Says/Does/Because Analysis
•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).
•Says/does/because analysis involves observing and commenting on the differences
between the content (says), the form and function (does), and the purpose (because)
•This is all related to a central thesis – both for you when you write, and for other writers
we are reading.
•Ask yourself:
–What is the author’s claim or aim?
–What is the author doing to get that across to his or her audience?
•What does he say? What does he do? Why?
•Says statements – summaries – are fairly easy; you’ve done those before.
•Does/Because statements are harder because they require close observation and analysis
– but they are the meat of rhetorical analysis.
–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
Dick Gregory’s Shame
Says
Gregory recalls the [traumatizing] event in his life that [taught]
him the feeling of shame.
Does
In paragraph 1, Gregory starts his narrative by establishing a
nostalgic tone. He uses the abstract words hate and shame.
Because
By choosing words that describe conditions or emotionsspecifically words that no one can see or touch- he keeps his
readers in trepidation about how his particular experience
helped shape his definition of shame. His purpose then, is to
allow the reader to formulate predictions about how he came to
define shame. He then crafts the rest of his essay to explain
where and how he first learned about these feelings.
Lincoln’s ‘Gettysburg Address’
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Does: In paragraph 1, Lincoln makes a historical reference and emphasizes two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.