Non-Fiction
A Rhetorical Analysis
First, start by
identifying the
piece:
Genre:
artistic category or style
Types of genres we will cover in class:
• Speech
• Letter
• Narrative
• Essay
• Documentary
Author’s purpose: the reason the author
writes; what the reader wants to take with
him/her from the text.
Example: Martin Luther King Jr.
wrote his “I Have a Dream”
speech to inspire/persuade people
to believe in a future with freedom
for all.
Example: Maya Angelou wrote
her memoir I Know Why the
Caged Bird Sings to share her
story with the world and inspire
others who are struggling.
Audience: A writer’s readers or listeners.
It is important to know the audience of the work to
understand authors purpose. The audience
determines what rhetorical devices to use.
Example:
Squealer is able to convince the animals to
believe anything he says no matter how
unpleasant because he knows that his
audience has a need for reassurance and
a natural need to believe the voice of
authority.
Exigence: an issue, problem, or situation that
causes or prompts someone to write or speak.
(Why now?)
Your job is to determine
the exigence of each
work.
Example:
Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a
Dream” is powered by the civil rights
movement, which King is a key
leader.
Tone: the writer’s or
speaker’s attitude
toward the subject.
It is your job to determine the tone the
Author creates and why.
Example:
Orwell adopts a humorous and
light hearted tone in the alcohol
scene of Animal Farm so that his
readers will enjoy his work of
satire.
When writing your essay, avoid saying: The writer
uses tone since ALL writers use a tone of some kind.
Instead, say: The writer creates a __________ tone...
flippant
indignant
callous
caustic
didactic
droll
incredulous
effusive
ominous
haughty
Facetious
forthright
amiable
tactful
vexed
Quiz dates:
Final Exam:
Find flashcards on
quizlet.com under the
username bixbyenglish9
Satire: (this a specific tone we will focus on during
this unit) A literary work in which vices, follies,
stupidities, abuses, etc., are held up to ridicule and
contempt.A pointing out of the difference between
how things are and how they ought to be.
Your job is to decide what
the author is making fun of
and how.
Example: Vonnegut satires the
United States everlasting quest
for equality even at the
expense of individuality in his
short story “Harrison
Bergeron.” He mentions the
“211th, 212th, and 213th
amendments to the
constitution” to mock our
The next step for analysis
is to find the figurative
language in the piece and
the effect it has on the
piece.
Figurative Language: any element or the
entirety of elements a writer uses in the
structure of their work.
Types of figurative
• Simile
language to look for: • Metaphor
• Hyperbole
• Personification
• Imagery
Example:
In Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream”
speech, he contrasts segregation with
racial justice by using the contrasting
metaphors of dark and desolate valley (of
segregation) and sunlit path (of racial
justice.)
Next you
should search
for rhetorical
devices.
Anecdote: a brief story told as an example to illustrate a
point.
Your job is to find out why the
author uses this anecdote. (how
does it further prove his/her
point?)
Novelist, Amy Tan, in her narrative
essay, Fish Cheeks, she recounts an
embarrassing Christmas Eve dinner
when she was 14 years old. Tans
purpose is to convey the idea that, at
fourteen, she wasn’t able to
recognize the love her mother had for
her or the sacrifices she made. She
adopts a sentimental tone in order to
appeal to similar feelings and
experiences in her adult readers.
Allusion: a reference to a historical or literary
person, place, event, or aspect of culture.
Your job is to find out why the
author makes the allusion.
Example: Martin Luther King Jr.s repetition of the
phrase “Let freedom ring” is an allusion to the star
spangled banner. He is alluding to this document to
show how America was founded on this principle,
therefore everyone deserved it (King).
Diction: the word choice, including the vocabulary
used, the appropriateness of the words, and the
vividness of the language.
It is your job to determine if the author intentionally
uses certain diction and what it indicates. Look for
specific words or phrases that seem stronger than
other. Never write: The author used diction in an
rhetorical analysis essay!
Examples:
*A coat isn’t torn; it is tattered.
*The US Army does not want
revenge; it is thirsting for
revenge.
*A door does not shut; it thuds.
Denotation: the meaning of
the word is strictly literal, as
found in the dictionary.
