English 1020
Rhetorical Analysis Essay
Purpose
The purpose of your rhetorical analysis is to analyze another writer's argument. 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: to demonstrate that you have uncovered
interesting, important things about the way the author's argument has been presented.
Process
Select one of the four arguments from Chapter 26 of Practical Argument that explores the
question, Should Every American Go to College (pages 623-37)? Choose an essay that
you can analyze effectively; you need not agree with the argument put forth in the article.
Reviewing pages 67-87 in the textbook may be helpful. Final drafts should be
approximately 1200 words.
What Should Be Analyzed?
Listed below are the sorts 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 have 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 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 have 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 is 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.
Draft Due:
Final Draft Due:
English 1020
Rhetorical Analysis of Persuasive Essay Evaluation
1--Poor
2 --Fair
3--Satisfactory
4--Good
5--Excellent
.5
.5
.5
.5
Quality and development of ideas
1
2
3
4
5
(Analysis and evaluation demonstrates a
thoughtful, subtle reading of the essay under consideration;
analysis demonstrates what the essay means by explaining how it works;
key rhetorical (persuasive)/stylistic structures and patterns are described and examined)
.5
.5
.5
.5
Organization, relevance, movement
1
2
3
4
5
(All parts cohere:
beginning establishes 'contract' with the reader by identifying the essay's topic and
argument and by describing the important features to be analyzed;
the essay's middle utilizes a logical/effective organizational structure to present/develop
an analysis founded upon textual reference and support and commentary ;
the ending echoes the beginning, offers a sense of completion;
appropriate textual support is used)
______ x 6 = ______
subtotal
.5
.5
.5
Wording and phrasing
1
2
(Writing is clear, concise, and compelling;
an absence of jargon, cliché, overstatement, run-ons,
fragments, unclear antecedents, awkward sentences, etc.)
.5
3
4
5
______ x 3 = ______
subtotal
Grammar, sentence structure,
punctuation, spelling
(Paper is effectively proofread/edited)
1
2
3
4
5
______ x 3 = ______
subtotal
MLA documentation
(Parenthetical documentation is done correctly;
work(s) cited included and correct.)
1
2
3
4
5 = ______
______ x 2 = ______
subtotal
Total :_________ %