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How to perform a rhetorical analysis
How to perform a rhetorical analysis
How to perform a rhetorical analysis
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Rhetorical Analysis Purpose and Setup: The purpose of a rhetorical analysis is to analyze how an author writes, by examining their use of strategies such as ethos, pathos, and logos. The setup often includes an introduction paragraph that touches on the speaker, occasion, audience, purpose, and subject. The introduction paragraph is then followed by three body paragraphs analyzing the strategies present in the writing. Next, it is important to wrap up your ideas in a conclusion paragraph. Finally, cite your sources in a bibliography. For guidance on constructing your bibliography, visit a website such as easybib.com or citationmachine.com. It is important to learn about rhetorical analyses in high school because you will often need to examine
Palmer, William. "Rhetorical Analysis." Discovering Arguments: An Introduction to Critical Thinking, Writing, and Style. Boston: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2012. 268-69. Print.
In the book Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer wrote about Christopher McCandless, a nature lover in search for independence, in a mysterious and hopeful experience. Even though Krakauer tells us McCandless was going to die from the beginning, he still gave him a chance for survival. As a reader I wanted McCandless to survive. In Into the Wild, Krakauer gave McCandless a unique perspective. He was a smart and unique person that wanted to be completely free from society. Krakauer included comments from people that said McCandless was crazy, and his death was his own mistake. However, Krakauer is able to make him seem like a brave person. The connections between other hikers and himself helped in the explanation of McCandless’s rational actions. Krakauer is able to make McCandless look like a normal person, but unique from this generation. In order for Krakauer to make Christopher McCandless not look like a crazy person, but a special person, I will analyze the persuading style that Krakauer used in Into the Wild that made us believe McCandless was a regular young adult.
Rhetorical Analysis Writers always write in different styles in order to attract readers. Every piece of writing has different types of rhetorical methods. For example, “If Technology Is Making Us Stupid, It’s Not Technology’s Fault,” there are different types of techniques used to appeal to writers. In parts of the essay it has logic which is known for using logos. The writer uses very strong emotions which is known as pathos.
“Necessary Edges: Arts, Empathy, and Education” is an article written by world famous cellist, Yo-Yo Ma. In this article, Yo-Yo Ma identifies and discusses the role of arts in the world, stressing the point that these arts are a necessary element in the education system. Ma believes that the skills learned from these arts, are in fact, “essential” to the kind of balanced thinking that is needed in today’s world. Throughout this article, Yo-Yo Ma brilliantly portrays his thoughts, and gains the support of his audience through the use of ethos, logos, and pathos, while also maintaining a clear and concise stance.
The Letter from Birmingham Jail was written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in April of 1963. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of several civil rights activists who were arrested in Birmingham Alabama, after protesting against racial injustices in Alabama. Dr. King wrote this letter in response to a statement titled A Call for Unity, which was published on Good Friday by eight of his fellow clergymen from Alabama. Dr. King uses his letter to eloquently refute the article. In the letter dr. king uses many vivid logos, ethos, and pathos to get his point across. Dr. King writes things in his letter that if any other person even dared to write the people would consider them crazy.
Authors use rhetorical strategies to express themes in their writing. Different rhetorical strategies help convey different themes with varying degrees of effectiveness. One way to measure the effectiveness is to rhetorical analyze two pieces of writing to each other and see which is best.
The Stases and Other Rhetorical Concepts from Introduction to Academic Writing. N.p.: n.p., n.d. PDF.
The article I have chosen for my rhetorical analysis is #Gamergate Trolls Aren’t Ethics Crusaders; They’re a hate group because it seemed interesting. The reason I was drawn to this article was because of the title, I was interested to know what it meant. This article, written by Jennifer Allaway, is about gamergate, an online gaming community, and the hate they show towards others. Jennifer does research on sexism in videogames and how it correlates to the gamers that play these games. She was collecting data from different organizations by using a questionnaire that gathered information on diversity in the videogame community. When some gamergate members
Pollan’s article provides a solid base to the conversation, defining what to do in order to eat healthy. Holding this concept of eating healthy, Joe Pinsker in “Why So Many Rich Kids Come to Enjoy the Taste of Healthier Foods” enters into the conversation and questions the connection of difference in families’ income and how healthy children eat (129-132). He argues that how much families earn largely affect how healthy children eat — income is one of the most important factors preventing people from eating healthy (129-132). In his article, Pinsker utilizes a study done by Caitlin Daniel to illustrate that level of income does affect children’s diet (130). In Daniel’s research, among 75 Boston-area parents, those rich families value children’s healthy diet more than food wasted when children refused to accept those healthier but
“This Course prepares students for reading, research, and writing in college classes by teaching students to consider the rhetorical situation of any piece of writing while integrating reading, research, and writing in the academic genres of analysis and argument. This course is said to teach students to develop analyses and arguments using research-based content with effective organization, and appropriate expression and mechanics”. (1)
Becoming a critical reader means learning to recognize audiences, writers, points of view and purposes, and to evaluate arguments. In addition to the rhetorical triangle, structure of an argument, and rhetorical appeals, you should look at the following devices used by authors when performing critical analysis. Keep in mind too that these are only some of the devices, and that authors may use other rhetorical devices as well.
The traditional method is incredibly contextual, meaning, it looks deeply at the source, message, and audience as they interact within a give time span. Furthermore, this method is a critique of the assumed interaction between a speaker, text, or artifact and its intended audience. In contrast, a narrative criticism examines all facets of any rhetorical artifact for its form, structure, and pattern, treating it as a dramatic story that unfolds and reveals itself for a certain purpose. Additionally, narratives are primarily utilized as a cognitive instrument for comprehending significance.
The movie trailer “Rio 2”, shows a great deal of pathos, ethos, and logos. These rhetorical appeals are hidden throughout the movie trailer; however, they can be recognized if paying attention to the details and montage of the video. I am attracted to this type of movies due to the positive life messages and the innocent, but funny personifications from the characters; therefore, the following rhetorical analysis will give a brief explanation of the scenes, point out the characteristics of persuasive appeals and how people can be easily persuaded by using this technique, and my own interpretation of the message presented in the trailer.
Jonathan Kozol revealed the early period’s situation of education in American schools in his article Savage Inequalities. It seems like during that period, the inequality existed everywhere and no one had the ability to change it; however, Kozol tried his best to turn around this situation and keep track of all he saw. In the article, he used rhetorical strategies effectively to describe what he saw in that situation, such as pathos, logos and ethos.
I believe that the purpose of education is to produce the next generation of leaders who are intelligent and have great character. This idea is supported in the article “The Purpose of Education” by Martin Luther King. Martin Luther King Jr. was a civil rights activist who fought for black and white people to have equal rights in America. He writes about the true purpose, and meaning of education in the article by saying, “Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction (MLK1).” This quote from the article explains that being academically educated is very important. It will help people stand up, be a leader, and take charge to make the world a better place for everyone. That gallant leader will argue against the fallacy, lies,