Download Rhetorical Analysis Essay

Rhetorical Analysis Essay
March 22, 2016
Rhetorical Analysis...What is it?
When you perform a deeper analysis on
rhetorical strategies used in a text:
Appeals- Pathos, Ethos, Logos
Style- Tone, Diction, Syntax, Figurative
Language, etc.)
The analysis is answering why the author
chose these strategies for these particular
parts in the text.
This is not summarizing what the author wrote.
So what do I say in the intro?
Hook- (Way’s to intro topic)
1. Introduce the essential question
OR...
2. Introduce the writer, his/her
credentials, the title of the novel, the
writer’s subject.
Hook Example
The American Dream is a
belief in the opportunity of
prosperity and success in all
avenues of a person’s life.
Intro...
Background...
1. State how the author writes
about the essential question.
OR...
2. State the writer’s purpose to
writing this text during this
historical time period.
Background Example
Life has a way of shaping or
destroying the reality of these
dreams.
Thesis statements made simple...
1. Focus (Essential Question)
2. Author(s)
3. Topic (Type of appeal or
style)
4. text type (novel title, article
title, poem title, etc.)
Thesis Statement
1. State the rhetorical device that all
of the author’s use to demonstrate
this theme.
OR...
2. State the rhetorical devices the
author uses in this text to
demonstrate this theme.
Thesis Example
Authors John Steinbeck, Maya
Angelou, and Rudyard Kipling
understood the reality behind
achieving a dream and considered
life experiences when discussing
the American Dream through the
rhetorical style of paradox.
Putting it all together… The Introduction:
•
The American Dream is a belief in the
opportunity of prosperity and success in all
avenues of a person’s life. Life has a way of
shaping or destroying the reality of these
dreams. Authors John Steinbeck, Maya
Angelou, and Rudyard Kipling understood the
reality behind achieving a dream and considered
life experiences when discussing the American
Dream through the rhetorical style of paradox.
Body Paragraphs…
•
Remember you will have 3
•
Your Thesis in the introduction has set up the
order of your paragraphs
•
If you chose Option 1, each paragraph will reveal a
different author using the same rhetorical device
•
If Option 2, each paragraph will be speaking about
a different rhetorical device being used in the same
piece of literature
Topic Sentence...
1. Focus (Essential Question)
2. Author(s)
3. Topic (First appeal/style OR text)
4. text type (novel title, article title,
poem title, etc.)
Example- Topic
John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men
reveals the paradox found in the belief of
a dream and the reality of life.
Background
•
3 paragraphs:
•
Option 1: 3 different authors/texts
speaking about one rhetorical strategy
•
Option 2: 3 different rhetorical strategies
through one author/text.
Background...
Connection sentence between the topic and
the evidence you will offer for analysis.
This connection should transition the appeal
or style you will analyze to the specific place
in the story/article/poem where the evidence
is found.
Background Example
•
Set during the Great Depression of the
1930s, Of Mice and Men tells of the
unlikely friendship between the main
characters George and Lennie, two
characters in paradox with each other
and with the setting of the novel.
Evidence...
Must have a lead in to the quote
Must be a quote that demonstrates the
appeal or style of the author
Must have an internal citation
How many pieces of evidence do you need?
•
It honestly depends on the rhetorical device
you are analyzing...
Evidence Example
•
At the beginning of the novel, Steinbeck is
quick to compare Lennie to an animal who
“...dabble[s] his big paw in the water...” and
“...trie[s] not to forget” things that his
companion George tells him (Steinbeck 3-4).
In contrast, George is describe as a man
“...with restless eyes” who “step[s]
nervously...” into any situation (Steinbeck 23).
Analysis
Should NOT be a summary of the evidence or
restate the evidence.
Should explain why the author used this
specific appeal or style in order to convey the
essential question
Analysis
•
This paradox between the characters represents the larger
difference between George, who understands the reality of
their existence as migrant workers during the Great
Depression, and Lennie, who’s mental disability inhibits
his understanding of the harsh world around him.
Steinbeck paints this paradox between the characters in
order for the readers to ponder the deeper message of life
experiences shaping and/or destroying a person’s reality.
George is charged with taking care of Lennie, and this
charge is exacerbated by the extreme conditions of this
time period, which ultimately destroys George’s chances of
ever achieving his dreams.
Transition ...
Should include...
1. FATt
2. But in the Topic you are answering what
was revealed in the deeper analysis of this
appeal/style…
Transition
•
Through the rhetorical device of a
paradox, John Steinbeck uncovers the
truth about life experiences shaping a
person’s dream; often times, these
experiences will lead to the demise of
any dream before it ever has a chance
to become a reality.
Putting it all together... Body Paragraph
•
John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men reveals the paradox found in the belief of a
dream and the reality of life. Set during the Great Depression of the 1930s, Of Mice and
Men tells of the unlikely friendship between the main characters George and Lennie, two
characters in paradox with each other and with the setting of the novel. At the beginning of
the novel, Steinbeck is quick to compare Lennie to an animal who “...dabble[s] his big paw
in the water...” and “...trie[s] not to forget” things that his companion George tells him
(Steinbeck 3-4). In contrast, George is describe as a man “...with restless eyes” who
“step[s] nervously...” into any situation (Steinbeck 2-3). This paradox between the
characters represents the larger difference between George, who understands the reality of
their existence as migrant workers during the Great Depression, and Lennie, who’s mental
disability inhibits his understanding of the harsh world around him. Steinbeck paints this
paradox between the characters in order for the readers to ponder the deeper message of
life experiences shaping and/or destroying a person’s reality. George is charged with
taking care of Lennie, and this charge is exacerbated by the extreme conditions of this time
period, which ultimately destroys George’s chances of ever achieving his dreams. Through
the rhetorical device of a paradox, John Steinbeck uncovers the truth about life experiences
shaping a person’s dream; often times, these experiences will lead to the demise of any
dream before it ever has a chance to become a reality.
Conclusion
Restate your thesis statement...just please state
it in a slightly different way...
Build on the ideas of your thesis
What insight did you gain from the analysis of
this author’s writing style?
What did you learn about the power of words?
How does all of this relate to the essential
question? ....stay in 3rd person
Conclusion
•
The extreme opposite perspective delivered through the use
of a paradox allowed Steinbeck, Angelou, and Ripling to
express the reality of life events and the dreams people
experience in a lifetime. Often times the very dream that
keeps a person’s hope alive is stifled by the reality of this
person’s social status, society’s expected norms of this
person, and/or the very grit that this person possesses. It
seems, though, that the amount of grit a person has is in
direct correlation to the amount of hope and endurance
necessary in making dreams become reality, no matter what
life has in store for them.