Rhetorical Analysis
Sub claim: The first sentence of a body paragraph should NOT have a device in it.
Examples: What does the paragraph suggest about a device?
Purpose: What purpose does the author have in using the devices she does? Why is it important
that the author write about this issue?
Tone: What shift in tone does the author have in the passage and what effect does that shift
have in the passage?
Use SOAPSTone
Speaker: What makes the speaker credible? Why should we believe what they say?
Occasion: What is the context of the passage? What do you know about the situation of the
text?
Audience: Who did the writer have in mind when writing the passage?
Purpose: What does the writer want to accomplish?
Subject: What is the topic of the passage?
Tone: What is the speaker’s attitude about the topic?
The Rhetorical Situation (Triangle)
Subject:
When? Where is this an issue?
Writer/Speaker:
Who is the author? Credible?
Why is the author writing?
In what format?
Exigence:
Why is it an issue NOW?
Audience:
Who is the author addressing? For what purpose? To inform? To criticize? To persuade?
Practice:
S: Adam Zyglis, cartoonist
O:
A: Parents, education system, department of education, students (empathy)
P: change in educational policy, critical of policies, proactive
S: Standardized tests
T:
Don’t bring your own thoughts into the tone!!!
For every passage, you should be able to answer the following questions:
1) Who is speaking and to whom?
2) What is the author’s purpose?
3) How does the author use rhetorical devices to convey their purpose?
Possible purposes:
1) To inform
2) To describe/characterize
3) To persuade/argue their perspective
4) To criticize
5) To suggest or implement change
Divide the essay into sections
1) Divide the essay into sections (think in terms of 3-4 sections)
2) What is the purpose of their essay as a whole?
3) What is their tone? Is there a shift? More than one shift?
4) How do they begin and how is that different from how they end?
5) Now identify the purpose and/or tone of each section.
Claim and Subclaim
In the claim, establish the author’s overall purpose.
Do not list the devices that the author uses.
Do not simply restate the prompt or make a general statement about being an American.
For the subclaim, do not mention a device. Instead, establish what the specific purpose is in
the section of Ko’s essay that you are analyzing. “Ko begins her essay by portraying an idealized
view of America.”
Then within your paragraph identify multiple devices that support that purpose.
Meeting Example of a claim: In her essay “20 Lessons on Being American” Lisa Ko ________ in
order to _________.
Reminders:
Refer to specifically what the passage is about in the context
Remember six criteria for a claim
*Line number for citations
1) The opening paragraph needs to establish that you understand the rhetorical situation
of the passage. This comes through how you discuss what the author’s purpose is and
what you understand about the passage.
2) The claim needs to establish what you will prove about what the author’s purpose is in
the passage.
3) It is not necessary to mention rhetorical devices in the claim (or even in the opening
paragraph). We know you will discuss them. (ie. birthday party)
4) The first sentence of the body paragraph needs to establish the focus of the paragraph;
what is the purpose of one section of the essay. Do not mention devices.
5) Quality of the discussion over quantity of examples: what you write about matters. The
person reading your essay has read the passage. You do not need to summarize what
the author wrote about.
6) What effect or impact do the devices have on the purpose of tone?
7) Avoid the reader: we don’t know what they think or feel.
8) Summary: what the writer’s content is or what it means, vs Analysis: why does the
writer do what the writer does and for what effect
Transitions:
The author begins by…
The author continues…
The author concludes the essay…
Synthesis
1) You need to develop an argument using only the sources provided.
2) Your prior knowledge or personal experience, while it may be relevant, is not evidence.
It may inform your position but you need to back it up with source material provided.
3) The sources provided are pro, con, and neutral on the topic. That means that within the
material you are given the opposition.
4) For the argument, you need to incorporate/cite at least three sources.
Synthesize ideas
How do the sources speak to each other?
Choose at least three of the sources that you will use in the essay.
The overlapping sections capture how they relate to each other.
Which ideas are pro? Which ideas are con? Which ideas are neutral?
Consider how to build counter argument into essay
How do the sources talk or relate to each other?
What is the relationship between sources?
Which sources work well together?
