1. Aristotle: The Rhetorical Triangle
Audience
Speaker’s
Subject Persona
Subject: what you know, what you need to know; research
Audience: consider the reader’s expectations, knowledge, and attitude
Speaker’s Persona: the speaker’s voice of the paper; a compilation of experience and/or observation to bring purpose to the work.

2. Revised Rhetorical Triangle Critical Reading Strategies
Audience Purpose
Subject/ Speaker’s
Occasion Persona
Subject: what you know, what you need to know
Occasion: The time, place, context, or current situation of the piece.
Audience: consider the reader’s expectations, knowledge, and attitude
Purpose: The reason behind the text; such as, to inform, to persuade.
Speaker’s Persona: the speaker’s voice of the paper; a compilation of experience and observation to bring purpose to the work.

3. Rhetorical Appeals Ethos Pathos Logos Ethical appeal
Author’s credibility
Pathos
Author’s appeal to a reader’s emotions
Logos
Author’s appeal to reason and logic

4. Analysis Writing THEN and NOW: Working with Literature
In Summary … Analysis – breaking something into parts to understand how the parts work together to make the whole work.
THEN:
Example: How does setting work as a strategy in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn?
Central setting: the Mississippi River
The setting becomes a metaphor for a journey, a journey from immaturity to wisdom, a journey towards an understanding of the need for racial equality.
Look for patterns and strategies that writers use to develop their meaning (Close Reading):
Descriptive details of the setting
What occurs in the setting
How the central characters behave in the setting
Contrasts; similarities
Style elements

5. Analysis Writing THEN and NOW: Working with Non-Fiction
Key difference: looking for STRATEGIES OF PERSUASION
Large concepts – how an author uses ideology in his argument
Smaller concepts – how an author uses metaphor to emphasize his argument
Your part in interpretation:
FORMULATE your own arguments about WHY these strategies are important to the argument or meaning of the text.
PICK AND CHOOSE the strategies that you recognize as most central to the text’s argument.
Example: Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech
Focus on King’s use of metaphor to move audience to identify with his vision of social justice.
Classical Rhetorical Analysis/Style
Focus on King’s use of Christian ideology to challenge those who disagree with him.

6. In Summary… As a reader, writer or speaker, consider the following:
Audience
Readers or listeners
Context
Circumstances or social situations in which works are written or read
Purpose
Writer’s or speaker’s goal
Consider the following question:
As an experienced and successful student, what would you recommend to your classmates who are concerned about their junior year?

7. In Summary … Audience, Context, Purpose
A Possible Response:
Serious, honest reflection of your knowledge and experience
Considered only “the assignment,” limiting your audience to me, the teacher
The purpose might be “a grade.”
The critical thinker might give a serious, honest, personal response, but will also consider a broader audience and a less limited purpose.

8. Audience, Context, Purpose
Example:
It is important to make time for sleep and for fun. As a junior, I took three AP classes and was a member of the Pep Squad. Demands on my time were overwhelming. I organized my time for each day, making sure that I got plenty of sleep and I organized my week so that I had at least one day work-free. The year was a challenge but I never lost my energy and I scored a five on each AP test!! I urge all students to follow my plan and to stick with it.
Evaluate the above response:
Audience – peers, some you don’t know, some you do
Context – contemporary circumstances that you share with the audience
Purpose – what response do you want? what is your purpose?

9. Audience, Context, Purpose
Example: What would you recommend to your classmates?
Response: Don’t copy online essays; Blogs are a much better source and less noticeable, if you know what I mean.
Evaluate the above response:
Audience – peers, some you don’t know, some you do
Context – contemporary circumstances that you share with the audience
Purpose – what response do you want? what is your purpose?

10. You go to college to get a good job.
Analyze the above statement:
What does “good” mean?
Does a social worker or a police officer (with a degree) making $35,000 a year have a “good job”? Did they get what they should have out of college?
The statement lists a good job as the only reason for attending college.
Where is the logic in this?
Do you agree or disagree with the premise of this statement?
What does the statement suggest about the value of education or the value of work?
To consider such questions is a part of Rhetorical Analysis: the analysis of the persuasive strategies and purposes of texts.

11. Classical Rhetorical Analysis/Style
A simple start:
Diction – the words the author uses
Formal, colloquial, technical
Connotation; denotation
Concrete vs. abstract; general vs. specific
Imagery – visuals; use of sensory details
Details – facts and/or items
Consider what is NOT stated
Language – figures of speech; tropes
Syntax – simply put: sentence structure

12. Narrative Analysis REMEMBER Consider the following to get started:
Consider the parts of the work.
Inspect each part to see how it relates to the whole.
Think about how the author went about creating the narrative and why.
Consider the following to get started:
Point of View of Narrator
Time
Order or Sequencing
Description

13. Writing your Analysis of a Narrative
Analysis presents what you, the reader, discovers.
As a writer, you will make rhetorical choices:
How to establish an ethos
How to arrange your essay
What elements you wish to emphasize
Which elements you wish to deemphasize
What examples would best illustrate your claims