1. PATT the MAIDS What is PATT the MAIDS
Steps to identify an author’s point of view and analyze the rhetoric and/or rhetorical strategies that he/she uses to persuade

2. Purpose
to inform, persuade, or entertain the reader of what?

3. Audience
To whom is the author writing? Where did the essay first appear? How does its intended audience help shape the essay and influence its language and style?

4. Thesis
What is the subject of the essay? What is the author’s opinion of the subject?

5. Tone
What is the author’s attitude toward the subject?

6. Rhetorical Strategies
Modes of development(text structures)
How the essay is organized

7. Narration—giving an account of something through “I”
Sequence/process-information is listed step by step
Classification—sorts ideas into smaller groups
Description—describes a person, place, or thing based on its location or the way it is arranged

8. Cause and effect—cause states why something happens/effect states a result or outcome
Compare/contrast—shows how two things are similar and/or different
Definition—explains the meaning of specialized vocabulary

9. Chronological—shows a chain of events/time order is important
Problem/solution—a problem and answer are suggested
Exemplification—offers examples and clarification for a general statement

10. Appeals
Ethos: or ethical appeal—means to convince an audience of the author’s credibility or character
Pathos: emotional appeal
Logos: convince through logic or reason (facts, stats., etc.)

11. Imagery
includes all figurative language (simile, metaphor, allusion, analogy, alliteration, idiom, personification onomatopoeia, etc.)

12. Diction
What word choice does the author use to reveal purpose and tone?

13. Syntax
How a writer structures sentences. Does the author use a variety of sentence structures? What effect does it have on meaning?