Rhetorical Analysis
A rhetorical analysis paper critically examines a text (article, book, movie, image, PowerPoint, physical space, etc). A rhetorical analysis is much more in-depth writing than a summary. A summary identifies and explains key elements in the text, but a rhetorical analysis analyzes rhetorical choices made in a text and how effective the text is in accomplishing its purpose, which is usually to persuade, inform, or entertain.
For example, a movie review is a type of rhetorical analysis. The text is the movie, and the reviewer critically engages with the movie. The author likely claims if the movie was good or bad and explains why to their readers. If the review thought the movie was good, they might praise the writing, acting, or directing. For example, if the movie is a comedy, the movie reviewer may claim the movie was funny and explain that the jokes in the script were hilarious. The reviewer analyzed the movie by identifying its purpose (to be comedic), making a claim (it was funny), and supporting it with evidence (the jokes were hilarious).
The purpose of a rhetorical analysis is to provide a critical examination of a text.
The readers of rhetorical analysis are interested in hearing an opinion about the text.
Rhetorical Devices
Rhetorical Devices are choices made by the author (sometimes even unconsciously) that affect how the readers understand and interact with the writing they are reading. Rhetorical devices can be more traditional, such as the use of statistics, cited research, or humor.
Here is a list of common rhetorical devices:
- Ethos
- Pathos
- Logos
- Tone
- Simile/Metaphor
- Dialogue
- Imagery
- Irony
- Humor
- Alliteration/Assonance/Poetic Language
- Statistics
- Graphs/Tables/Charts/Images
- Interviews
- Citing Research/Expert Opinion
- Word Choice
- Compare & Contrast
- Thesis
- Stream of Consciousness
- Rhetorical Questions
- Personal Account
- Organization
Writers may use one or a combination of these rhetorical devices to help achieve their purpose for writing (inform, persuade, entertain).
Structure of a Rhetorical Analysis
A rhetorical analysis does not have a strict structure. Instead, organize the rhetorical analysis in a way that is similar to other papers you have written. Include an introduction and conclusion. Organize the body of the rhetorical analysis in a logical way. Your introduction should also include a thesis statement or overall claim.
In your rhetorical analysis, you will make claims about the text. To craft your thesis, consider the argument that all of your claims have in common (and it is okay if they contradict each other). In this case, it is best to write your thesis after you have developed most of your paper.
The Rhetorical Analysis Process
Before you can start analyzing a text, you first need to understand its purpose. Is the text meant to persuade? Inform? Entertain? What does the author(s) want the reader to take from the text? Once you have identified the text's main purpose, you can start working on your rhetorical analysis.
Writing a rhetorical analysis can be broken down into three steps that you (more or less) repeat for the length of the paper: identifying rhetorical devices or aspects of the text, deciding if that particular aspect helps or hurts the text overall, and then explaining why you believe that.
First, identify the rhetorical devices the author(s) used. Rhetoric devices for written text can include statistics, expert opinion, personal accounts, other sources, charts, graphs, images, tone, humor, organization, etc. If you analyze a text visually, consider the color scheme, font, white (blank) space, image quality, text size, etc. When analyzing an auditory text, consider sound quality, volume, etc. If you analyze a physical space, consider usability, location, aesthetics, sound etc.
Once you have identified one rhetorical device you find to be important in the text, decide if the rhetorical device is helpful to the paper's purpose. For example, if you are reading a persuasive article and the author includes many statistics, you, as the reader, might think the statistics strengthen the argument the paper is attempting to make. This is something writers new to analysis struggle with because this part seems opinionated. That is because it is! Critical writing is a critique (good or bad) and requires the writer to share their opinion.
After determining if the rhetorical device is helpful to the purpose of the text, you need to explain your opinion in detail. Support your claim by citing the text and explain why you are making your claim. For example, if the author includes statistics in their persuasive argument, you might claim that the author strengthens their argument by using statistics because data can be impactful to persuading readers. You might also claim that the author seems more reliable and persuasive because they have used data to support their argument.
Continue to find rhetorical devices in the text you are analyzing and then repeat the process of making a claim and supporting your claim through explanation.
When writing your rhetorical analysis, you will repeat this process several times. However, it is important that you still organize your paper in a logical way. Group similar rhetorical devices together. For example, if you are considering the following rhetorical devices: humor, graphs, tone, statistics, and word choices, then it would be logical to group humor, tone, and word choice together and group statistics and graphs together.
Common Mistakes
Writing a summary
This is the biggest mistake writers tend to make when drafting a rhetorical analysis for the first time. Summary should be limited—assume your audience is familiar with the text you are writing about. Provide information to orient your reader about which aspect of the text you are discussing, but do not over explain each part of the text in a summary. Keep summary sentences to only 1-2 sentences per section of your text.
Including too many “I” statements
While using “I” is not forbidden in college writing, some writing is stronger when there is less of a presence of the word “I” like in analysis. “I believe” or “I think” are sort of like training wheels in critical writing.
Instead of:
I believe that the use of colors in the presentation slide were too distracting because it was difficult to read the text on the slides.
Try:
The use of colors in the presentation slide were too distracting because it was difficult to read the text on the slides.
The second example is much more confident, but it still conveys the author’s opinion.
Lack of Opinion
You must provide your thoughts and opinions while writing a rhetorical analysis. Don’t shy away! Rhetorical analysis are critical pieces of writing which require you to think critically. Your audience wants to hear your opinion, so it is important to include it, even if it feels unnatural.