Where is the counter argument?
Opposition -> counter argument, more complexity
*Should have counter argument*
Comments/Reminders
1) Make sure you provide context on the topic. You are writing for an informed and
intelligent audience.
2) The claim needs to establish your position on the issue.
3) Cite your sources (Source A) or (Author’s Last Name).
4) Understand the full scope of the topic based on sources: The task is not what you know
about the topic but how well you can incorporate sources to support your position on
the issue.
5) How can you connect the sources so that they correspond to each other? Use language
from They Say, I Say.
6) You do not need to explain the meaning of the quote but should explain how the
evidence supports the claim.
7) Avoid including one example after another without some connection (no stacking
evidence). It becomes a list of examples rather than an argument.
8) Be sure to link any ideas to the claim. If it is important to include in the paragraph, it
should be connected to the claim.
9) The claim is not a list of reasons but a definitive position. A claim should be a position
that you can support with evidence from the sources.
10) Remember that the ideas in your writing need to build. Lead the reader from one
thought to the next.
11) The task requires that you use the sources to build the argument. There is not one
position that can make the argument effective.
12) There needs to be strong transitions so that you are using the examples to build support
for the claim.
13) Make sure you have specific evidence from your sources. Avoid general paraphrased
ideas.
14) Be careful of absolutes because they lead to generalizations that can weaken the
argument.
*Minimal integration from sources, all ideas should be connected to the subclaim
Writing Tips
Intro Paragraph Structure
1) Begin with a statement, question, idea related to the topic of the argument.
2) Provide context to the argument: Set up the framework of what you will argue. This
could include a concession as well as mentioning the rebuttal. This section is more
specific than the opening ideas.
3) Build to the claim: This should be the final sentence of the opening paragraph. It should
not be a list of your sub claims but it should establish your position on the topic.
4) Remember you are writing for an informed, knowledgeable audience.
Body Paragraph Structure
1) Begin with a subclaim that is a reason to support your claim.
2) Introduce the evidence (multiple pieces within a paragraph) that supports the subclaim.
Make sure you select evidence carefully but don’t let the evidence take over the
paragraph.
3) In your explanation of the evidence, EXPLAIN HOW IT SUPPORTS THE CLAIM, not what
the evidence means.
4) Move onto the next evidence. Make sure you have at least two sources in each
paragraph and you cite the evidence.
5) Authentic synthesis offers how the sources relate to each other rather than have one
source and then another source in the same paragraph.
Counter argument
1) Establishing the counter argument strengthens your overall argument because you are
acknowledging that you understand the full depth of the issue.
2) Incorporating the counter argument into your essay needs to be done clearly.
Here’s how you do it:
a) Although some argue…
b) While some may say…
c) Even though some people contend…
d) See “Entertaining Objections” section in They Say I Say doc
Where does the counter argument go?
1) The counter argument needs to be embedded within the argument you are making, not
in a separate paragraph.
2) Determine what the opposition is and make sure it matches your argument.
a) For example: if you are arguing that Fall is the best season of the year, the
opposition would argue that it is not the best season of the year
b) It does not work to argue two different things: Best season = Fall vs Best season =
Summer
3) Each counter argument should be included in the same paragraph as your argument. Do
not put all of the counter arguments in one paragraph.
a) Subclaim should establish your reason. Then introduce the opposition. There
does not need to be direct evidence given for the opposition (you can paraphrase
it) but then offer evidence to support your side. There you MUST have evidence.
Syntax
1) Cumulative Sentence: begins with a subject and a verb (Independent Clause) and details
add as the sentence builds
a) “Her moving wings ignited like tissue paper, enlarging the circle of light in the
clearing and creating out of the darkness the sudden blue leaves of my sweater,
the green leaves of jewelweed by my side, the ragged red trunk of a pine.”
b) Effect: Details become more important than the topic; it builds an intensity of the
idea.
2) Periodic Sentence: Reverses the order of the details in a cumulative sentence (the exact
opposite of a cumulative sentence)
a) With low taxes, beautiful views and a mild climate, this city is a great place to
live.
b) Effect: It creates a very formal sentence with anticipation at the end of the
sentence.
