What is a Rhetorical Analysis?

What is a Rhetorical Analysis? A rhetorical analysis is an attempt to determine how an author uses language to persuade his/her audience to his/her purpose. We will be discussing, at length, the methods writers use to persuade their audiences (through the Aristotelian Appeals)as well as the many different factors which go into considering how a text is composed to be most effective (the Rhetorical Situation). A Rhetorical Analysis, therefore, is a written examination of a text, or texts, to explain to a reader how an author constructs a text, in a given situation, to maximize the effectiveness of his/her words. An analysis can be understood as a form of an investigation into a text. Through the analysis, the composer (you) determines the overall effectiveness of a written piece and demonstrates as such through the presentation and explanation of textual evidence. The Assignment: examine two essays from The Engaged Reader and determine which text was most effective. You will want to begin by examining the rhetorical situation in which the writers are writing: the authors’ backgrounds, the potential audiences, purposes for writing, the occasions for writing, and any potential biases on the part of the authors or audiences. (For purposes of convenience and clarity, it will be wise to choose two argumentative essays which deal within a similar theme or topic and, therefore, will have similar audiences. Fortunately, your Engaged Reader is divided by theme. Read around and find two argumentative pieces which you feel confident in writing about. If you choose, you may want to analyze the essay you chose for your summary. Also, keep in mind that you may end up using these essays as two of your sources in your multi-source Capstone paper.) You will discuss the Rhetorical Situations (audience, purpose, exigency, state of the world) and Aristotelian Appeals (ethos, pathos and logos) in both text and this will make up the majority of the body of your analysis. There will also be a brief section at the end of the paper where you will be able to discuss each text in relation to one another, thus determining which author composed a more persuasive text. Basic structure for a rhetorical analysis is as follows: • An introduction including… o A creative hook o Background information on the subject which both essays deal with o Your thesis statement • A description of the rhetorical situation, which includes… o Audience o Purpose o Exigency o State of the world, related to content and message • A summary that is… o Brief, neutral and independent o Fully, briefly summarizes both texts o No more than one-two paragraphs in length (one paragraph per text, at most) • Body Paragraphs o Topic sentences o Analysis of both texts’ use of ethos, pathos and logos o Integration of direct quotes and paraphrased materials as support o Explanation of the support in relation to your thesis o A demonstration of which is most persuasive • A Conclusion including… o A restatement of the main ideas and thesis o An explanation of what the author could have done to better convince their audience • A Work Cited page that… o Includes all referenced materials including the source texts Essay Submission Guidelines: • The finished submitted draft should be APPROXIMATELY three to five (3-5) pages with around 500-600 words; however, the length of your essay depends on the length of the article that you are summarizing (Remember: short articles can be hard to pull information from since the author’s words are few and overly long articles can present difficulties in identifying a singular thesis and the main ideas in connection with it.). • The finished submitted draft must be word-processed or typed, double-spaced on 8.5" x 11" sheets of paper with one-inch (1") margins on all sides. • Please follow MLA title-page/essay format and citing sources guidelines. If you work on a computer, please use a standard font and type size, for example 12-point Times New Roman. • No handwritten, sloppily presented, or late work will be accepted. • Important: Save all of your prewriting, drafting, and revising pages. You might be asked to submit these along with your finished submitted draft for evaluation. Due Dates and Other Administrative Items: • Draft Due: Monday ,March 6 (a paper copy submitted in class for peer review) • Revised Draft Due: Wednesday, March 8 o This essay will be graded on a 100-point scale of A, B, C, D, F o See the syllabus for the revision policy.