A Rhetorical analysis essay refers to a form of writing where you analyze in detail the topic addressed by the author and try to prove his standpoint using persuasive methods and by critically analyzing the text, breaking off portions of text from the whole story. The essay critically analyses how an author tries to prove his standpoint throughout the story rather than what standpoint he takes in his story.
So, it is basically “writing about a writer” or “teaching about a teacher” that is done in the rhetorical analysis part. Even before knowing about rhetorical analysis essay, we need to know what is a rhetoric.
The rhetoric is how the author uses words to pursue his standpoint through the story. It generally considers three modes of persuasion
These three forms of persuasion are generally used by authors and essayists of various genres.
Rhetorical Analysis Essay; The elements to be considered
Now while doing a rhetorical analysis, we need to consider the following elements during analysis.
Generally, the SOAPS is employed while doing a rhetorical analysis of a reading source or an author’s piece.
S (Subject) - What is the main subject of the written text?
What message or theme emanates from the text?
O (Occasion) - Which occasion or phenomenon caused the author to pen down the piece?
A (Audience) - For whom is the author’s piece intended?
How do you know?
P (Purpose) - What is the purpose of the author in writing the piece? Is there any evidence to support the purpose?
S (Speaker) – What we know about the speaker?
Rhetorical Analysis Essay Outline
Introduction:
Here you include:
Ex:
“Barbara Kingsolver, creator of the Bellwether Prize and an honorary PhD from DePauw University, in her essay “Stone Soup” (1995) argues that a happy and whole family is not limited to the generic “Family of Dolls” nuclear family. Kingsolver develops her argument through the use of various pertinent examples, both anecdotal and historical, supplemented by thought-provoking rhetorical questions and effective references to outside literature. She writes to abolish the irrational thinking of how families who do not fit the traditional mold are “broken” and “failed” in order to rectify society’s perception of these “broken homes.” Kingsolver writes for an audience of adults from as young as twenty years of age as shown with her sophisticated yet relatable writing style for her readers."
Body Paragraphs
It starts with a Topic sentence/transition sentence. Here you make your claim about the strategy (the literary device, style) used by the author in properly addressing the prompt. Provide the textual evidence of the strategy (introducing context, claim, and the corresponding text). Then you discuss how the example supports the idea in the claim or how effective is the literary device with relation to pathos, logos, and ethos.
Conclusion
In the conclusion part, one needs to restate the thesis statement, digging deeper into the intended meaning of the textual piece. Here you need to summarize the main ideas of your essay, reflect on examples, and emphasize how effective are the strategies explained. You need to provide your views and explain whether the author succeeded by using these literary devices.
Now, while writing a rhetorical analysis essay, you need to identify the rhetorical devices that the author uses to persuade his viewpoint.
Some Useful Rhetorical Literary Devices
It is an ironic statement to deny something while saying it at the same time. Ex: "I'm not saying I'm responsible for this country's longest run of uninterrupted peace in 35 years!”
Assonance is the repetition of the vowel sounds in the nearby words in the sentence. "Poetry is old, ancient, goes back far. It is among the oldest of living things. So old it is that no man knows how and why the first poems came." (Here the vowel sound ‘o’ is being repeated.).
Alliteration means the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent words. Ex: I have heard how hedgehogs hog the hedge.
Frederick Douglass’ Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: an American Slave, in the piece he writes
“Indeed, it is not uncommon for slaves even to fall out and quarrel among themselves about the relative goodness of their masters, each contending for the superior goodness of his own over that of the others.”
The above statement reduces the degree of the statement “Slaves habitually get into an ugly quarrel over the goodness of their masters”
The chapters of the books spoke about happiness. Happiness, as a king strides through the masses, raising their spirits and helping them to get over their mundane life.
These are some of the literary devices that an author uses. There are a hundred more literary devices you may need to evaluate in a rhetorical analysis essay. So, knowing about these different devices is necessary for the analysis.
SAMPLES
To have an in-depth analysis of ‘how to write a rhetorical essay’, we have attached a sample from Excelsior College, Owl and St. Louis Community College with comments.
https://owl.excelsior.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/SampleRhetoricalAnalysis.pdf
Apart from that, here are a couple of well-knit essays for you to refer and enrich your knowledge.
Sample 1: Topic: Rhetorical Analysis of Martin Luther’s “I Have a Dream”
The famous speech by Martin Luther King Junior highlights the power of rhetoric and the impactful effect it can have on a wide group of audience. This speech was composed and delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. back in the year 1963. He has used devices such as symbolism, powerful diction and metaphorical imagery to create a strong and lasting impact on the audience. These rhetorical strategies found in the speech deliverance demonstrate ethos, pathos and logos to help the audience get the hang of the message behind this famous speech.
The speech initiates with a very impactful use of diction that brings forth a logical and emotional appeal for the audience to relate instantly. This speech is mainly targeted towards the African and Americans residing in the United States. Martin Luther King Jr. begins his speech saying that he is grateful to each and everyone who has attended “the greatest demonstration of freedom”. You can notice that at this point this speech is already creating an appeal in the form of pathos among his audience. He then continues to create a very rationally accepted appeal while stating and demonstrating that the “Emancipation Proclamation” gave “hope to millions of Negro slaves who had seared in the flames of withering injustice”.
