Rhetorical Analysis Essay
Purpose
The purpose of your rhetorical analysis is to analyze another writer's persuasive writing.
Of course, your essay should address what the writer has written, but the emphasis of
your rhetorical analysis essay should be a close examination of how the writer has
presented an argument. Your purpose is not to argue with (or state your agreement with)
the writer's position. Your primary purpose is to analyze the strategies and features
another writer has used to be persuasive. You may interweave your own commentary
and opinion with your analysis to evaluate how effectively (or ineffectively) the argument
is rhetorically. But do not be diverted from your primary task which is to demonstrate
that you have uncovered interesting, important things about the way the author's
argument has been presented.
Process
Select one of the arguments from the textbook: “Mexicans Deserve More Than La
Mordida” (377); “Black Men and Public Space” (622); “How Television Distorts
Reality” (626); “Death and Justice: How Capital Punishment Affirms Life” (673).
Choose an essay that you can analyze effectively; you need not agree with the argument
put forth in the article. We will read and analyze one essay in class by Emily Prager,
“Our Barbies, Ourselves” (256), as an example of what you are required to do within
your rhetorical analysis papers.
What Should Be Analyzed?
Listed below are the sort of things your rhetorical analysis should consider. This list is
neither a checklist nor an outline, and not every question will apply to every article.
• Purpose (What is the writer trying to accomplish with the essay?)
• Audience (To whom does the writer try to appeal? How does the writer try to
connect with that audience?)
• Organization (How has the writer structured and presented the argument?)
• Nods to the Opposition (How does the writer anticipate and address arguments
that might be made against his/her position?)
• Definition (How does the writer define key terms used in the argument?)
• Examples (What sort of examples/analogies does the writer use as evidence?)
• Appeals to Authority (How does the writer use other sources, experts, statistics, etc.?)
• Ethos (How does the writer present him/herself to the reader?)
• Logos (How does the writer appeal to the reader's sense of logical reasoning?)
• Pathos (How does the writer appeal to the reader's emotions, beliefs, and values?)
• Tone (What is the writer's attitude towards the subject?)
• Diction and Imagery (What are the effects of the writer's word choices?)
Organizing Your Essay
Somewhere near the opening of your essay, identify the author and article under
consideration and offer a description of the controversy with which the article is
concerned. You should also summarize the article you've chosen to analyze. (Be sure to
clearly and fairly articulate its thesis.) An introduction should engage your reader, so
find something interesting to say about what interests you about the article or the issue
under consideration. Make clear what you think is most significant about the rhetorical
strategies the author has used in the essay.
Organizing your analysis around the sequential organization of the essay being analyzed
(“In paragraph one, the writer . . . . In paragraph two, . . . .”) is one possibility, though
such an organizational pattern can become tedious. Since the purpose of your analysis is
to analyze another writer's rhetorical strategies, another way to organize your essay is to
highlight those strategies and choices. You could even organize your analysis around the
ideas presented in the article you've selected to analyze and then focus on the strategies
and choices used to convey those ideas. If you choose, you can interweave your
evaluation of the article's rhetorical effectiveness throughout your analysis.
It's also appropriate to use your ending to make explicit your evaluation of the rhetorical
effectiveness of the article in question. Other strategies useful for ending this kind of
essay include reiterating particular strengths (and/or weaknesses) of the essay or
suggesting ways the essay might have been more effective.
Include an MLA citation of the article at the end of your essay as “Work Cited.” If you
quote from the article you're analyzing, be sure to cite the page number from which the
quote is taken.
*The first draft of this assignment should be printed and brought to class on the
appropriate due date. Without this hard copy, you’ll be unable to participate in the
in-class peer editing and workshop session. Please consult your syllabus for the
appropriate deadlines.
**The final draft of this assignment should be uploaded to the eLearn dropbox by
11:59 pm on the due date. Please consult your course syllabus for the appropriate
deadlines.