Rhetorical Analysis
Lloyd F. Bitzer described the concept of the rhetorical situation in
his essay of the same name.1 The concept relies on understanding a
moment called "exigence," in which something happens, or fails to
happen, that compels one to speak out. For example, if the local school
board fires a popular principal, a sympathetic parent might then be
compelled to take the microphone at the meeting and/or write a letter to
the editor. Bitzer defined the rhetorical situation as the "complex of
persons, events, objects, and relations presenting an actual or potential
exigence which can be completely or partially removed if discourse,
introduced into the situation, can so constrain human decision or action as
to bring about the significant modification of the exigence."
Some elements of the rhetorical situation include:
1. Exigence: What happens or fails to happen? Why is one compelled to
speak out?
2. Persons: Who is involved in the exigence and what roles do they play?
3. Relations: What are the relationships, especially the differences in power,
between the persons involved?
4. Location: Where is the site of discourse? e.g. a podium, newspaper, web
page, etc.
5. Speaker: Who is compelled to speak or write?
6. Audience: Who does the speaker address and why?
7. Method: How does the speaker choose to address the audience?
8. Institutions: What are the rules of the game surrounding/constraining
numbers 1 through 7.
Analyzing the rhetorical situation (which, at its most fundamental, means
identifying the elements above) can tell us much about speakers, their situations,
and their persuasive intentions. From: http://rhetorica.net/kairos.htm
Cluster criticism
Mary Fisher’s speech on AIDS
by Emily Eddington
http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache:pqUL7aj9eK0J:department.monm.edu/portfolio/
cata2006/EEDDINGT/Artifacts/cluster%2520crit.doc+%22cluster+criticism%22&hl=en&
gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=20
4 key terms: HIV/AIDS, Silence, at risk, children
supporting words cluster around them:
Negative impact cluster: HIV/AIDS- dead, dying, infected, epidemic, and
present danger
Danger to people cluster: AIDS community, stereotypes, and human.
gain insight into Mary Fisher’s worldview by studying her word choices.
Semiotic analysis
Exploring the assumed meanings of images and signs;
Genre criticism Many types of speeches for which we have expectations: the
eulogy, the stump speech, apologia, jeremiad, etc. How are the expectations
fulfilled? Challenged? Transcended?
Critical cultural criticism (ideological criticism)
Interested in Power; ideology-our often unexamined beliefs about the “natural
order” or power distribution;
Feminist criticism
Interested in Power and ideology as it specifically relates to empowering or
disempowering women;
Pentadic analysis – Kenneth Burke
developed a critical technique called
dramatism . The foundation of dramatism is the concept of motive: the reasons why
people do the things they do. Burke believed that all of life was drama (in the sense of
fiction), and we may discover the motives of actors (people) by looking for their
particular type of motivation in action and discourse. He set up a "pentad," which are
five questions to ask of any discourse to begin teasing out the motive. You may
recognize these questions as similar to the six news reporter's questions: who, what,
when, where, why, and how.
1
1. Act: What happened? What is the action? What is going on? What action; what
thoughts?
2. Scene: Where is the act happening? What is the background situation?
3. Agent: Who is involved in the action? What are their roles?
4. Agency: How do the agents act? By what means do they act?
5. Purpose: Why do the agents act? What do they want?
Fantasy-theme analysis – Ernest Borman
Fantasy Theme Analysis explores how the differing interpretations of symbols by
different individuals or groups tend to converge when communication takes place
between those individuals or groups. FTA is a structured method of rhetorical
analysis. The 'fantasy' in FTA is nothing to do with the normal sense of the word
which would evoke ideas of Walter Mitty, but means 'the creative and imaginative
interpretation of events that fulfils a psychological need' (Borman, 1985: 5, cited
by Jackson).
Metaphoric analysis – Michael Osborne
Framing through temporal metaphor: The "bridges" of Bob Dole and Bill
Clinton in their 1996 acceptance addresses
by William Benoit
“Metaphors help us understand and interpret the world and the events, ideas, and
people in it.
Metaphors describe one thing in terms of another (Communism is a cancer;
Richard is a lion).
Influence audience perceptions or interpretations of the world.
metaphors can frame problems and "set the directions of problem solving" (p.
255). Thus, metaphors can offer an interpretative framework that influences social
policy.”
Narrative criticism
-Walter Fisher—all communication is a form of
storytelling.
 people are essentially storytelling animals
 reason is best appealed to through stories
 not all stories are created equally: interpret based on
o narrative coherence - story holds together and makes sense in our world.
o narrative fidelity - story matches our own beliefs and experiences