in class so far.

structure & organization What to include in Essay#1: Rhetorical Analysis

Structure & Organization

✤ Structure: APA format with three separate sections. Assignment will be between 2-3 pages long

✤ Organization: Title each of the four major sections

✤ Thesis

✤ Description

✤ Analysis

✤ Evaluation

Thesis

✤ generally speaking the thesis should be a statement that tells readers what the essay will be about

✤ analyze the rhetorical situation (read the article & critique it) FIRST—otherwise you won’t know what to include in the thesis

✤ include your assessment of the authors effectiveness in the thesis

✤ for example— Thesis: In [article title], [author’s name] is successful at clearly communicating to a young audience, that x and y are true, through the use of personal examples (pathos) and extensive research (ethos, logos).

✤ in the sample thesis above, we receive the following information:

✤ title of the article & author

✤ your evaluation of the text: “is successful at clearly communicating…”

✤ support for your evaluation of the text: “through the use of ethos & logos”

Description

Address the following in this section…

✤ What does this text look like (visually, describe it)?

✤ Where was the text published & who sponsored it?

✤ What rhetorical appeals are used (ethos, pathos, logos, kairos)? (e.x personal examples establish pathos)

✤ When was the article written? ✤

Analysis

Address the following in this section…

✤ Why does the author incorporate the rhetorical appeals you identified in the previous section? (For example, why does the author personal examples? what does this accomplish? what is the point of pathos?)

✤ Kairos—what is the significance of the publication date? Would the text have the same impact on readers as it does today if it had been written 10 years ago?

✤ What is left out of this text and why? Do you think it was intentionally omitted?

✤ Should there be more ethos, pathos, and/or logos in the text? Why?

✤

Evaluation

Address the following in this section…

✤ Is the text effective?

✤ Does the author succeed in persuading readers to see things from his/her point of view?

✤ Is the text ethical?

✤ What could you change in the text to make it MORE effective?

Other things to Remember ✤ determine article’s trustworthiness (google

author, publisher, evidence used, etc). You WILL have to research some of these elements on your own

✤ pay close attention to claim & evidence relationship

✤ CRAAP Test

✤ Currency

✤ Relevance

✤ Authority

✤ Accuracy

✤ Purpose