Rhetorical Analysis Part II

Kellyanne Ure

Expanding our research inventory to include all aspects of the rhetorical analysis process. Rhetorical analysis/criticism analyzes the symbolic artifacts of discourse — the words, phrases, images, gestures, performances, texts, films, etc. that people use to communicate. Rhetorical analysis shows how the artifacts work, how well they work, and how the artifacts, as discourse, inform and instruct, entertain and arouse, and convince and persuade the audience; as such, discourse includes the possibility of morally improving the reader, the viewer, and the listener. Rhetorical criticism studies and analyzes the purpose of the words, sights, and sounds that are the symbolic artifacts used for communication among people.

What is called “rhetorical criticism” in the Speech Communication discipline is often called “rhetorical analysis” in English. Through this analytical process, an analyst defines, classifies, analyzes, interprets, and evaluates a rhetorical artifact. Through this process, a critic explores, by means of various approaches, the manifest and latent meaning of a piece of rhetoric, thereby offering further insight into the field of rhetorical studies generally and into an artifact or rhetor specifically. Such an analysis, for example, may reveal the particular motivations or ideologies of a rhetor, how they interpret the aspects of a rhetorical situation, or how cultural ideologies are manifested in an artifact. It could also demonstrate how the constraints of a particular situation shape the rhetoric that responds to it. Certain approaches also examine how rhetorical elements compare with the traditional elements of a narrative or drama

A rhetorical analysis considers all elements of the rhetorical situation–the audience, purpose, medium, and context–within which a communication was generated and delivered in order to make an argument about that communication. A strong rhetorical analysis will not only describe and analyze the text but will also evaluate it; that evaluation represents your argument. The rhetorical situation identifies the relationship among the elements of any communication–audience, author (rhetor), purpose, medium, context, and content. The time, place, and public conversations surrounding the text during its original generation and delivery should also be considered; the text may also be analyzed within a different context, such as how a historical text would be received by its audience today.

Description: What does this text look like? Where did you find the text? Who sponsored it? What are the rhetorical appeals? (i.e. calm music in the background of a commercial establishes pathos) When was it written?

Analysis: Why does the author incorporate these rhetorical appeals? (For example, why does the author incorporate calm music? What is the point of the pathos?) How would the reception of this text change if it were written today, as opposed to twenty years ago? What is left out of this text and why? Should there be more logos in the ad? Why?

Evaluation: Is the text effective? Is the text ethical? What might you change about this text to make it more persuasive?

Review the following videos for more insight on how to create the content for your rhetorical analysis.

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