1. Rhetorical Analysis

2. Rhetorical Analysis
The close reading of a text to figure out exactly how it functions.
Text = book, essay, article, commercial, cartoon, photograph, ANYTHING!
Analyze how the components of an argument work together to persuade or move an audience.
God Made a Farmer

3. What To Ask RHETORICAL TRIANGLE!
What facts/reasoning/evidence is used?
What’s the purpose?
What claims are made?
Who is the audience?
What’s the context?
What appeals are used?
How is it organized?
What’s the genre?
What style elements are used?
Who is making the argument?
What authorities are referenced?

4. Purpose, Speaker, Audience
Always begin by identifying the purpose.
Knowing the speaker is critical.
What else have they produced?
Who publishes them?
Identify target audience.
How is credibility established with that audience?
Does the speaker share values with or understand the audience?
Cadillac ELR commercial
Ford’s Response

5. Pathos
Sometimes emotion is used to distract you from thinking logically.
Note juxtaposition of image and text.
Decide whether or not the emotions evoked advance the claims being made – does it add to the persuasiveness or not?.

6. Ethos Readers believe writers who seem honest, wise, and trustworthy.
Does speaker have authority?
Is evidence presented in full and not tailored to speaker’s agenda?
Are objections addressed?
Are sources documented?
Pay attention to word choice, or color and shape choice – what do these things say about the speaker?

7. Logos
Analyze whether and how claims are supported by good reasons and reliable evidence.
Analyze relationships among different points – do they support each other? Are there inconsistencies?
Examine quality of the information.
ANYONE can throw “facts” on the internet!

8. Arrangement & Style No specific formula or pattern for an argument.
Note what might be ABSENT from an argument.
The look and style choices can support, undermine, or muddle a message.
Things like tone can make a reader more or less likely to keep reading, and make the message more or less persuasive.