Guide to Writing a Rhetorical Analysis Essay

Purpose of a Rhetorical Analysis Essay

Rhetorical Analysis — Two objectives:

A rhetorical analysis essay breaks a work of non-fiction into parts, and explains:

How the parts work together to inform, persuade, or entertain an audience evaluating their effectiveness in meeting the author’s objective(s) Parts of any text include rhetorical strategies and appeals.

 

Each has a distinct purpose. Depending on the rhetorical situation (author, subject, purpose, exigence, audience), authors will choose to use specific rhetorical strategies and appeals to increase the likelihood that their message will be effectively conveyed to their audience. The first step in writing a rhetorical analysis essay is reading the work of non-fiction closely and identify strategies and appeals: Rhetorical strategies:

 

The ways authors organize evidence and make connections between their audience and the information they provide. Here are some examples: Cause and effect Comparing and contrasting Classifying and dividing Defining Describing Explaining a process Narrating Rhetorical appeals:

 

Persuasive strategies authors use to support their claims or respond to arguments. The four rhetorical appeals are logos, pathos, ethos, and kairos. Logos

- appeals to logic Pathos

- appeals to emotion Ethos

- appeals to ethics/credibility Kairos

- appeals to time/timeliness of an argument (relates to context: the “moment in time”)

 

Evaluating the Effectiveness After identifying rhetorical strategies and appeals, determine their effectiveness at conveying information and meeting the writer’s objective(s) by asking the following questions:

 

What is the author’s purpose for writing?

Does the author clearly aim to persuade, entertain, or inform their audience?

Do the rhetorical strategies, appeals, and devices consistently support the writer’s objective(s)? Does the author use any rhetorical strategies, appeals, and devices inappropriately? If so, how?

 

Are there any other rhetorical strategies, appeals, and devices the author should have used to convey their message and meet their objective(s)? Organizing Your Rhetorical Analysis A rhetorical analysis essay is organized similarly to other essays. It should include an introduction, body, and conclusion.

 

The introduction should tell your readers what you will be doing in your essay, provide relevant background information, and present your thesis statement. The body is where you provide analysis of how the author conveyed their message. This can be done by presenting the differing parts or the rhetorical strategies and appeals, and then describing how effectively (or ineffectively) the author uses these techniques to convey their message and meet their objective(s).

 

Only list and analyze the most important parts. You may also describe in this portion of the essay a rhetorical strategy or appeal an author neglected to use that would have helped them be more effective at meeting their objective(s). You may use (very short) pieces of text from the original work in your essay to demonstrate how an author uses a rhetorical strategy or appeal, and how these parts work together.

 

The conclusion should restate the main argument and recap the analysis. Refrain from word-for-word repetition and aim to leave a positive last impression. What a Rhetorical Analysis Essay IS: You should explore how the essay is constructed and if the parts of the essay are effective at presenting information and meeting the author’s objective(s) for communicating.

 

What a Rhetorical Analysis Essay Is Not: A rhetorical analysis essay is not a summary. (It is not “about” what the original essay is about — it is “about the way the writing does its job.” Do not summarize the original text.)

 

It also is not an argumentative essay; this is analysis only, and you should not take a stance on the original text. Final Form: 3 to 4 pages, double-spaced, APA style. Use identification block on page 1 and last name and page number on every page; no cover page is required. Adapted from J.  “Rhetorical Analysis.”