Writing a Rhetorical Analysis

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Writing a Rhetorical Analysis
Discovering the Secret Agenda
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Aristotle, whom we refer to as the Father of
Modern Rhetoric, taught that writing (or speech)
does not exist in a vacuum. There is, first
and foremost, a messenger, with an agenda all
his own next, there is a reader (or listener)
for whom the message is tailored and finally
there is the message (either a text or a speech),
created for a specific audience. Aristotles
idea may be represented as follows
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Writer
Reader
Text
Rhetorical Triangle
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In order to communicate her message persuasively,
the writer needs to understand her audience, and
to actively envision themto anticipate their
needs. She then has to determine what methods
she will use to communicate her ideas. This is
called determining rhetorical stance, i.e.,
determining the relationship that will exist
between the writer and the reader.
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One important determination is what TONE (or
PERSONA) to adopt. Will the writers tone be
formal or informal? Will the writer come across
as a superior or as an equal, as an onlooker or
as a participant, as an expert or as a concerned
citizen, etc.? The writer makes such
determinations because he has an agenda. Why
would he adopt a conversational tone? Why
would he take a formal approach? Why would he
present himself as an expert? How would he
present the same material (a) to a middle school
student, and (b) to a college student?
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Establishing Tone

• What are some of the methods that a writer uses
  to establish an informal tone?
• Simple vocabulary
• Contractions
• First and second person pronouns

• What are some of the methods that a writer uses
  to establish a formal tone?
• Complex vocabulary
• Academic jargon
• Absence of contractions
• Third person pronouns

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The Three Appeals
There are essentially three ways of appealing to
an audience 1. Emotion 2. Logic /
Reason 3. Ethics / Morality Of these three
methods, the least honest method is the
emotional appeal, and the most honest is the
logical. However, a good academic paper will
reflect all three, with logic at its core. In
an academic paper it is important, when using the
three appeals, to be scrupulously honest and to
avoid logical and emotional fallacies.

• - Pathos
• Logos
• Ethos

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There are, of course, numerous methods which
writers use to win over a reader, or to draw her
into the text in an effort to persuade her to
accept the writers point of view. What are
some of these methods?

• Tone
• Anecdote
• Facts
• Statistics
• Vocabulary
• Visuals

• Figurative Language
• Analogies
• Expert backing
• Citing authorities
• Honesty
• Balance, etc.

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Understanding , as we now do, the meaning of
rhetorical stance, we are equipped to analyze a
piece of writing. Thinking back to the
Aristotelian Triangle, think in terms of the
Writer, the Reader, and the Text.
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WRITER Who is the writer? What are her personal
biases? Is she a conservative or a liberal? Is
she qualified to address her topic? What
qualifies her (degree, experience)? Is she honest?
READER Who is the intended reader? How do you
know? Why has this reader been targeted? What is
expected of the reader?
Rhetorical Analysis
TEXT How is the text tailored to its
readers? Which of the three appeals is used? What
rhetorical methods are employed? Why? Is the
text effective?
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• If I were to write an analysis of a short
  article, I would structure it as follows
• Introduction A general judgment of the work.
• Writer Background and observations about the
  writer and her agenda.
• Readers General observations about the intended
  readers, why they have been targeted, and what
  the writer expects of them.
• Text How the writer has appealed to the
  readers, the tone she has adopted, and what
  methods she has used to manipulate their
  thinking, with specific examples and comments.
• Conclusion--A summary of my findings, with
  specific judgments about the article and its
  effectiveness.

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Your Assignment You are to select a newspaper
or magazine article that argues a position and
then analyze the rhetorical situation. Use the
sample rhetorical analysis (see handout, or the
sample located at spalding.pbwiki.com) as a
guidenot as a rigid model. How you organize
your analysis will depend in part on the writing
you choose and in part on the decisions you make
about how to arrange the parts of your analysis.
You will present your essay in standard MLA
format.
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The End
PowerPoint Presentation by Mark A. Spalding, BA,
MEd, MA (2009).