How to Write Rhetorical Analysis Essay – A rhetorical analysis is a type of writing that examines the author’s intent and technique rather than the content of the work being examined. It is one of the tasks on the AP English Language and Composition Exam, and students, academics and other professionals often use it to analyze texts. To complete a rhetorical analysis, you must ask yourself certain questions to determine the purpose of an author’s work and whether it achieved its desired outcome. In this article, we explain how to write a rhetorical analysis and provide simple steps you can follow.
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What is a rhetorical analysis?
A rhetorical analysis is an essay that explores how the creator — or rhetorician — composed their work. You can write a rhetorical analysis about any text or visual copy that’s meant to persuade an audience. The purpose of a rhetorical analysis is to assess the writer’s goal or purpose and the techniques they used to make their argument. Rather than agreeing or disagreeing with the author’s argument, you are describing how they presented their opinion and whether they effectively made their case.
A few specific examples of works that can be analyzed through rhetorical analysis include:
- A speech
- A scholarly article
- A novel
- A television show, film or play
- An art exhibit
- An advertisement or a cartoon
A rhetorical analysis is most commonly used in academics, as a writing assignment for high school or college students or as part of a scholarly work.
Key concepts in rhetoric
Rhetoric, the art of effective speaking and writing, is a subject that trains you to look at texts, arguments and speeches in terms of how they are designed to persuade the audience. This section introduces a few of the key concepts of this field.
Appeals: Logos, ethos, pathos
Appeals are how the author convinces their audience. Three central appeals are discussed in rhetoric, established by the philosopher Aristotle and sometimes called the rhetorical triangle: logos, ethos, and pathos.
Logos, or the logical appeal, refers to the use of reasoned argument to persuade. This is the dominant approach in academic writing, where arguments are built up using reasoning and evidence.
Ethos, or the ethical appeal, involves the author presenting themselves as an authority on their subject. For example, someone making a moral argument might highlight their own morally admirable behavior; someone speaking about a technical subject might present themselves as an expert by mentioning their qualifications.
Pathos, or the pathetic appeal, evokes the audience’s emotions. This might involve speaking in a passionate way, employing vivid imagery, or trying to provoke anger, sympathy, or any other emotional response in the audience.
These three appeals are all treated as integral parts of rhetoric, and a given author may combine all three of them to convince their audience.
Text and context
In rhetoric, a text is not necessarily a piece of writing (though it may be this). A text is whatever piece of communication you are analyzing. This could be, for example, a speech, an advertisement, or a satirical image.
In these cases, your analysis would focus on more than just language—you might look at visual or sonic elements of the text too.
The context is everything surrounding the text: Who is the author (or speaker, designer, etc.)? Who is their (intended or actual) audience? When and where was the text produced, and for what purpose?
Looking at the context can help to inform your rhetorical analysis. For example, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech has universal power, but the context of the civil rights movement is an important part of understanding why.
Claims, supports, and warrants
A piece of rhetoric is always making some sort of argument, whether it’s a very clearly defined and logical one (e.g. in a philosophy essay) or one that the reader has to infer (e.g. in a satirical article). These arguments are built up with claims, supports, and warrants.
A claim is the fact or idea the author wants to convince the reader of. An argument might center on a single claim, or be built up out of many. Claims are usually explicitly stated, but they may also just be implied in some kinds of text.
The author uses supports to back up each claim they make. These might range from hard evidence to emotional appeals—anything that is used to convince the reader to accept a claim.
The warrant is the logic or assumption that connects a support with a claim. Outside of quite formal argumentation, the warrant is often unstated—the author assumes their audience will understand the connection without it. But that doesn’t mean you can’t still explore the implicit warrant in these cases.
For example, look at the following statement:Rhetorical statementNeither candidate was well liked; voter turnout in the election was very low.
We can see a claim and a support here, but the warrant is implicit. Here, the warrant is the assumption that more likeable candidates would have inspired greater turnout. We might be more or less convinced by the argument depending on whether we think this is a fair assumption.
How do you write a rhetorical analysis essay
A rhetorical analysis typically includes five paragraphs and three parts: an introduction, three body paragraphs and a conclusion. To begin, break a creative work down into parts and describe how the parts act together to produce a certain result. The author’s desired effect could be to inform, entertain or persuade. Follow these steps when writing your rhetorical analysis essay:
1. Gather information
Use the SOAPSTone technique to identify the components of the work and plan your analysis. SOAPSTone is an acronym commonly used in literary analysis that stands for Speaker, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, Subject, Tone.
