Rhetorical Analysis

Learning Objectives

Use rhetorical analysis to critique a text’s voice, audience, and purpose

Have you ever heard someone talk about a rhetorical question?

  • Dan: Would you mind helping me for a second?
  • Ron: Yes, I would mind.
  • Dan: That was a rhetorical question. Get over here.

As in this example, a rhetorical question is a question that’s trying to make a point (rather than get information). The word rhetoric refers to the art of persuasion, and the word rhetorical means trying to persuade or make a point. Rhetoric tries to convince someone to act or think a certain way.

When we talk about rhetorical analysis, then, we’re analyzing how a text might speak meaningfully to an audience and, ultimately, achieve a purpose. Rhetorical analysis is a way of reading a text. Rather than just asking “what’s this text about,” rhetorical analysis asks: “what is this text trying to do or achieve? How does it accomplish its goals (or fail to accomplish its goals)? You can think of rhetorical analysis as a set of questions you might ask about a text:

Basic Questions for Rhetorical Analysis

Who is writing?

  • How does the author establish personal credibility?
  • Does the author come across as knowledgeable? fair?
  • Does the author’s reputation convey a certain authority?

Who is the audience?

  • Who is the intended audience?
  • What values does the audience hold that the author or speaker appeals to?
  • Who have been or might be secondary audiences?
  • If this is a work of fiction, what is the nature of the audience within the fiction?

Why was this written?

  • To convince someone to do something or think something?
  • To praise or blame someone or something?
  • To attack or defend someone or something?
  • To teach, to delight, or to persuade?

What is the situation (also known as the rhetorical situation):

  • What occasion gives rise to the need or opportunity for persuasion?
  • What is the historical occasion that would give rise to the composition of this text?

What is the message?

  • Can you summarize the main idea?
  • What are the principal lines of reasoning or kinds of arguments used?
  • What topics of invention are employed?
  • How does the author or speaker appeal to reason? to emotion?

How is the message being conveyed?

  • What is the structure of the communication; how is it arranged?
  • What oral or literary genre is it following?
  • What figures of speech (schemes and tropes) are used?
  • What kind of style and tone is used and for what purpose?

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