In a rhetorical analysis essay, you are expected to interpret & evaluate/assess the ways
in which a writer or speaker conveys a point to a targeted audience through various devices,
including vocabulary, metaphor, hyperbole, example, allusion, and others. Your job, as the
analytical writer, is to break down, dissect, observe, and describe the argument’s major point
and describe how each element is meant to convince their target audience of the overlying
message and whether the text does that successfully or not.
Essentially, you will write an essay that answers WHAT the author’s main purpose and
message is, WHAT audience it targets, and HOW the author uses rhetorical elements,
strategies, and devices (covered in class discussion and the textbook) to persuasively convey
his/her message to an identified audience. When in doubt, always try to answer the question:
What is this article’s, novel’s, commercial’s meaning and how is this article/novel/commercial
using rhetoric to make its audience believe, be persuaded by it, or be informed by it?
This means that reading comprehension is crucial: You must first recognize and
understand the author’s purpose. Then, you have to read between the lines: What rhetorical
strategies has the author chosen and why? In other words, you have to rhetorically situate that
article you’re analyzing.
You should NOT see yourself as part of the audience. You should stand apart as
observers. You see the audience. You see the author. What is the author doing in order to affect
the minds of the audience? Pretend as if you are an omniscient observer who has the ability to
see the devices/techniques of the speaker and their effects on the audience.
Now, below is a list of possible articles that you will explore. First, after reading the list,
decide on what speech or writing you will choose for your rhetorical analysis.
(All of these works can be found by simply doing a Google Search or just click the links to the
articles below). Pick only ONE to analyze.
Adapted and Inspired from Shelley Manns’ work
● Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal”
● Tennessee Says A Third Of Its High School Graduates Didn’t Meet Requirements
● The future of medicine is food
● To be happier, stop focusing on things out of your control
● Believing that life is fair might make you a terrible person by Oliver Burkeman
● Studies find high achievers underestimate their talents, while underachievers
overestimate theirs
● Ronald Reagan’s Address to the nation on the Challenger (Google Search)
● The mindset that makes many women stay in toxic relationships
● Study: Trump and Clinton supporters accept new information when it conforms to their
desires
● Bernie Sander’s “Poverty in America: A Death Sentence”
● White nationalist movement growing much faster than Isis on Twitter, study finds by
Feliks Garcia
● It’s the (Democracy-Poisoning) Golden Age of Free Speech
● Today’s dieting trends are tricking people into thinking fruit is unhealthy
● Why intersectionality can’t wait by Dr. Kimberle Crenshaw
● Beating yourself up is not as helpful as you think
All essays are to be written in accordance with MLA guidelines (2016 updates). Essay will be
between 800-1000 words. Margins should be set at one inch, although the Microsoft Word
default of one and one-quarter inch is acceptable. Font should be 12 point Times New Roman or
Calibri. Students should NOT provide title pages or enclose papers in any type of folder. When
sources are used, appropriate documentation must be included. Papers must be typed.
Handwritten papers will not be accepted. Use correct grammar, word choice, sentence
structure, spelling, and punctuation. When or if in doubt, please refer to the sample MLA essay
that available through the class’ Google Doc folder.
A Quick How-To Refresher:
First, you must decide how you will proceed with the paper. You must select THREE
rhetorical elements that stand out to you in the piece that make it a good/bad piece of rhetoric.
Perhaps one of the elements that will be a part of your thesis that you will hone in on will be the
use of language used in the piece. Here, you would talk about the vocabulary used in the work;
the use of “slang” hindered the understanding of the work. Or maybe you will address the use of
extremely “unidentifiable” words, and that such use of these words only confuse and exacerbate
the reader, making the reader feel inadequate or uneducated. Whatever elements you choose,
you must make sure that you use the piece itself to support what you are saying. Remember,
you have an entire paragraph to defend your point.
Adapted and Inspired from Shelley Manns’ work
Lastly, within this analysis, you are only to use the piece itself. You can do minor research to get
an idea of who the person is and some basic information about the writer and background on
the work. Basic background information is perfectly fine; usually that information is common
knowledge information.
● Make sure to flesh out your paragraphs by referring back to the work itself…and make
connections…
● Review all handouts, examples, and reading assignments on the Course Calendar for
this Essay