Non-Fiction
A Rhetorical Analysis
Author’s purpose: the reason the author
writes; what the reader wants to take with
him/her from the text.
Example: Martin Luther King Jr.
wrote his “I Have a Dream”
speech to inspire/persuade people
to believe in a future with freedom
for all.
Example: Maya Angelou wrote
her memoir I Know Why the
Caged Bird Sings to share her
story with the world and inspire
others who are struggling.
Audience: A writer’s readers or listeners.
It is important to know the audience of the work to
understand authors purpose. The audience
determines what rhetorical devices to use.
Example:
Squealer is able to convince the animals to
believe anything he says no matter how
unpleasant because he knows that his
audience has a need for reassurance and
a natural need to believe the voice of
authority.
Exigence: an issue, problem, or situation that
causes or prompts someone to write or speak.
(Why now?)
Your job is to determine
the exigence of each
work.
Example:
Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a
Dream” is powered by the civil rights
movement, which King is a key
leader.
Tone: the writer’s or
speaker’s attitude
toward the subject.
It is your job to determine the tone the
Author creates and why.
Example:
Orwell adopts a humorous and
light hearted tone in the alcohol
scene of Animal Farm so that his
readers will enjoy his work of
satire.
When writing your essay, avoid saying: The writer
uses tone since ALL writers use a tone of some kind.
Instead, say: The writer creates a __________ tone...
Effusive
Flippant
Foreboding
Haughty
Indignant
Jovial
Morose
forthright
Dejected
Disdainful
Ecstatic
Disinterested
Scornful
Amiable
Callous
Caustic
Incredulous
Didactic
Droll
Facetious
Tone Quizzes this semester (will
include last semesters tone words as
well):
- January 28
- February 20
- March28
- April 11
- May 21-22 (final exam)
Satire: A literary work in which vices, follies,
stupidities, abuses, etc., are held up to ridicule and
contempt.A pointing out of the difference between
how things are and how they ought to be.
Your job is to decide what
the author is making fun of
and how.
Example: Vonnegut satires the
United States everlasting quest
for equality even at the
expense of individuality in his
short story “Harrison
Bergeron.” He mentions the
“211th, 212th, and 213th
amendments to the
constitution” to mock our
Figurative Language: any element or the
entirety of elements a writer uses in the
structure of their work.
Your job is to determine the
purpose/impact of the term.
Example:
In Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream”
speech, he contrasts segregation with
racial justice by using the contrasting
metaphors of dark and desolate valley (of
segregation) and sunlit path (of racial
justice.)
Anecdote: a brief story told as an example to illustrate a
point.
Your job is to find out why the
author uses this anecdote. (how
does it further prove his/her
point?)
Novelist, Amy Tan, in her narrative
essay, Fish Cheeks, she recounts an
embarrassing Christmas Eve dinner
when she was 14 years old. Tans
purpose is to convey the idea that, at
fourteen, she wasn’t able to
recognize the love her mother had for
her or the sacrifices she made. She
adopts a sentimental tone in order to
appeal to similar feelings and
experiences in her adult readers.
Allusion: a reference to a historical or literary
person, place, event, or aspect of culture.
Your job is to find out why the
author makes the allusion.
Example: Martin Luther King Jr.s repetition of the
phrase “Let freedom ring” is an allusion to the star
spangled banner. He is alluding to this document to
show how America was founded on this principle,
therefore everyone deserved it (King).
Diction: the word choice, including the vocabulary
used, the appropriateness of the words, and the
vividness of the language.
It is your job to determine if the author intentionally
uses certain diction and what it indicates. Look for
specific words or phrases that seem stronger than
other. Never write: The author used diction in an
rhetorical analysis essay!
Examples:
*A coat isn’t torn; it is tattered.
*The US Army does not want
revenge; it is thirsting for
revenge.
*A door does not shut; it thuds.
Denotation: the meaning of
the word is strictly literal, as
found in the dictionary.
“Squealer always spoke of it as a
readjustment and never as a reduction”
(Orwell 112).
Denotation:
Literally
translated:
both
“readjustment”
and
“reduction”
meant they
had less food.
Vs.
Connotation:
Readjustment
makes the animals
feel better because
it doesn’t imply
less food.
Connotation: the meaning
of a word that carries
ideas and feelings.
Dialect: a regional variety of language distinguished by
features of vocabulary, grammar and diction employed
by a specific people as distinguished from other persons
geographically or socially.
