Rhetorical Analysis
What is Rhetoric?
Study of effective speaking and writing
The art of persuasion
Rhetorical Analysis
Analyzing and understanding how the piece of
work achieved its effect to
❏ move
❏ affect
❏ inform
❏ influence
❏ persuade an audience
Breakdown
Rhetorical: the art of persuasion
Analysis: the breaking down of some thing into
its parts and interpreting how those parts fit
together
General Areas for Rhetoric
1. Purpose: What is the author attempting to do
with his or her work?
2. Audience: Who is the piece of work for?
3. Appeals: ethos, pathos, logos
Ethos
The ethical appeal referring to the credibility,
character, and confidence of a writer
The writer or speaker comes off as trustworthy.
Pathos
The emotional appeal by the use of emotionladen words, description, and the use of
repetition.
Generates emotions such as fear, pity, love,
anger, or jealousy in hopes the audience will
accept a claim.
Logos
The logical appeal referring to the use of
reasoning such as definitions, statistics, law,
and comparisons.
Presentation of credible testimony or even a
narrative or story that embodies reason.
Notes: EAA
Logos, Ethos, Pathos
Logos
❏ Facts
❏ Statistics
❏ Survey and Polls
❏ Testimonies and Narratives
❏ Using Reason and Common Sense (p67)
Logos: Using Logic in Persuasion
Examples (p 60)
1. Drunk drivers are involved in more than 50
percent of traffic deaths.
3. A psychologist testified that teenage violence
could not be blamed for video games.
4. An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
Logical Structure
❏ Degree
❏ Analogies
❏ Precedent
Example
Apple has come down from $363 in February to $316 Monday. Furthermore, that masks the fact that the company is sitting on a ton of net cash.
At the end of the last quarter, cash, securities and other liquid assets exceeded liabilities by $51 billion, or around $55 a share. This may top $60
by the end of this quarter.
So the cash-free stock price — the enterprise value of the business — may only be around $260.
That’s barely 10 times forecast earnings of $25 for the fiscal year ending in September. It’s just nine times next year’s forecast earnings. And it’s
only around 2.3 times this year’s sales.
Brett Arrends "Is Apple Becoming a Value Stock." on Marketwatch.com June 21st 2011
Ethos: Using Ethics in Persuasion
We all ask questions like:
Does this report seem biased?
Why should I pay attention to this speaker?
Do I really trust this brand?
Ethos: Arguments based on Character
EAA compares Charlie Sheen and Tim Tebow
Appeals//Arguments about character often turn
on claims like:
A person (group, institution) is or is not trustworthy or credible on the issue
A person (group, institution) does or does not have the authority to speak on this issue
A person (group, institution) does or does not have unselfish or clear motives for addressing this
subject.
Establishing Trustworthiness & Credibility
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Honesty
Respect for an audience and its values
Likability (sense of humor)
Connecting beliefs to core respected principles
Use language that shows respect for readers’
intelligence
❏ Acknowledge outright any expectations, qualifications,
and weaknesses in your argument
More Ethics
❏ Claiming authority
❏ Coming clean about Motives
Example
When I am the nominee, I will offer a clear choice. John McCain won't be able to say that I ever supported this war in Iraq, because I opposed it
from the beginning. Senator McCain said the other day that we might be mired for a hundred years in Iraq, which is reason enough to not give
him four years in the White House.
If we had chosen a different path, the right path, we could have finished the job in Afghanistan, and put more resources into the fight against bin
Laden; and instead of spending hundreds of billions of dollars in Baghdad, we could have put that money into our schools and hospitals, our
road and bridges – and that's what the American people need us to do right now.
Barack Obama Potomac Primary Night Speech February 12, 2008
Pathos: Using Emotions in Persuasion
❏ Before they’ll trust you, they’ll want
assurances that you understand the issues
in depth.
❏ Help readers identify with your experiences.
❏ Make logical claims stronger or more
memorable with emotional connections
❏ Humor
Example
Steve Jobs speech: p 34