A rhetorical analysis considers all elements of the rhetorical situation–the audience, purpose, medium, and context–within which a communication was generated and delivered in order to make an argument about that communication. A strong rhetorical analysis will not only describe and analyze the text but will also evaluate it; that evaluation represents your argument. The rhetorical situation identifies the relationship among the elements of any communication–audience, author (rhetor), purpose, medium, context, and content. The time, place, and public conversations surrounding the text during its original generation and delivery should also be considered; the text may also be analyzed within a different context, such as how a historical text would be received by its audience today.
Rhetorical Analysis is a high-order critical thinking skill. It takes practice to become effective at formal and intentional analysis of text and media. When writing assignments call on you to analyze, they require you to identify the parts of the subject (parts of an ad, parts of a short story, parts of Hamlet’s character), and then show how these parts fit or don’t fit together to create some larger effect or meaning. Your interpretation of how these parts fit together constitutes your claim or thesis, and the task of your essay is then to present an argument defending your interpretation as a valid or plausible one to make.
Note: Our biggest bit of advice about analysis is don’t try to do it all in your head. Analysis works best when you put all the cards on the table, so to speak. Identify and isolate the parts of your analysis, and record important features and characteristics of each one. As patterns emerge, you sort and connect these parts in meaningful ways. The critical reading skills you are developing–like differentiating fact from opinion and making inferences–will help you become a more savvy consumer and a more discerning citizen.
Classical Rhetorical Appeals
When doing a rhetorical analysis, notice these appeals writers use to persuade their audiences.
- Ethos: believable, authoritative voice that elicits credibility and audience trust.
- Kairos: sense of appropriate timing when attempting to persuade.
- Logos: credible information—facts, reasons, or examples—presented as evidence that moves toward a sensible and acceptable conclusion.
- Pathos: the use of appeals to feelings and emotions shared by an audience. Some of the general categories are fear, guilt, anger, love, loyalty, patriotism, and duty.
The Workings of Rhetorical Analysis
The aim of rhetorical analysis is not to find agreement with or praise for the writer, although either may be implied or stated. The essential task of analyzing requires a detachment that will convince the readers of the validity and effectiveness (or lack thereof) of the writing by identifying the writer’s tools and what they accomplish.
As you formulate your rhetorical analysis, be aware of the following approaches and strategies that writers use to persuade an audience. Your goal will be to identify them in your analysis, explain their use, and evaluate their effectiveness.
- Establishing credibility. Writers include their credentials or experience with the subject to ensure that readers will take them seriously as someone who knows what they’re talking about. To reinforce their authority, they cite reliable sources as support for their points.
- Sharing personal experience. Sharing a personal experience related to the subject enhances credibility and may also appeal to readers’ emotions.
- Targeting emotional concerns. By specifically addressing those incidents or outcomes that readers may fear or desire, the author can rally them to take a particular position. Emotional concerns also include appeals to the five senses and to broader sentiments such as love, loyalty, anger, justice, or patriotism.
- Using devices that draw attention to claims. These include literary devices such as parallelism, repetition, and rhetorical questions that writers and speakers use to emphasize points and unify a text.
- Supporting claims with convincing evidence. Ways of supporting claims include quoting, summarizing, or paraphrasing expert opinions; relating anecdotes and examples; and citing appropriate statistics and facts.
- Acknowledging the opposition. If a writer makes a point of explaining other groups’ positions carefully and respectfully, readers from those groups, as well as the target audience, are more likely to be responsive to the writer. By acknowledging the opposition, writers show they have considered opposing views and can then demonstrate that their position is preferable.
- Questioning the motivation of the opposition. By exposing others’ possibly conflicting interests, the writer can undermine the credibility of an opponent’s character or argument.
Note :In addition to these, writers may use more questionable rhetorical devices to persuade readers. While the techniques of each strategy differ, all lead away from the actual argument and seek to persuade through means other than reasonable, logical thought. Such strategies include bandwagon, ad hominem (name-calling), bait and switch, and more.
Examples of Rhetorical Analysis
Review the following videos for more insight on how to create the content for your rhetorical analysis.
Credit: “Rhetorical Analysis of Budweiser Super Bowl Commercial – 2015” by Teach Argument. License: All Rights Reserved. License Terms: Standard YouTube License.
Credit: “Rhetorical Analysis of Super Bowl 2016 Coke Commercial” by Teach Argument. License: All Rights Reserved. License Terms: Standard YouTube License.
Credit: “Rhetorical Analysis of P&G’s Super Bowl Commercial “Like A Girl” – 2015″ by Teach Argument. License: All Rights Reserved. License Terms: Standard YouTube License.
