Rhetorical Analysis
Rhetorical Analysis: Critical Writing
Writing a rhetorical analysis means putting your critical thinking skills to work. A rhetorical
analysis is not a summary of ideas in an article or story or a description of a text – it’s an
examination of a writer’s writing style. You are identifying and explaining the strategies and
ideas you discovered through your critical reading of the text. This means your focus will not just
be on what the author says, but how she or he says it. Some things you might want to consider
for your analysis include:
1. Coming up with a title that describes your essay and makes it different from other
essays about the same text.
2. In your introduction, identify the main focus of your essay. Are you talking about
the writer, the subject, the context, the audience, and/or the author’s key purpose
for writing the text?
a. Also in the introduction, identify what features you will be focusing on in
your essay, and why you think these features are so important to the
original text. (This is your thesis statement).
3. In the body of your essay, consider how the writer develops his/her text.
a. How are ideas arranged and why do you think the author put them that
way?
b. Is the essay/story/argument convincing – are you persuaded by it?
c. Are there some underlying assumptions that influence this essay? Are
they fair or biased?
d. Can you identify and weaknesses in the argument or fallacies (false or
inaccurate claims)?
4. In the body of your essay you may want to discuss what style features does the
writer use and how do they enable the writer to successfully support his/her
thesis? Why? Style features to consider are:
a. Symbolism, allusion, irony, allegory, metaphors, etc.
b. How many paragraphs does the author use? How long are they?
c. What sort of research or other information is used to support the writer’s
thesis?
d. Does the author support his/her thesis by appealing to rationality, cultural
or social assumptions, or emotion (pity, compassion etc.)?
5. Remember, because you are analyzing the writing style, you will usually need to
use quotations. Choose your quotations carefully, and make sure to explain how
they support your analysis.
6. In your conclusion, tie your discussion together by commenting on the
effectiveness of the essay overall. How appealing is it to the audience? How does
the style of writing affect the content of the text and do you think the author has
achieved his/her purpose?
Rhetorical Analysis
Here are some additional resources that may be helpful to you. These Academic Writing
Tools are available at the Writing & Learning Centres:
To outline your essay see our Outline: Short Essay (fewer than 5 pages) or Extended
Essay (more than 5 pages).
If your instructor has requested an annotated bibliography, see our Writing Guide:
Annotated Bibliography.
For help with writing a thesis statement, see our Writing Guide: Thesis Statement.
For information about citing your sources see the Citation Style Guides links on the
library web page under Research Tools.
For additional help, please make an appointment with a Writing & Learning Centre
writing instructor at: https://alexander.mywconline.com/