Rhetorical Analysis Guide
What is Rhetorical Analysis?
Why did the writer write the way they wrote? Why choose the words they did? Why ask a question? How did the writer connect with the audience? You already make these chooses when you write; and so do other people. People make these chooses: sentences, statements, questions, words, style, grammar structure, and persuasive techniques.
We can learn a lot by analyzing the choices people make. We can talk academically about important writing or speeches so that people understand more, or we can learn from other writing so we can write better. This guide will help get you started thinking about the different rhetorical choices people make. Click on the image anytime. Also, read on to see the categories to explore.
This guide explains the some types of rhetorical analysis you can do. Read to understand rhetorical analysis. Then click on the bookshelf below to explore different ways to analyze.
Rhetorical Analysis Essay
Clicking on the top shelf will open a page describing more about what a rhetorical analysis essay is.
Persuasive Strategies
Clicking on the emotional smiling faces wearing glasses will open a web page on the three classical persuasive appeals. It is important to understand these appeals but be careful! Avoid writing your essay based only on these appeals. Although it can be insightful, a rhetorical analysis essay would be boring if one just said the writer used logic or the writer used emotional appeal.
Hint: Understand the classical persuasive appeals but do not only focus on them or your paper will seem too basic and lacking much academic analysis.
Structure Analysis
Clicking on the house of cards will open a web page focusing on sentence structure analysis. Sentence structure is usually called syntax. It means the order of words in a sentence. Every sentence has a structure. Every language has rules for what structures are allowed. However, there are different structures that can be used. For example, someone could ask a question. A question has a different structure from a statement.
Hint: Think of why the writer chooses the structure they choose.
Meaning Analysis
Clicking on the fruit and football will open a web page focusing on meaning analysis. Meaning analysis focuses on the style choices that cause different meaning in words and phrases. Meaning choices are word and style choices that change the meaning of the essay. For example, using superlatives like "greatest" has a different meaning than "great". If the writer uses a lot of superlatives then that is a style choice and meaning choice.
Hint: Think of how and the way words are used.