- Speaker: The writer or the voice narrating or telling the story
- Occasion: When and where the work takes place and under what context
- Audience: Who the text is written for
- Purpose: The reason behind the work or what the writer wants to achieve
- Subject: The topic of the text
- Tone: The writer’s attitude toward the subject
2. Examine the appeals
Writers use appeals, also called persuasive strategies, to get readers to have certain reactions to their work. The three appeals are:
- Ethos: Ethical appeals that establish the writer’s credibility, such as mentioning one’s qualifications.
- Logos: Logical appeals, such as evidence and data, are used to make an argument.
- Pathos: Pathetic appeals designed to have an emotional effect, such as personal and relatable details about a crime victim.
3. Identify style choices and details
These are tools the writer can use to generate a certain reaction from the reader. These include elements such as word choice, word order, tone, repetition, imagery, analogies and figurative language.
4. Build an analysis
Ask yourself questions about the information you have collected. Your answers will help you determine the reasons for the writer’s choices and how well they support the writer’s argument. Focus on what the writer does and why. Examples include:
- What is the writer’s intention?
- Who is the intended audience?
- What is the argument?
- What is the writer’s strategy to make that argument? Why?
- What appeals does the writer use to persuade the reader? Why?
- What kind of style does the writer use?
- What effect does this work have on the audience?
5. Write the introduction
Your introduction should be one clear and concise paragraph that states the main ideas you are going to discuss in the essay. Provide a brief background about the author, the relevance of their text and the message they are trying to send.
Related: 10 Essay Writing Tips
6. Write your thesis
Your thesis statement should be one sentence at the end of the introduction that summarizes the argument you want to make about the writer’s choices and strategies. The thesis is one of the most important parts of your essay.
7. Write your body text
Include at least three body paragraphs that provide evidence for your thesis. Each paragraph should be about a new, clearly stated topic. You can organize your paragraphs by appeals (examples of ethos, pathos and logos) and their efficacy, by techniques the writer used and their efficacy, chronologically and more. Regardless of how you organize your paragraphs, support each one with examples, data, facts and quotes rather than opinions or emotions. At the end of each paragraph, tie that topic back to your thesis.
8. Write your conclusion
Repeat your thesis and summarize the main points of your essay in a brief conclusion. Explain why your argument matters and include a call to action or for more research if needed.
Related: How To Write a Thesis Statement (With Tips and Examples)
Rhetorical analysis tips
Follow these tips for how to write a rhetorical analysis that is powerful, clear and concise.
- Be well prepared. Practice by writing a rhetorical analysis on your favorite books, TV shows, movies and blogs. And choose a topic you connect with so your enthusiasm for it translates into a strong essay.
- Format correctly. A rhetorical analysis should be written in third-person point of view (he, she, they) rather than first person (I, we), and use present tense (“… the speech examines social issues,” rather than “… the speech examined social issues.” Make sure that at least half of your essay is your commentary.
Choose your words wisely. While you’re writing a thoughtful examination, you also want to use strong verbs (describes, establishes, supports) that imply analysis rather than weak verbs that sound like you are summarizing (tells, this quote shows, explains). Avoid personal opinions or your own point of view as this type of analysis strives to remain neutral. And use
direct quotes, paraphrasing, facts and examples when giving evidence to support your argument. But be careful not to overstuff your essay with quotes, and never start a paragraph with a quote. - Finish strong. Avoid starting your conclusion with weak and redundant phrases, such as “In conclusion” or “In summary.” Instead use, “The research shows that …” or “Recognize that …,” for example. Analyze rather than argue your main point. Avoid introducing new information in your conclusion. The conclusion should only summarize what you have already discussed in the body text.
- Last but not least. Remember to properly cite any references or examples you used in your analysis. And always proofread your final draft, with careful attention to grammar, punctuation, spelling and removing any typos or formatting errors.
Conclusion
Rhetorical Analysis is a method of examination developed from Aristotle’s three modes of persuasion. The goal of Rhetorical Analysis is to determine the author’s purpose by identifying the audience, analyzing what strategies were used to persuade that audience, and determining if the audience was persuaded. To accomplish this task, writers must analyze the author’s credibility and the ethos, pathos, and logos used in writing or speech.