article analysis

SAMPLE BODY PARAGRAPH for RHETORICAL ANALYSIS

 The topic sentence/main idea is in bold.

 The examples that support the topic sentence are underlined.

 The explanation/analysis of evidence is in SMALL CAPS.

 The closing sentence that wraps up the main idea is italicized.

Jenkins ineffectively appeals to logos when he creates a hasty generalization and offers points that counter

his main idea, which make his argument unstable and weak. For instance, Jenkins discusses Obama’s pledge to “rid the

world of nuclear arsenals. He has failed” and then claims Obama “[i]nstead updated his own [arsenal.” IN THIS EXAMPLE,

JENKINS PROVIDES NO SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE THAT SUPPORTS THIS CLAIM NOR DOES HE EXPLAIN HOW THIS RELATES TO APOLOGIZING FOR

HIROSHIMA. INSTEAD OF JENKINS TRYING TO CONVINCE HIS AUDIENCE OF HIS OPINION, HE HAS NOW LEFT THE READER WONDERING HOW THEY

GOT HERE AND WHERE THE INFORMATION FITS INTO HIS CONCLUSION. IN MAKING UNSUPPORTED AND POSSIBLY IRRELEVANT CLAIMS, JENKINS

CREATES A HASTY GENERALIZATION, A LOGICAL FALLACY THAT UNDERMINES HIS LOGICAL APPEAL. In another example, Jenkins evades

the issue of Hiroshima and provides his audience with irrelevant facts about nuclear weapons: “The balance of terror

between the west and the Soviet Union is often cited as justification of nuclear arms. History is more likely to show that

the likelihood of that cold war ever turning hot was very slight, though fear of an accident was real. The fact of nuclear

weapons has in no way diminished the practice of war, including savage bombing wars, in settling disputes.” ULTIMATELY,

JENKINS VEERS FROM HIS MAIN IDEA THAT OBAMA SHOULD NOT APOLOGIZE FOR THE HIROSHIMA BOMBING. THOUGH HE APPEARS TO GIVE HIS

AUDIENCE A BACKGROUND ON NUCLEAR ARSENALS AND WAR IN THIS EXAMPLE, HE HASN’T MADE THE EFFORT TO CONNECT THIS INFORMATION

TO HIS THESIS ABOUT OBAMA NOT APOLOGIZING FOR HIROSHIMA; READERS WILL SEE THIS AS EVIDENCE THAT OBAMA SHOULD APOLOGIZE.

SUCH CONTRADICTIONS OR AT LEAST VEERING-OFF WEAKEN HIS APPEAL TO HIS READERS’ REASONING. Yet another example

demonstrates how Jenkins weakens his appeal to logos. When Jenkins states that nuclear weapons are “the cruelest and

least precise military method that remains in…use today,” HE PROVIDES MORE SUPPORT FOR WHY OBAMA SHOULD APOLOGIZE FOR

NUCLEAR WEAPONS, WHICH IS COUNTER TO HIS OWN ARGUMENT. COUPLED WITH THE PREVIOUS EXAMPLE, THIS EXAMPLE UNDERMINES

JENKINS MAIN IDEA: TOGETHER THEY SAY THAT NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARE INEFFECTIVE AND CRUEL. THOSE WHO FEEL OBAMA SHOULD

APOLOGIZE CAN USE THESE TWO POINTS TO ARGUE, “AND THIS IS WHY OBAMA NEEDS TO ACKNOWLEDGE AND APOLOGIZE FOR THE CRUELTY OF

THE ATOM BOMB.” Though Jenkins’ logic is often reasonable, the hasty generalization and points that weaken his own

argument will force readers to question the reasoning behind his position.