The Emancipation Proclamation is said to be the first event where Africans and Americans were trying to climb up the ladder of social hierarchy. Martin Luther uses “anaphora”, (the repetition of words at the beginning of every successive clause).
This, as a result, created an appeal of logic and emotion. He continues to describe that it has been one hundred years after the Emancipation Proclamation but, till date, “the life of the Negro is still badly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination”. He further added that “the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity, languished in the corners of American society.”
Luther King again repeats the words “One hundred years later the Negro…” This time, he targets the audience who is mostly of African – American origin and is still under oppression. The idea is to let them know and believe that things now must change for the better.
Dr. Martin Luther King went on using multiple instances of metaphorical speech and symbolism to help explain to the audience that there must be equality observed among all races under the sun. A vivid instance of symbolism and metaphorical speech demonstrated by Martin Luther King is highlighted where he is comparing the “sacred obligation” given by America to the African – Americans during that period of time and named it as a “bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds”. Here, he is stating that America has promised certain things to the African – Americans. But, all those promises made are now unattended.
Overall, reading this piece of the famous speech, it is quite easy to identify the style of diction used by Martin Luther to demonstrate his perspective on the concerned subject matter. The diction calls for justice and it constantly repeats itself to create that impact of a fight among his audience. You must have noticed that “justice” is the most repeated word throughout the speech. This particular word is thoroughly accompanied by the request or appeal for justice. Quite similarly, the appeal for justice is constantly repeated throughout the speech in various forms.
However, the most significant moment occurs during the closure of the speech. This is the time when Martin Luther King finally demonstrates “his dream”. He utilizes “anaphora” and combines it with a powerful diction to create an impact through his final, empathic and emotional appeal. He asks America to keep its promises, follow up and stay true to its words “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal”
Sample 2: Topic: Rhetorical Analysis of the Story, “Just Mercy”
In this famous story by Fitzgerald, a man named Gatsby has a strong, undying yet unreciprocated feeling for the character Daisy. As the story proceeds to build its plot, Gatsby is found doing everything to return his love. Even though she doesn’t have feelings for him anymore, that never stops Gatsby from putting an effort. The author, further, uses a plethora of strong and impactful rhetorical tools to project his idea clearly in his story. These rhetorical methods include crucial elements such as tone, symbolism and imagery. Each of the rhetorical tools used in the story demonstrates the concept of unreciprocated feelings of love in perhaps the most efficient way. The device “symbolism” gets a special mention here.
For example, the excerpt, “Out of the corner of his eye, Gatsby saw the blocks of the sidewalk formed a ladder and mounted to a mystery place above the trees.” Carries different symbols, thus, justifying the use of symbolism. To elaborate, the blocks spotted by Gatsby can symbolize a great distance between Daisy and Gatsby. This may also denote that romantic relationship between the two is somewhat impossible. As a matter of fact, the phrase “secret place above the trees” can symbolize what Gatsby is actually trying to get back in his life.
There might be a possibility that between Daisy and Gatsby is not dead yet. May be, it is just hiding somewhere and waiting for Gatsby bring his feelings back to Daisy. The object “ladder” used in the story can symbolize the efforts that Gatsby is putting forth to bring back his love. Thus, it is clearly evident that the author has used multiple symbols and objects to indicate or represent Gatsby’s love for the character Daisy.
Now, coming to the next most crucial segment of the analysis, the “imagery” used in the work utilizes all five human senses to make an impact on the reader. Fitzgerald used the imagery tool to highlight something to describe the situation, instead of saying something upfront. Fitzgerald, in his story, used; “and once there he could suck on the pulp of life “as a major expression of imagery. The author uses here a sense of taste here. This helps him create an impactful scenario for the readers to imagine and relate.
Lastly, the author brings the rhetorical tool of tone into play. It has a significant purpose to serve here. The “tone” is the heart and soul of every literary work. It depicts sarcasm, happiness and others moods to change the reader’s persepctievs and mood towards the piece. For example, the author uses the phrase “even through his appalling sentimentality.” to describe how the protagonist is acting.
Thus, it is evident that the author has used many rhetorical tools on work such as imagery, symbolism, tone, and more. Each of the devices used has a significant role to play and messages to deliver across its readers.
25 UNIQUE RHETORICAL ANALYSIS ESSAY TOPICS
To ease out the essay life of students, we have provided below some good rhetorical analysis essay topics.
Count on Essaygator.com if You Still Find It Complicated
The next time you are asked to write a rhetorical analysis essay, you would find it a piece of cake with these vital tips. In case, you are still struggling to write a highly analytical rhetorical analysis essays, you can take help from essayists at Essaygator.com. These essayists have 10+ years of experience in providing A-grade worth rhetorical analysis essays.
The other features that make us the best option to get quality rhetorical analysis essays are:
Hurry up. Place your order with us soon.