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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