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Rhetorical analysis involves observing what the text does as well as what it says
– Says statements summarize the content of a text – what it says
– Does statements describe the text’s techniques, with as little reference to content as possible – what it does
– Because statements discuss the writer’s purpose in employing those techniques – why he/she does it (to what effect).
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Says/does/because analysis involves observing and commenting on the differences between the content (says), the form and function (does), and the purpose (because)
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This is all related to a central thesis – both for you when you write, and for other writers we are reading.
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Ask yourself:
– What is the author’s claim or aim?
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What is the author doing to get that across to his or her audience?
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What does he say ? What does he do ? Why?
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Says statements – summaries – are fairly easy; you’ve done those before.
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Does/Because statements are harder because they require close observation and analysis
– but they are the meat of rhetorical analysis.
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They require you to observe the rhetorical techniques – and analyze their intended effect.
• What a text might “do”
Describe
Narrate
List
Explain
Emphasize
Compare
Illustrate
Evaluate
Cite
Support
Introduce
Synthesize

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Says: Lincoln recalls the founding of the United States and highlights liberty and equality as the founding principles most relevant to his topic.
Does: In paragraph 1, Lincoln makes a historical reference and emphasizes two central ideas.
Because : By tying the loss of lives at Gettysburg, and essentially the Civil War itself, to the lofty ideas of the nation’s founding, Lincoln places his speech in the context of the founding of the nation, thus elevating its importance. He appeals to patriotism in suggesting that the Founding Fathers would approve of the ongoing Civil War. In citing the Declaration of Independence, “that all men are created equal,” Lincoln reminds the listener that the great conflict of the Civil War – slavery – was always a violation of the nation’s founding principles.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live.
It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
Says : Lincoln refers to the ongoing Civil War and notes that its outcome will determine whether a nation founded on liberty and equality can survive. He cites this struggle as the reason for the memorial’s existence, and he declares the battlefield an appropriate memorial to those who died there.
Does : In paragraph 2, he updates the reference to the present by introducing an abstract conflict, which he relates to the time and place of the speech. The next sentences relate the conflict to current events, and evaluate the events that are about to take place.
Because : In continuing to tie the current war to the nation’s founding principles,
Lincoln makes a plea to patriotism. He reminds listeners that the nation was once
“dedicated” to liberty just as they have gathered to “dedicate” this land as a cemetery, further emphasizing a patriotic tone. His use of the phrase “that this nation might live” connects him to his audience, emphasizing that the nation is not made up of land, but rather its living, breathing people. His repetitive use of the term “we” suggests that
Lincoln and the people are on the same level. Lincoln doesn’t say “I” or “you,” only
“we,” which places him alongside the people as fellow warriors for the nation’s future.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate -- we cannot consecrate -- we cannot hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.
Says: He backtracks and claims that the memorial and his speech are actually insignificant compared with the soldiers’ sacrifice. He urges rededication to the ideals
(liberty & equality) that the soldiers died defending.
Does: The author acknowledges that his mere words are meaningless in the face of the great loss at Gettysburg. He draws a contrast, then introduces a new proposition.
Because: Lincoln appeals to patriotism here, suggesting that the nation’s failure to continue fighting the war will result in the deaths being memorialized having been “in vain,” and again elevates their deaths to a higher purpose, saying the battlefield where they lie is “hallow” – or holy – ground. In minimizing his own words, “the world will little note…what we say here,” and again tying himself to the people by using “we,”
Lincoln emphasizes the theme of unity between himself, the people there, and the nation as a whole in continuing the “unfinished work” of the war dead, work he says was “so nobly advanced,” which places those who agree with him as “noble” warriors as well.
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Says:
He points out the task ahead: to ensure that everyone shares the soldiers’ devotion to liberty and equality, to justify their sacrifice, to seek to expand freedom within the U.S., and to guarantee the survival of the American form of government.
Does: He restates the new proposition and outlines the components of the task ahead.
Because:
Lincoln juxtaposes the ideas of “new birth” and “perish” to illustrate what is at stake in the continuing war, offering the audience only one choice: not to perish. By invoking God and using the term “devotion,” he suggests the Civil War has a holy cause, tying patriotism to faith. He asks his audience to “resolve” to winning the war, which acknowledges that it will be difficult, and will require pain and loss. His closing statement further emphasizes the historic importance of continuing the war and his argument that there is no choice, and ends the piece as it began, with an emotional appeal to patriotism and founding principles. Democracy in America isn’t at stake,
Lincoln argues, but rather democracy “on earth,” suggesting the war is crucial to all mankind.