English 1C

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Melissa Gunby

Rhetorical Analysis

CHAPTER 5

What is Rhetorical Analysis?

Rhetorical analysis is to perform a
close reading of a text to find how
and whether it works to persuade the
intended audience.

Composing a Rhetorical
Analysis

Purpose
Audience
Appeals
Type of argument
Author
Appeals to Authority
Facts/Logic/Evidence
Context
Language

Purpose
To understand how well an argument
works, you have to know what its
purpose is. To sell shoes? Advocate
for Social Security reform?
Purpose isnt always self evident;
have you ever taken a telephone
survey that turned out to be trying to
get you to change your long distance
service?

Understanding Who Makes an

Argument
Knowing who is claiming what is the key to
any rhetorical analysis.
Remember Im George W. Bush and I
approved this message from the last
campaign? Federal law now requires
disclosure so that viewers know what ads
are paid for by candidates and which are
paid for by lobbying groups or PACs.
Sometimes analysis requires deeper digging
than just knowing the authors name.

Funny, offensive, or both?

Does this bumper sticker have a different

interpretation upon deciding who the
author is? Why or why not?

Audience
Most arguments are composed with a
specific audience in mind.
Consider Wal-Mart. How do they
appeal to the following audiences:
Single parents
Lower-income households
College students

Readers and writers in

context
write
r

Readers
existing in
writers
mind:
intended/ide
al readers

tex
t

Readers
represente
d in the
text:
invoked
readers

reader
s

Readers as
they
actually
exist: real
readers

Mission and Vision

Pathos: Playing on Emotions

Weve already talked about pathos, or
appealing to emotions.
None of us are really fooled by ads that portray
a fantastic life if we drink one brand of soda
over another, yet thats how advertisers work.
Your task in performing a rhetorical analysis is
to study the authors words, the emotions they
evoke, and the claims they support and then
make a judgment about the effectiveness.

Pathos
How is this ad more effective
than simply saying dont drink
and drive and why?
What about the one below?

Ethos: Arguments based on

Character
Weve already talked about ethos, and its

role in establishing the credibility of the

author for the audience.
When conducting a rhetorical analysis, pay
specific attention to the details, right down
to the choice of words, or colors and
shapes.
Things to consider: are the claims qualified
reasonably? Does the author have
authority or experience? Is the evidence
presented in full? Are the objections noted?
Are sources documented? Does the writer
sound trustworthy?

Logos: Fact and/or Logic and

Reasoning

When analyzing arguments, youll have

to decide whether the argument makes
a plausible claim, and then, whether or
not you agree/believe it.
Not all arguments will have an explicit
thesis.
Look for how the claims are supported
by good reasons and reliable evidence.
Longer arguments may have a series of
claims.
In a rhetorical analysis, identify all the
separate propositions/claims and
examine the relationship(s) between
them.

Examining the Arrangement

and Media of Arguments
Arguments have a structure just like
essays and human anatomy.
Aristotle narrowed it down to two
parts
Statement
Proof

 Despite that structure, there is not

formula or patterns that fit all
arguments.
When writing a rhetorical analysis,
you have to assess the organization
of a piece based on how it is
effective, or not, overall.

What to look for

Things that are missing
Editorials about a new sports stadium that
dont address feasibility questions
Movie reviews that dont reveal criteria

Transitions, headings, subheadings,

documentation sources, tone of voice
Use of media
Does a spoken argument translate to print or
vice versa? Are the images necessary or
distracting?

Non-traditional structures

Style
Even a coherent argument can be
disconnected from the readers if it
lacks an element of style.
In a rhetorical analysis, you can
explore many different styles. Why
does a formal style work better for
one subject rather than another?

Rhetorical Triangle

Topic/Message
(logical
appeals)

Its important to read any

rhetorical situation as dynamic,
since each element has the
potential to affect all the other
elements. A change in
audience, for example, can
lead you to reconsider all of
your appeals.

Youll find yourself habitually

viewing any topic from a
number of perspectives and
hence develop greater critical
engagement with the issues
and ideas important to you.
Such a rhetorical fame of mind
Audience/Reader
might even lead you to
challenge the title of this
s
textbook: is everything really
(Emotional
an argument?

Appeals)

CONTEX
T

Speaker/Writer
(Ethical
Appeals)

Visual Arguments

CHAPTER 14

What argument does this visual make?

The Power of Visual

Arguments
We dont need to be reminded that
visual arguments have power. What
are some vivid images that are
embedded in your memory?

Influence
Images are influential; think about all
the ways that we encounter images
in our daily lives.
Today, were used to being
bombarded with visual
documentation, from the internet to
television to magazines.

Shaping the message

Images make arguments of their own.
A photograph isnt a faithful
representation of reality; its reality
shaped by the photographer's point of
view.
Those who produce the images shape
the messages that those images
convey, but the readers arent passive
either; human vision is selective.
People dont se things the same way

Analyzing Visual
Elements of
Arguments
This ad was created by the
Campaign for Tobacco-Free
kids.
They work together with the
Academy of General Dentistry
and American Federation of
Teachers, with the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
Saints and the Sierra club.
Whose view of big tobacco
does the image represent?

Questions to Ask:
Some of the following questions can be
great guidelines to consider as you
encounter visuals.

About the Creators and

Distributors
Who created this visual text? Who
distributed it?
What can you find out about these
people and other work that they have
done?
What does the creators attitude seem
to be toward the image?
What do the creator and the distributor
intent dis effects to be? Do they have
the same intentions?

About the Medium

Which media are used for this visual text?
Images only? Words and images? Sound, video,
graphs, or charts?
How are the media used to communicate words
and images/ How do various media work
together?
What effect does the medium have on the
message of the visual text? How would the
message be altered if different media were used?
What role is played by the words that accompany
the visual text? How do they clarify, reinforce,
blur or contract the images' message?

About Viewers and Readers

What does the visual text assume
about its viewers and about what they
know and agree with?
What overall impression does the
visual text create in you?
What positive or negative feelings
about individuals, scenes, or ideas
does the visual intend to evoke in
viewers?

About Content and Purpose

What argumentative purpose does the visual
text convey? What is it designed to convey?
What cultural values does the visual evoke?
The good life? Love and harmony? Sex appeal?
Youth? Adventure? Economic power or
dominance? Freedom? Does the visual
reinforce these values or question them? What
does the visual do to strength the argument?
What emotions does the visual evoke? Are
these the emotions that it intends to evoke?

About Design
How is the visual text composed?
Whats your eye drawn to fist? Why?
Whats in the foreground? In the
background? Whats in or out of focus?
Whats moving? Whats placed high,
and whats placed low? Whats to the
left, center, and right. What effect do
the placements have on the message?
Is any information highlighted or
stressed?

More design
How are light and color used? What effects
are they intended to have? Video? Sound?
What details are included or emphasized?
Whats left out or deemphasized?
Is anything surprising about the visual
text?
Is anything repeated, intensified, or
exaggerated?
How are you directed to move within the
argument?

Using Visuals in Your Own

Arguments
Pages 451-463
Im just going to go through these
quickly, since we will mostly be
working with written arguments in
this class (and if we do visuals, well
come back and review this).

Look at question number 2 at the end of chapter 14 (page

464). In groups of four, please complete this activity. You
do not need to turn in a written paper, but be prepared to
share your analysis with the class.

ACTIVITY!

Homework
Dbd: Proverbial Beans (ch 6) Nuclear
Winter (ch 7), Ground Zero (ch 8),
Tower (ch 9)
GZ: "The E-Dead" pg 194-205
1 page response. This one page my
discuss part or all of the readings.

Please bring a magazine to class on

Monday