3) Parallel and Antithetical Sentence:
a) Parallel Sentence: Repeated grammatical forms in the sentence to create clarity.
i) “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times”
b) Antithetical Sentence: Using opposites in a sentence to gain emphasis. (Focuses
on relationship between the two, on the subjects)
i) Speech is silver, but silence is gold.
ii) Love is an ideal thing; marriage is a real thing.
c) Effect: Emphasis on the relationship between ideas in the pair.
4) The Questioning Sentence: Think of rhetorical questions as the most common. (When
using them, make sure you have an answer in mind to guide the reader, make sure it’s
not a yes/no question)
a) Some questions have definitive answers, others have implied answers.
b) Effect: To persuade or subtly influence the audience to agree to or to emphasize
the point the author is intending to make
c) Make sure question leads to the claim, the claim should be the answer to the
question
5) Fragmentary Sentence: a group of words that constitute a sentence.
a) Effect: When done well, fragments can give movement (quickens the pace or
slows down the passage) or emphasizes concepts by standing out as different.
b) If not done well, fragments can create confusion and reflect poorly on the writer.
*make sure fragments are intentional*
6) Inverted Sentence: Reverse the position of the subject and verb of the sentence. (Yoda)
a) Never again will you do that. (You will never do that again.)
b) Rarely have I eaten better food. (I have rarely eaten better food.)
c) Effect: Tends to slow down the sentence and creates more focus on meaning.
7) The Interrupted Sentence: when phrases of modifiers interrupt the flow of ideas in the
sentence. It is usually set off by commas.
a) “‘God,’ I would say, when I was standing in deep right field—the coach put me in
right field only because it was against the rules to put me in Sweden, where I
would have done less damage to the team—‘please please PLEASE don’t let the
ball come to me.’”
b) Effect: Changes the pace of the sentence with the emphasis on internal dialogue
like a thought bubble; also emphasizes the end of the thought.
8) Sentence length: Be aware of the length of the sentences as well as the type of
sentences that you write.
a) Spend time thinking about how the sentence length reflects the intended point
in the sentence. (eg. a school bus that has lost its brakes and can’t stop may be a
long rambling sentence, like a run on, OR to show a tone, like impatience, or a
series of short abrupt sentences)
b) Effect: Less monotony, creates emphasis, adds more voice
Punctuation
See DiYanni Packet for exercises
Colons:
1) Introduction to a list of things
a) In the list, there may be a single word or a phrase or a fragment.
b) The list could also lead to a complete sentence
c) See samples on the handout
2) Ex. A woman without her man is nothing. VS A woman: without her, man is nothing.
3) Exercise C - Explain relationship of the two parts of the sentences.
Dash (—)
1) Dash = two typed hyphens
2) Less formal than a colon
3) May have comic or satiric purposes
4) Can create emphasis or explain a statement
5) Indicates a sudden break in thought
6) Use after a series of details
7) It is not the same as a period.
8) Em dash—two dashes—
a) Ex. And yet, when the car was finally delivered—nearly three months after it was
delivered—she decided she no longer wanted it, leaving the dealer with an oddly
equipped car that would be difficult to sell.
9) Exercise D reviews the use of the dash/em dash
Parentheses()
1) Set off explanatory or digressive words or phrases
2) Information in () is not integral to the meaning of the sentence (even less formal than
dashes)
3) See exercise E
Hyphens 1) Used within words
2) Create two words to make it one (year-end festival)
3) Ex. $100 is twenty five-dollar bills VS $25 is twenty-five dollar bills
Semicolon;
1) Joins two statements (independent clauses) that could stand alone but work together as
one idea instead of two separate sentences.
2) Link work groups that have sentences with lots of commas
3) Use before words or phrases that summarize or explain the first part of the sentence
4) Same use as conjunctions (FANBOYS)
5) Ex. I’m sorry I love you. VS I’m sorry; I love you.
Apostrophes’
There are several uses for the apostrophe. Misusing the apostrophe reflects poorly on the
writer.
Apostrophes indicate possession:
The dog’s leash got caught in the door