Writing a Rhetorical Analysis
Drafting a Thesis Statement
After you have read your text several times and have a clear understanding of it as a piece of rhetoric, consider whether the writer has succeeded in being persuasive. You might find that in some ways they have and in others they have not. Then, with a clear understanding of your purpose—to analyze how the writer seeks to persuade—you can start framing a thesis statement: a declarative sentence that states the topic, the angle you are taking, and the aspects of the topic the rest of the paper will support.
Completing the following sentence frames can help you get started:
Activity
The subject of my rhetorical analysis is ________.
My goal is to ________, not necessarily to ________.
The writer’s main point is ________.
I believe the writer has succeeded (or not) because ________.
I believe the writer has succeeded in ________ (name the part or parts) but not in ________ (name the part or parts).
The writer’s strongest (or weakest) point is ________, which they present by ________.
Gathering Information
First, list the rhetorical strategies you notice while reading the text, and note where they appear. Keep in mind that you do not need to include every strategy the text contains, only those essential ones that emphasize or support the central argument and those that may seem fallacious. You may add other strategies as well.
When you have completed your list, consider how to structure your analysis. You will have to decide which of the writer’s statements are most effective. The strongest point would be a good place to begin; conversely, you could begin with the writer’s weakest point if that suits your purposes better. The most obvious organizational structure is one of the following:
- Go through the composition paragraph by paragraph and analyze its rhetorical content, focusing on the strategies that support the writer’s thesis statement.
- Address key rhetorical strategies individually, and show how the author has used them
Introduction
Your introduction should contain the following information:
- Author’s name and position, or other qualification to establish ethos
- Title of work and genre
- Author’s thesis statement or stance taken (“Peterson argues that . . .”)
- Brief introductory explanation of how the author develops and supports the thesis or stance
- If relevant, a brief summary of context and culture
The introductory paragraph or paragraphs should serve to move the reader into the body of the analysis and signal what will follow.
Body
Your next step is to start supporting your thesis statement—that is, how the writer does or does not succeed in persuading readers. To accomplish this purpose, you need to look closely at the rhetorical strategies the writer uses.
To organizethe body of your paper, begin with the sample structure below. Be sure that each paragraph has a topic sentence and that you use transitions to flow smoothly from one idea to the next.
Example Body Organization
Body Paragraph 1:
Write a topic sentence explaining your first point of analysis. If you begin with what you think is the writer’s strongest point, state what it is and explain the rhetorical strategies used to support it. Provide appropriate quotations from the text. (Suggestion: Address ethos, pathos, and logos first. You may need more than one paragraph to cover them.)
Body Paragraph 2:
If needed, continue your discussion of ethos, pathos, and/or logos, explaining how they function in the text and providing examples. Once you have completed your discussion, move on to your next point, which will address one or more specific strategies used.
Body Paragraph 3:
Following a transition, write a topic sentence to address another point or points in the text. Discuss the strategies used, provide examples and quotations as appropriate, and show how they support (or don’t support) the writer’s thesis statement. Consider rhetorical strategies such as parallelism, repetition, rhetorical questions, and figurative language.
Body Paragraphs 4-6 (or more, if needed):
Continue as needed. In this paragraph, you might point out rhetorical fallacies, such as bandwagon, ad hominem, or any others you notice, if you have not yet done so. Indicate how they strengthen or weaken the writer’s position. If you have already addressed all the elements of your analysis, discuss the writer’s approach to counterclaims. You may need more than four body paragraphs for your rhetorical analysis.
Conclusion
As you conclude your essay, your own logic in discussing the writer’s argument will make it clear whether you have found their claims convincing. Your opinion, as framed in your conclusion, may restate your thesis statement in different words, or you may choose to reveal your thesis at this point. The real function of the conclusion is to confirm your evaluation and show that you understand the use of the language and the effectiveness of the argument.
Activity
- Watch the Mad Men advertising pitch for “The Kodak Carousel,” “Mad Men – It’s not a slide projector or a wheel… it’s a Carousel” by SpeechCoachLA, and think about the way the advertisers use images and language to persuade…this is rhetoric!
- Answer the following questions in a file/document:
- What is it about the advertising pitch that is supposed to connect with the public and get them to buy the product, in this case the Kodak Carousel?
- What is it about nostalgia (Don Draper said in Greek it means “the pain of an old wound”) that is more powerful than memory?
- Is the advertising pitch by Don Draper effective at persuading the public? Why or why not?
Activity
- Download Backpacks vs Briefcases: Steps Toward Rhetorical Analysis.
- Annotate the text.
- Answer the following questions in a document/file:
- What are the implications of rhetorical analysis? (p. 3, p. 46)
- What is the “rhetorical situation”? (p. 5, p.48)
- What is the argument in rhetorical analysis? (p. 9, p. 52)
- What does context have to do with Rhetorical Analysis? (p.12, p.55)
- Why is rhetorical analysis important in college? (p.14, p.57)
- What are examples of rhetoric that you see and hear on a daily basis?
- What are some ways that you create rhetoric?