INSTRUCTIONS FOR WRITING A RHETORICAL
ANALYSIS
 Your task in this assignment is to analyze the strategies the
writer uses.
 Essay should be 4-5 pages, in MLA with a separate works cited
page.
 3-5 sources are mandatory. Two should be print sources (your
primary sources such as Good Reasons and Legacies may
count towards these sources).
 Have one direct quote in each body paragraph.
 Follow the steps that I have included in the PowerPoint, as
well as the essay outline that I’ve provided (coming up).
 Make sure to print the 102 Essay matrix and staple with your
essay when done.
RHETORICAL ANALYSIS (69-89 GR)
Rhetorical Analysis can be defined as an
effort to understand how people attempt to
influence others through language and more
broadly every kind of symbolic action—not only
speeches, articles and books, but also
architecture, movies, television shows,
memorials, Web sites, advertisements, photos
and other images, dance and popular songs.
TEXTUAL AND CONTEXTUAL ANALYSES
Textual Analysis concentrates more on texts
than on contexts. They typically use rhetorical
concepts to analyze the features of texts.
--How does King use ethos, pathos, and logos to
persuade his audience?
--How does his tone influence his audience?
 It focuses on mainly what’s written/being
stated and doesn’t focus on external
influences.
Contextual Analysis focuses on reconstructing
the cultural environment, or context, that
existed when a particular event took place.
--What external/social situations motivated
King’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail”
--What were rights did women have when Woolf
and De Beauvoir have when they wrote their
essays?
Contextual Analysis regards communications
as anything but self contained.
USE BOTH FOR AN EFFECTIVE ANALYSIS
But we should emphasize that these two
approaches to rhetorical analysis are not
mutually exclusive.
Textual analysis and contextual analysis
inevitably complement each other.
STEPS TO WRITING A RHETORICAL ANALYSIS
(64-65 IN GR)
Organize your paper in the following order:
INTRODUCTION
Begin with a hook/attention grabber
Introduce your text and author, describe
briefly the argument you are analyzing, and
supply the necessary background
State you thesis as the last sentences
(sentences) of the introduction paragraph
THESIS STATEMENTS FOR RHETORICAL
ANALYSIS
Your task in this assignment is to analyze the
strategies the writer uses. The texts for consideration
for this essay be on one or a couple of the following:
 King’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail”
 Camus’ “The Myth of Sisyphus”
 Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave”
 Woolf’s “Professions for Women”
 De Beauvoir’s “Woman as Other”
 Marable’s “The Prism of Race”
 Bernard’s “Teaching the N-Word”
MORE SAMPLE THESIS STATEMENTS FOR A
RHETORICAL ANALYSIS
By carefully incorporating ethos, pathos, and
logos into his argument, Martin Luther King
provides a convincing critique of white
moderation during the Civil Rights Movement.
It is through Manning Marable’s vivid
historical examples that he is able to explore
what he identifies as the “racial prism.”
Plato’s use of metaphor, symbolism, and
philosophy work to clarify the important
relationship between citizens and the state.
BODY PARAGRAPHS FOR ANALYZING THE
CONTEXT
Who is the author? Through research in the
library or on the Web, learn all you can about
the author of the argument.
Discuss the following ideas in this
paragraph(s):
--How does the argument you are analyzing
repeat arguments previously made by the
author?
--What motivated the author to write? What is
the author’s purpose for writing this
argument?
ANALYZING THE CONTEXT
Through research, learn all you can about the place where the
argument appeared and the audience.
 Discuss the following ideas in this paragraph *This paragraph
can be combined with the previous paragraph about he
author, or it can be separate:
--Who is the anticipated audience?
--How do the occasion and forum for writing af fect the
argument?
--How would the argument have been written dif ferently if it had
appeared elsewhere?
--What motivated the newspaper or magazine (or other venue)
to publish it?
ANALYZING THE CONTEXT
What is the larger conversation?
 Discuss the following ideas in this paragraph *This
paragraph can be combined with the previous
paragraph about he author and/or audience, or it
can be separate:
--When did the argument appear?
--Why did it get published at that particular moment?
--What other concurrent pieces of “cultural
conversation” (e.g., TV shows, other articles,
speeches, Web sites) does the item you are analyzing
respond to or “answer”?
BODY PARAGRAPHS FOR ANALYZING THE
TEXT
Summarizing the argument
Discuss the following ideas in this
paragraph(s):
--What is the main claim?
--What reasons are given to support this claim?
--How is the argument organized? What are the
components, and why they are presented in
that order?
ANALYZING THE TEXT CONTD.
What rhetorical appeals are used?
In separate paragraphs, analyze the author’s
use of ethos, pathos, and logos.
--Analyze the ethos: how does the writer
represent himself of herself? Does the writer
have any credentials as an authority on the
topic? Do you trust the author? Why or why
not? How does the author’s use of ethos
support his or her central claim?
ETHOS, PATHOS, LOGOS, CONTD.
-- Analyze
the logos. What finds of facts and
evidence in the argument? Direct observation?
statistics/? Interviews? Surveys? Quotations
from authorities? How does the author’s use
of logos support his or her central claim?
--Analyze the pathos. Does the writer attempt to
invoke an emotional response? Where do you
find appeals to shared values? How does the
author’s use of pathos support his or her
central claim?
ANALYZING THE TEXT
How would you characterize the style? Discuss
the following ideas in this paragraph:
--Is the style formal, informal, satirical, or
something else?
--Are any metaphors used?
--How does the author’s style and/or figures of
speech support his or her claim?
CONCLUSION
Summarize your main points
End with an example that typifies the
argument
Remind readers what your thesis is