Rhetorical Analysis

Rhetorical Analysis Help! What do I do with this?!

Introduction Consider the Funnel: Lead with an introduction to the topic of the essay. Present your purpose statement (which will, in turn, introduce the article and focus your essay).

Purpose • Is your thesis (central argument) for the paper • Should include WHY the author wrote the piece and WHAT he/she wants the audience to get from it or do about it EX: In Barrack Obama’s “Back to School Event,” he encourages American students to accept responsibility for getting an education, thus allowing them to be able to give back to their communities and their nation.

Techniques • Your techniques that you discuss should be specific and balanced • It would be too vague to say that the author uses “tone” or “diction” • It wouldn’t make sense to discuss repetition, arrangement, and tone • Those other terms play into TONE • If you are struggling, talk about how the author uses • Diction, syntax, and arrangement • OR Ethos, Pathos, and Logos (you will be discussing terminology within the discussion of these elements)

Essay Map • Gives an overview of the strategies the author uses to develop his/her purpose • Should be a list EX: President Obama uses personal experiences, examples of myriad successful students, and schemes of balance to show how anyone willing to work may achieve this.

Topic Sentences • Should combine technique AND purpose • Should follow the essay map PresidentObama uses personal experiences, examples of myriad successful students, and schemes of balance to show how anyone willing to work may achieve this. EX: Mr. Obama includes personal stories from his life to show the students how his hard work and perseverance in school led to his success.

Development • Each topic sentence should relate directly to the • Technique • Purpose • Impact • If your topic sentences do not do all of these things, revise • DON’T Summarize

Quotes • Aim to have at least two quotes per paragraph • In your analysis, you should unpack the words in the quotes and what they do • Don’t focus on the what, but focus on the how

Going back to that AP test sample Introduction: Men who can often spout of no more than clichés, often say that money can’t buy happiness. William Hazlitt, author of “On the Want of Money,” says they are wrong. In his aforementioned essay, Hazlitt makes the argument that money is, in fact, a key part of a prosperous life, and by using a despondent word choice and interesting syntactical strategies, he effectively shows that, if money cannot buy happiness, a lack thereof can surely lead to sorrow.

Development In addition to diction, Hazlitt uses several syntactical strategies to convey his point about money. The most obvious of these is his one massive extended sentence, which reaches across two or three standard-sized paragraphs. This huge sentence models the massive obstacle course the impoverished must face in life; because of Hazlitt’s negative word choice, the life of the poor is presented as a continual, unending stream of oppression.

Conclusion Come back to techniques and purpose. Tie back to broad message from the text.

Questions for Revision • Somewhere in the draft, is the authors PURPOSE linked to his/her STYLISTIC CHOICES? • Because Alexie wants to show that…, he uses word/phrase/etc. • This word/phrase/sentence/image/line of dialogue/use of slang…serves to remind the reader that Alexie suggests…

Questions • How much and what kind of evidence is produced to support the analyst’s view of the writer’s purpose? • Do quotes contain • 1. example of use of a device? • 2. direct or indirect expression of the idea? • Are quotes followed by 2-4 sentences of elaboration or explanation? • The writer “teaches” you precisely how/why that quote serves as evidence • Does the analysis teach you about how the author’s use of language works on the reader to get him/her to think, to consider a particular idea?

Rhetorical Analysis