A Guide to Writing a Rhetorical Analysis

A rhetorical analysis is a piece of content where a content writer examines and understands the strategies used by another writer or a speaker to inform or persuade their audiences.

It doesn’t matter whether you are analyzing a basic article, a speech, or even a high-budget advertisement, to write a rhetorical analysis you would have to understand first the purpose of content, the audience being targeted, and the methods that are being used to achieve whatever the purpose is. 

If you are not familiar with rhetorical analysis and want to know how to write one, your search ends today as here in this guide we have discussed the basics of writing a rhetorical analysis. 

We will walk you through the basics and provide step-by-step instructions on how to write a solid analysis.

What is a Rhetorical Analysis and Its Key Components?

Rhetorical analysis is the process of examining how an author or another writer uses language and different strategies to persuade their audience. This analysis doesn’t only focus on what is being said but rather on how the core message is being communicated and conveyed. 

In rhetorical analysis, you have to consider three major elements. 

These include the following:

• Ethos or the ethical appeal refers to the character or credibility of the writer. It relates to how the author establishes his/her authority on the topic. 

• Pathos or pathetic appeal refers to the emotions of the audience. Pathos connects with the audience’s feelings, hopes, fears, and desires.

• Logos or logical appeal analyzes the facts, statistics, reasoning, and evidence that is used to persuade the audience. 

When analyzing a piece of text or speech, you would have to assess how an author or speaker uses these strategies to achieve the purpose of content, may it be information, entertainment, etc.

The Crucial Components of Rhetorical Analysis

Before we discuss the writing process we would suggest you understand the important elements. Here we have mentioned them for your knowledge.

Purpose

First comes the purpose of writing or speech. You need to know what the author is trying to accomplish. Whether they are trying to inform, persuade, entertain, or convert the audience. 

The purpose would impact the rhetorical choices & strategies used by the author. 

Audience

You need to find out who the target audience is. This is because the author would adjust the strategies based on the values, expectations, and beliefs of the intended audience.

Context

During analysis, you also have to consider the situation in which the text or the speech was written. This can include the time, place, and circumstances that might or not might have an impact on the choices made by the author.

Message

You also need to understand the main argument or claim made by the author. By understanding the core message, you would be able to analyze how it is supported through the rhetorical strategies used.

Medium

You need to find out how the message was delivered. Whether it was through text, speech, visual media, or a combination! The medium can impact the way rhetoric is constructed and received.

Strategies

This component refers to the specific techniques and tools used by the author. This includes the language, structure, and tone that support their purpose.

A Ten-Step Guide to Writing a Rhetorical Analysis

Let us now go through the different steps that’ll help you write a rhetorical analysis…

1. Choose Text for Analysis

When it comes to writing a rhetorical analysis you would first have to select the content that has a clear purpose and message. It could be an essay, an ad copy, a speech, or even a video. You need to make sure that the content you choose provides enough material for you to analyze. 

Whether you are choosing content yourself or have been assigned a piece, it is important to ensure that it offers clear rhetoric so that you can go through the ethos, pathos, and logos. 

2. Analyze Context & Purpose

Before you begin with the writing process you need to take some time to understand the context and purpose of content. You need to understand the intent of the author, the purpose as it was created, and the situation surrounding it.

By identifying the intent and goals of the author you would be able to understand the choices they made. 

For example, a politician giving a speech may be trying to persuade voters to support them in elections, while an environmental activist may aim to inform the public about the drastic changes in the climate.

3. Identify the Target Audience

When writing a rhetorical analysis, you must know who the target audience is. You need to find out for whom the content was written, their values, beliefs, and other important elements.

A good rhetorical analysis will explain how the speaker or writer uses ethos, pathos, and logos to appeal to the audience's emotions, logic, or trust which is why it is important to know about the audience. 

4. Examine the Appeals

You must know that authors always use appeals or persuasive strategies to have certain reactions from readers to their work. The three appeals have already been mentioned above in this guide. 

The ethical appeal refers to the author showcasing their credibility by mentioning qualifications or experience. The logical appeals refer to the evidence and data an author uses to make an argument and the pathetic appeals are the ones that an author uses to have an emotional effect on readers.

5. Identify the Style Choices

You need to identify the style choices made by the writer. The style and tone used are the tools that a writer uses to get certain reactions from readers. Choice of words, order, tone, repetition, images, analogies, anecdotes, and figurative language are some of the common details you need to check.

6. Write the Introduction

Now that you have completed the analysis you have to start with writing the introduction. Your introduction should be clear and concise not more than a single paragraph. 

It should state the main ideas that you are going to discuss in your essay and your thesis. In the introduction section, you can also give a brief introduction about the author, the relevance of their text, and the message they are trying to convey. 

7. Write About the Ethos

After the introductory passage, you need to start with the body. The body would be divided into three main sections. In each section, you would explain the persuasive strategies used by the author. In the first one, you have to talk about the ethos. 

This means you need to explain how the author has tried to establish credibility. You can provide examples and also analyze the effectiveness of the techniques used.

8. Talk About the Pathos

The next passage must be about the pathetic appeals used by the author in their speech or drafts. You have to discuss how the author appeals to the emotions and also present your perspective regarding the impact it had on the target audience. 

9. Discuss the Logos

In this section of the content body, you have to talk about the different reasoning and the logic made by the author in the content. You must be specific about these and mustn’t drag the details or else your analysis might get boring for readers.

10. Conclude and Revise

After you have completed the content body and have discussed the three persuasive strategies used by the author you simply have to summarize the main points in the conclusion and restate the thesis you made in the light of the analysis you made.

After writing your analysis, take the time to review and refine your work. Look for areas where your argument could be clearer or stronger. Ensure that your analysis is supported by evidence from the text and that your thesis is clearly explained.

Rhetorical Analysis Expert Tips

Follow these tips if you want to ensure that your rhetorical analysis is powerful and concise.

• Always practice rhetorical analysis writing by writing on your favorite books, movies, blogs, or TV shows.

• The rhetorical analysis must always be written with the third-person point of view rather than the first person. You have to try and make sure that at least half of the essay is your commentary on the original text.

• You must always choose your wording and language wisely. You must summarize the work of the author and mustn’t add personal opinions.

• Avoid starting your conclusion with weak and redundant phrases instead summarize what you have already discussed in the body. You can also get help from our AI summarizer tool for this task.

• Remember to properly cite any references or examples you used in your analysis.

• Always check your final draft for spelling, grammar, punctuation, plagiarism, and other formatting errors.

Conclusion

Writing a rhetorical analysis requires an understanding of how authors or speakers use various strategies to persuade or inform their audience.

By closely examining ethos, pathos, logos, structure, and style, and considering the broader context of content, you can effectively assess the methods used to convey the message.

Following the steps outlined in this guide will help you produce a comprehensive rhetorical analysis that will allow you to appreciate the variations in persuasive communication of other authors!