Rhetorical Analysis Essays
Lorch 2013
Final Draft Due: October 10th
Personalized Prompt and Outline due: Oct. 3rd
Draft of introduction and a body paragraph due: Oct. 7th
Now that we have read almost 12 Narrative essays and practiced a multitude of Analytical Paragraphs,
you will write a Rhetorical Analysis Essay about any of the Essays we have read thus far. You may
choose from the following list:
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Military Wife by A. Perkins
Learning to Read and Write F. Douglass
Superman and Me by S. Alexie
The Price We Pay by A. Mayblum
Reading Lolita in Tehran by A. Nafisis
Serving in Florida by B. Ehrenreich
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Tiny Clack of Sparks by B. Cooper
In the Combat Zone by L. M. Silko
On Being Cripple by N. Mairs
Just Walk on By by B. Staples
Once More to The Lake by E.B. White
You will notice that most prompts for Rhetorical Analysis use a similar format. For class on Thursday,
Oct. 3rd, in addition to the regular reading, please revise one of the following prompts to fit the essay
you want to analyze. Here are a few samples:
In the following passage from the Great Influenza, an account of the 1918 flu epidemic, author
John M. Barry writes about scientists and their research. Read the passage carefully. Then, in a
well-written essay, analyze how Barry uses rhetorical strategies to characterize scientific
research.
Florence Kelley (1859-1932) was a U.S. social worker and reformer who fought successfully for
child labor laws and improved conditions for working women. She delivered the following
speech before the convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association in
Philadelphia on July 22, 1905. Read the speech carefully. Then write an essay in which you
analyze the rhetorical strategies Kelley uses to convey her message about child labor to her
audience. Support your analysis with specific references to the text.
In her essay, Serving in Florida, Barbara Ehrenreich exposes the modern American dilemma of
underpaid service workers. Read the essay carefully and in a well-organized essay analyze how
Ehrenreich’s language conveys the intensity and purpose of this experience.
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Useful Rhetorical Strategies for Thinking and Writing about Narratives
Relationships between
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Varied syntax
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Active verbs
characters
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Concrete language
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Figurative language
Point of view/vantage point
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Sequence of action
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Dialogue and dialect
Conflict
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Explicit and implicit commentary 
Context
Motives/motivation
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Setting
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Sensory details
Plot
Irony
Rhetorical Analysis Essays
Lorch 2013