“Squealer always spoke of it as a
readjustment and never as a reduction”
(Orwell 112).
Denotation:
Literally
translated:
both
“readjustment”
and
“reduction”
meant they
had less food.
Vs.
Connotation:
Readjustment
makes the animals
feel better because
it doesn’t imply
less food.
Connotation: the meaning
of a word that carries
ideas and feelings.
Dialect: a regional variety of language distinguished by
features of vocabulary, grammar and diction employed
by a specific people as distinguished from other persons
geographically or socially.
Example: Twain uses dialect in his novel Huck
Finn to differentiate between characters, such as
when Huck and Finn are discussing Jim’s
freedom:
Jim: “We’s safe,Huck, we’s safe! Jump up and
crack yo’ heels! Dat’s de good ole Cairo at las’.
I jis knows it!”
Huck: “I’ll take the canoe and go see Jim. It
mightn’t be, you know.”
Repetition: Repeated words or phrases
for effect.
Example: The word “comrade” was used
throughout Animal Farm to remind the
animals that they were a team united for
one cause. This made them feel like
they were a part of all the decisions
made on the farm (Orwell).
Anaphora: repetition of beginning phrases of
sentences to create a dramatic effect.
It is your job to identify
the anaphora and
determine the effect.
Example:
In time the savage bull sustains the yoke,
In time all haggard hawks will stoop to lure,
In time small wedges cleave the hardest
oak,
In time the flint is pierced with softest
shower.
— Thomas Kyd, The Spanish Tragedy,
I, vi. 3
Parallelism: an arrangement of the parts of a
composition so that elements of equal importance
are balanced in similar constructions.
It is your job to identify what
two things the author is
saying are of equal
importance and the effect of
this statement.
Ex 1: In Patrick Henry’s historical speech
he states, “Give me liberty or give me
death” to show that a life without liberty is
equal to death (Henry).
Ex 2:
"The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal
sharing of blessing; the inherent virtue of socialism
is the equal sharing of miseries."
Aristotle Appeals
There are 3 Aristotle appeals:
• Ethos
• Pathos
• Logos
Logos: argument based on
logic
Ethos: Developing trust,
ethics, or credibility.
Pathos: Emotional words
Logical Fallacies:
Sometimes authors use arguments that are
fallacies. A logical fallacy is an error in
reasoning that renders an argument invalid.
Bandwagon
•Everybody is doing this.
•If you want to fit in, you need to “jump on the
bandwagon” and do it too.
•The implication is that you must JOIN in to FIT in.
Clipart-Microsoft Office XP 2002
Ike for President
Slippery Slope
a relatively small first step leads to
a chain of related events
culminating in some significant
effect, much like an object given a
small push over the edge of a
slope sliding all the way to the
bottom.
We’ve all seen how this ends
Mud slinging
the use of insults and accusations,
esp. unjust ones, with the aim of
damaging the reputation of an
opponent.
Not for Tennessee
Hasty Generalization
reaching an inductive
generalization based on
insufficient evidence—
essentially making a
hasty conclusion without
considering all of the
variables.
Sad Cat Diaries
Plain-folks appeal
This idea, product, or person is associated
with normal, everyday people and
activities.
Real People
Transfer
•Symbols, quotes, or images of famous people
are used to convey a message.
•The message may not necessarily be
associated with them.
Slavery
Faulty Dilemma
when someone tries to force on you only
one answer (either or ) Ex: “Either you
have faith or you believe science.”
"This is Alabama. We Speak English. If you
want to live here, learn it.”
Fear Mongering
•the use of fear to
influence the opinions and
actions of others towards
some specific end.
Peace Little Girl “Daisy”
Straw Man:
a type of argument and
is an informal fallacy
based on
misrepresentation of an
opponent's position
Saddam back in power?
Card-Stacking
only presenting
information that is
positive to an idea or
proposal and omitting
information contrary to
it.
Lesser of Two Evils
tries to convince us of an idea or proposal by
presenting it as the least offensive option.
Repetition

Convincing someone to do
something by repeating the slogan,
song, picture, word to embed it in the
brain.
– Billboards for attractions
– Commercials with repeating phone
numbers
Head On: apply directly to
the forehead