How to write rhetorical analysis paper: In a Nutshell
Meet one of the most challenging types of academic essays. This piece of writing aims to define the ways of how a certain argument appeared in particular work. To put crudely, you have to analyze what drove the author to use specific persuasive methods. Sometimes the writer of such essay has also to evaluate the efficiency of the methods used in a book or article.
The essay writer has to examine in detail every phrase of the literary work to single out the persuasive techniques that were used to influence the audience. Sometimes authors use specific verbiage or create vivid images with the help of words, or they utilize a call-to-action approach in order to achieve a certain purpose.
Thus, when you are expected to analyze a literary work, your main purpose is to explain what rhetorical tools were used there and were they efficient or not. Here the main challenge is to single out the tools out of the text, and only practice can help you with that.
A rhetorical analysis definition highlights that this type of writing differs from research papers. Here the main purpose is to understand how the writer writes instead of understanding what he or she writes. Thus, breaking down the literary work, you define the writing style of the writer. However, you should be ready to investigate not just literary works, but also works of art, or movies. The main point here is to get the hand on analyzing.
How to analyze the literary work?
When you read the book, article, poem, or story from the analytical point of view, there are several aspects that you should pay attention to:
- The topic and why did the author choose it for the work?
- Who is the author of the work?
- Why did the author write about it?
- The target audience.
- What is the main message?
- Does the main message correlate with the author’s intentions?
And this is just the tip of the iceberg, remember! Let’s delve deeper into the ways to analyze any article.
Rhetorical analysis essay: preparation
Experienced writers often say that the best way to learn how to write something is to look through the samples. In the case with rhetorical analysis examples, it is a solemn truth. The point is, the most efficient way to decompose the text is to follow the established guideline called SOAPSTone. What does it mean?
This abbreviation stands for the:
- Subject
- Occasions
- Audience
- Purpose
- Speaker
- Tone
These points are aligned with points of interest. We listed them above for a reason. You have to answer all these questions to write a top-notch text. It may seem difficult now, but when you have a prototypical case, then everything becomes clear.
When reading a book or an article, you have to analyze it even if you do not have an assignment to write an essay about it. Attentively read the text and evaluate the writing style: what voice and tone are used, what figures of style you can find there. Try to define why these figures of style are used in the text.
And here comes the challenging part: you will have to link the rhetorical ways to communicate with the audience and the main aim of the writing.
How to start a rhetorical analysis essay?
When you look through the rhetorical analysis essay outline, it becomes obvious that this writing task blends in the plethora of other academic papers.
The first part of the text is an intro, and it is impossible to underestimate the role of it for your work. The main purpose of it is to grab the attention of the readers and motivate them to read further.
Thus, the first sentence can be:
- A hard-hitting question.
- A quote.
- An anecdote.
- A poetry line.
- A contradiction.
As they say, all is fair in love and war, so if the method you have chosen draws the eye, use it. But, do not forget that your hook should meet the requirements of the tone of the whole paper.
Also, the intro section is the best place to gain some credibility in the opinion of the reader. To achieve that, it is necessary to prove that you have read the text completely and gained a great understanding of its sense. Just make a summary of the text – consider it as background information to your topic.
Creating a thesis statement
The cornerstone of the whole essay is a thesis statement, and it should be placed at the end of the introduction. It is your point of view on the topic, and you will have to stick to it throughout the writing. Usually, it is an argument expressed in one sentence that shows what and how you are going to prove in the text. The thesis statement should sound as unbiased as possible, and here is a tip: write in the third person.
What are the strategies that you can use for the analysis?
In most cases, the writers create their literary works to convince the audience to accept their point of view. And the main tools for persuasion were described in ancient times by Aristotle, and since then they didn’t change at all.
- Ethos (ethics). This is the writer’s ability to bring credibility to his/her point of view.
- Pathos (emotions). It is the way of influencing the emotions of the target audience.
- Logos (rational thinking). You have to show the flawless logical reasoning to factor into the thoughts of the audience.
The other types of strategies you can work with:
- Description
- Cause and effect
- Exemplification
- Narration
- Comparison and contrast
- Process Analysis
If you check the examples of rhetorical analysis, it becomes clear that almost half of it is a commentary. It means that you have to use quotes to support your arguments and explain them in the essay.
What’s worth special attention?
- Figurative language (metaphors, similes, etc.).
- Word choice.
- The tone of the article.
Sample outline of a rhetorical analysis essay
Not all students develop a rhetorical analysis outline. Some may say that it is a waste of time. However, it is the opposite: it is your chance to organize thoughts and, as a result, work faster.
- Start with the thesis statement. Jot down all the ideas you’ve brainstormed when reading the article and choose the most solid one. Then define the rhetorical techniques used in the text and add this information to the intro.
- Use Aristotle’s appeals and dedicate a paragraph to each of them – that will be the body of the essay.
- Including the opposite argument can be a great idea (in case you have a strong refutation).
- Rephrase the thesis statement and highlight the main ideas of the text.
Rhetorical analysis essay writing tips
Rhetorical writing is a hard nut to crack, that’s true. However, some professional secrets may boost the level of your paper:
- Once again, write in the third person, without phrases like “to my mind,” etc.
- Do not forget that you aim to analyze, not persuade, so the tone should be unbiased.
- Always highlight the strength or the weakness of the used arguments in conclusion.
- Do not forget to revise the completed article: for example, read it backward or aloud.
- Ask friends to help you: let them read your rhetorical essay and share ideas on what to improve in it.
- Make sure that your text meets the requirements of the topic.
- Look through the well-written rhetorical analysis essay example: one eyewitness is better than two hear-so's.
- Make sure that you didn’t surpass the word limit.
The ideas of the catching topics
Here are 3 catching topics for your article:
- Analysis of Barak Obama Presidential Speech.
- Analysis of a speech that impressed you.
- Racial issues in Painted Veil.
Conclusion
It is impossible to polish your skills without practice and knowledge of the figures of style and other important points of analysis. Thus, whenever you start reading a poem or a book, jot down all the figurative language you notice and brainstorm the reasons for its usage.
Sometimes writing a rhetoric analysis paper can become a real headache. You may think that your arguments are weak, or that you cannot find the figures of style in the article to prove your ideas. At the extreme, you may not have time to complete the task singlehanded. For these reasons, nobody’s stopping you from using professional writing assistance. You can order a whole new paper, ask editors to improve your text or simply look through the rhetorical essay example.
Get rid of the heavy academic burden and enjoy saved time and energy!