How to write a rhetorical analysis essay

1. How to write a rhetorical analysis essay

2. Introduction  - rhetorical context (speaker, time period, purpose)  - Thesis (what tools the author uses for what purpose)  Body  1. identify the effect on the reader = what tools (diction, imagery, details) create a certain tone that appeals to ethos, pathos, logos  diction - tone imagery  - tone 2. the ways in which the author recreates her experience as a nurse - tools the author uses to = what personas does the author create to express her purpose (i.e. characters) & how does she do this (selection of detail and tone) Nurse - purpose John - purpose 3. Conclusion significance of the author's tools & effect Rhetorical Analysis essay

3. Introduction •  In the narrative essay, "On Death of a Soldier," Louise Marie Alcott writes about ____________(topic and rhetorical situation)  • Creating a _________ piece, Alcott writes to / for ________(explain audience and why she is writing for them)  • Thesis - Through the use of __________, _____________, _______________, and _________ Alcott effectively convinces __________ (audience (ex: soldiers during the Civil War) that __________ (argument / purpose)

4. Example     Through her narrative focus on individual heroes Alcott realistically recreates the tragedy of war. The fate of the soldier John is portrayed with an intense dose of reality, regardless of how harsh that reality may be to the reader. Louisa May Alcott describes her encounter with the brave and exceptional civil war soldier by building up the soldier’s heroism. She effectively expresses this through the use of phrases like “fighting for liberty and justice with both heart and hand” and “the army needed men like John.” The use of synechdoche emphasizes the tragic nature of the soldiers situation, the price of heroism. The phrases further emphasize the tragic death of an American hero.     Alcott further expresses the sorrow of the situation by providing intense visual images, a dark but realistic tone, and sorrowful diction choices that help to emphasize the author's appeal to pathos as she recreates the anguished feelings of the setting. Louisa May Alcott’s use of heroic diction in “Death of a Soldier” appeals to the reader’s patriotism. Words such as “liberty” and “justice” strongly appeal to the reader’s desire for triumph in the face of adversity, thus creating effective heroic characters. Tragic phrases such as “it’s going to be my last?” and “it don’t seem possible for such a little wound to kill me” begin an emotional assault on the reader, evoking intense compassion among other emotions. These emotions further establish the reader’s connection to a long dead American war hero.