Example: Twain uses dialect in his novel Huck
Finn to differentiate between characters, such as
when Huck and Finn are discussing Jim’s
freedom:
Jim: “We’s safe,Huck, we’s safe! Jump up and
crack yo’ heels! Dat’s de good ole Cairo at las’.
I jis knows it!”
Huck: “I’ll take the canoe and go see Jim. It
mightn’t be, you know.”
Repetition: Repeated words or phrases
for effect.
Example: The word “comrade” was used
throughout Animal Farm to remind the
animals that they were a team united for
one cause. This made them feel like
they were a part of all the decisions
made on the farm (Orwell).
Syntax: refers to the way words are arranged within
sentences
One aspect of syntax is sentence length: Good
writers will use a variety for emphasis.･
Short sentences: imply straightforward
Long sentences: imply descriptive, detailed.
Sentence Type: A second aspect of syntax is
sentence type. Again, good writers use a variety.
Simple: subject+verb+complete thought.
Example 1: Harry Potter went to
Hogwarts.
Simple
Sentence:
compound
predicate
Example 2: Harry went to
Hogwarts and learned the art of
wizardry.
Example 3: Harry, Ron, and
Hermione went to Hogwarts.
Simple
Sentence:
compound
subject
Compound: 2 independent clauses joined by
a coordinating conjunction or a semicolon.
Harry defeated Voldemort, and they all lived happily
ever after.
For
And
Coordinating
Nor
Conjunctions:
But
Or
Yet
So
2 independent clauses connected by a
semi-colon must relate to one another:
Harry defeated Voldemort; It was epic.
Complex: independent clause and
dependent clause.
After I watched the last Harry Potter, I felt a
strange void in my life.
A dependant clause has a subject and a verb
but does not have a complete thought. It is
identified by a dependant clause marker.
Some markers: after, although,
as, as if, because, before, even if,
even though, if, in order to, since,
though, unless, until, whatever,
when, whenever, whether, and
while.
Compound-complex: 2 independent
clauses and one or more dependent clauses
I felt a void because there will be no more
Harry Potter, and no other series even
compares to its greatness.
Harry Potter is a tale of
growing up and finding
oneself, and it is a fan favorite
because of the action and
adventure throughout.
Because J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter, you
girls now have your sparkling vampires, and you
can dream about werewolves with anger
management problems.
Punctuation: A final aspect of syntax is
punctuation. Yes, good writers use a variety here
too.･
Semicolon(;) gives equal weight to two or more
independent clauses in a sentence. Writers use this
to reinforce parallel ideas and show how both ideas
are equally important
Colon(:) directs the reader’s attention to the words
that follow. Writers use this to show the reader that
the information after the colon is important.
Dash (-) marks a sudden change in thought or tone
or sets off a brief summary
Anaphora: repetition of beginning phrases of
sentences to create a dramatic effect.
It is your job to identify
the anaphora and
determine the effect.
Example:
In time the savage bull sustains the yoke,
In time all haggard hawks will stoop to lure,
In time small wedges cleave the hardest
oak,
In time the flint is pierced with softest
shower.
— Thomas Kyd, The Spanish Tragedy,
I, vi. 3
Parallelism: an arrangement of the parts of a
composition so that elements of equal importance
are balanced in similar constructions.
It is your job to identify what
two things the author is
saying are of equal
importance and the effect of
this statement.
Ex 1: In Patrick Henry’s historical speech
he states, “Give me liberty or give me
death” to show that a life without liberty is
equal to death (Henry).
Ex 2:
"The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal
sharing of blessing; the inherent virtue of socialism
is the equal sharing of miseries."
Ethos: an ethical appeal based on the nature of
the person giving the appeal. Think: Is this
source credible?
It’s your job to
analyze how the
author uses ethos
to persuade the
audience.
While Squealer is convincing the
animals the necessity of the pigs
getting the milk and the windfalls,
he develops ethos by saying, “I
myself do not even like milk and
apples” (Orwell 12).
Logos: An Appeal to reason.
It’s your job to
analyze how the
author uses logos
to persuade the
While Squealer is convincing
Audience.
the animals the necessity of
the pigs getting the milk and
the windfalls, he develops
logos by saying, “This is
scientifically proven comrades”
(Orwell 12).
Pathos: An appeal to emotion.
It’s your job to
analyze how
the author
uses pathos to
persuade the
audience.
Squealer always convinces
the animals to do what they
are ordered to do by
appealing to their fear of
Jones. He always warns the
animals, “You wouldn’t want
Jones to come back would
you? (Orwell 15).