English 102
Herman
Rhetorical Analysis Essay
Purpose: The purpose of rhetorical analyis is to arrive at an understanding of how a particular writer attempts to persuade his or her audience. Learning to identify rhetorical strategies can help you to 1.) become a more critical reader, and 2.) become a more persuasive writer by using effective rhetorical strategies in your own writing.
Assignment: Write an essay in which you analyze the rhetorical strategies of the same University Book article that you wrote a summary of. Your analyis should take into account and discuss the purpose, context, audience, and stance of the article. The basic question that your essay should answer is: how does the writer adapt the features of his essay to the demands of his or her rhetorical situation? What is his or her strategy?
Answering this question will involve formulating a clear thesis that describes the writer’s overall strategy and offering examples of features from the text to support that thesis.
Remember, a rhetorical analysis does not argue with the points in the article or simply relate what they are (which is what you did in your summary). Instead, it describes how the piece is put together and how it attempts to appeal to its chosen audience and fulfill its purpose.
Process: We will discuss this more in class, but I will offer a few suggestions on drafting this essay. Start by reading through and marking up the text to get an idea of the rhetorical situation: what hints does the essay (and other supporting material) give you about its context, intended, audience, and purpose? Try to define these elements of the situation. Then, read through the essay again and make note of its features: word choice, tone, evidence, logic, content, organization, etc. At this point you may want to read through your lecture notes and Ch. 12 of the Student’s Guide again to refresh your knowledge of the terms and tools of rhetorical analysis. At some point, after taking lots of notes and reading the text several times, you should be able to make some connection between the features of the article and the rhetorical situation: this connection can function as a tentative thesis with which to begin drafting your essay.
Due Dates:
February 4th, 5th, or 6th: conferences. You will need to bring the following to your conference: either the introduction and one body paragraph of your essay or a tentative thesis and an outline of your essay. Bring questions—you will direct the conference.
February 13th: completed draft of your essay for peer editing.
February 15th: final draft.
Requirements: 4-6 pages, double-spaced, 12 point Times New Roman font, follow MLA format for manuscript requirements and citing sources