Rhetorical Analysis

Assignment 2:
Rhetorical Analysis


While the term "rhetorical analysis" is, at first, rather intimidating for many people, it is easily understood (at least at its most basic) when broken down and defined.

Rhetoric The art of persuasion
Analysis The breaking down of some thing into its parts and interpreting how those parts fit together.

A rhetorical analysis examines how a text works—how its words, its structure, its ideas connect—or don't connect—with a given audience. For this assignment I want you to choose one of the readings you’ve encountered this semester and to break it down to its structural components. Rather than merely summarizing what the author is saying you will be analyzing how the author conveys his or her thesis through specific structural decisions.

Given the nature of this class—I want you to offer you two different approaches display your rhetorical understanding of the pieces you’ve encountered in class.

Option 1: A 3-5 page social/historical rhetorical analysis of a text of your choice

-Choose a reading that you’ve enjoyed in this course
-Examine that reading closely. What is the author’s thesis? How does he or she make his or her argument stylistically? How does the essay’s structure reflect its purpose?
-Research the social/historical/cultural context of the piece—for example you could investigate Thoreau and transcendentalism, John Muir and the development of the National Parks, Teddy Roosevelt and his tour around the Western United States, Alice Walker and the role of African Americans in American environmentalism, Terry Tempest Williams and eco-feminism…the list goes on….
-Use that research to give the essay context. Try to relate use whatever information you find to understand how the author might have been trying to reach a specific audience
-Make your research the basis of your introduction. Shape your essay’s thesis around how the author was able to reach his or her audience stylistically during the time period he or she wrote.

Evaluation Criteria:
-The paper includes both the author’s claim and the writer’s thesis
-The writer shoes an understanding of the historical/cultural context of the piece he or she is analyzing and is able to seamlessly integrate that context into his or her argument
¬-The writer examines at least three of the author’s rhetorical strategies (example: diction, imagery, tone, voice) and relates those strategies to the essay’s context, the author’s claim, and the writer’s thesis



Option 2: An imitation of a text of your choice and a 2 page analysis of your imitation

-Choose a reading that you’ve enjoyed in this course
-Examine that reading closely. What is the author’s thesis? How does he or she make his or her argument stylistically? How does the essay’s structure reflect its purpose?
-Write your own creative piece integrating rhetorical strategies you notice the original author using to convey your own ideas about home, place, or the environment
-Write a short (2 page) paper which includes both your thesis (purpose) and the thesis (purpose) of the original text, analyzing how both you and the original author used the same rhetorical strategies to convey your ideas

Evaluation Criteria:
-The imitation effectively uses at least three rhetorical strategies (example: diction, imagery, tone, voice) of the original text
-The writer examines at least three of the rhetorical strategies present in the original text and relates those strategies to both the original author’s claim and their own claim in their short (2 page) paper which accompanies their imitation

















Questions to Consider:
What is the rhetorical situation?
• What occasion gives rise to the need or opportunity for persuasion?


• What is the historical occasion that would give rise to the composition of this text?


Who is the author/speaker?
• How does he or she establish ethos (personal credibility)?


• Does he/she come across as knowledgeable? fair?

What is his/her intention in speaking?
• To attack or defend?
• To exhort or dissuade from certain action?
• To praise or blame?
• To teach, to delight, or to persuade?

Who make up the audience?
• Who is the intended audience?


• What values does the audience hold that the author or speaker appeals to?


• Who have been or might be secondary audiences?
What is the content of the message?
• Can you summarize the main idea?


• What are the principal lines of reasoning or kinds of arguments used?


• How does the author or speaker appeal to reason? to emotion?


What is the form in which it is conveyed?

• What is the structure of the communication; how is it arranged?


• What oral or literary genre is it following?


• What figures of speech (schemes and tropes) are used?


• What kind of style and tone is used and for what purpose?




How do form and content correspond?
• Does the form complement the content?


• What effect could the form have, and does this aid or hinder the author's intention?


Does the message/speech/text succeed in fulfilling the author's or speaker's intentions?

• For whom?


• Does the author/speaker effectively fit his/her message to the circumstances, times, and audience?


• Can you identify the responses of historical or contemporary audiences?


What does the nature of the communication reveal about the culture that produced it?

• What kinds of values or customs would the people have that would produce this?


• How do the allusions, historical references, or kinds of words used place this in a certain time and location?