Rhetorical Analysis Guide

What is a rhetorical strategy? (What are you looking for?) A rhetorical strategy is anything a speaker does to achieve his or
her purpose given the rhetorical situation. Describe what the speaker is doing and why (explain how it connects to
purpose).
What is the difference between a device and a strategy?
Rhetorical devices such as parallel structure, metaphors, anaphora are tools writers use; they are not strategies, though
they can be used strategically. A strategy is anything that is done with language to achieve a purpose, given the specific
situation and audience. In order to identify something as strategic, you need to be able to explain how and why it is used for
THIS specific situation.

Recommended Process for Rhetorical Analysis (Writing the Essay for the AP Exam)
1. Read and annotate the prompt. Look for the action verbs. What is the prompt asking you to do?
2. Based on the context provided in the prompt, evaluate the rhetorical situation. Think about what you would do if you were the
speaker in this situation? How would you write this in order to be convincing to this specific audience?
3. Read and annotate the passage with "why" questions to guide your reading.
4. Revisit the rhetorical situation, filling in anything that has now become clear. Take up to 10 minutes to plan and outline your
essay.
5. Write your essay in blue or black pen.

Wondering what to look for? Here are some choices writers make. Which of these did your speaker use strategically? What is the
overall purpose of these choices? Why did the writer do it this way?
● Determine what genre of writing the prompt represents. Is it a letter? A political speech? An essay? An article? What do you
know about that genre of writing? What are the conventions? How is the text arranged?
● Patterns of inquiry, modes of discourse, definition, narration, cause-effect, compare-contrast, process
● What style choices did the writer make? (diction, language register, syntax, anecdotes, details, imagery, figurative language,
point of view, tone, etc.)

How do the above choices relate to the author’s purpose?

This is the analysis part. Without answering this question, you are merely summarizing the text.
Think about these questions:
1. How does the author’s choice of strategy enhance the delivery, given the particular audience, occasion, subject, and/or
purpose?
2. Why did the author make this choice - to what larger effect/goal, and for what audience?

THINK: If you were this writer composing for this rhetorical situation, how would you approach this?

TIPS AND GUIDELINES

● Make inferences about the audience based on the information provided. What does the writer do to appeal to the audience’s
emotions, to establish credibility with audience, and to present an argument that will make sense to the audience? What does the
writer do to effectively convey the message and achieve the purpose given any obstacles or challenges the rhetorical situation
may create?
● Annotate the whole piece, looking for strategies throughout (not just at the beginning). You may wish to divide the passage into
three parts -as you annotate find 2-3 strategies used in each section - what repeats? What seems significant? Outline based
on what you see looking at the piece as a whole.
● Have a clear thesis. The rhetorical analysis does not require a long introduction, but you do need to set the context.
● When you show something the writer does with language, be sure to fully explain the strategy and support it with the text. Don't
just point it out. Show it. Explain how it works.
● Stay close to the text. Integrate textual evidence in your response. Show evidence of close reading.
● Read carefully. If you misread the prompt or passage, you will receive a low score.
Rhetorical Analysis Paragraphs: One Approach
Introduction
The introductory paragraph in a rhetorical analysis is usually brief. Its purpose is to set the context for your analysis and give an answer to
the prompt.

Sample Introductory Paragraph:

Novelist, Amy Tan, in her narrative essay, “Fish Cheeks,” recounts an embarrassing Christmas Eve dinner when she was 14 years old.
Tan’s purpose is to convey the idea that, at fourteen, she wasn’t able to recognize the love her mother had for her or the sacrifices she
made. She adopts a sentimental tone in order to appeal to similar feelings and experiences in her adult readers.

Body Paragraphs
● It is recommended that you work chronologically through the text. This means that you start at the beginning and work your way
through it by discussing what the writer is saying and the effectiveness of the strategies they are using at the beginning, middle,
and end of the text.
● Sometimes this means you will discuss each paragraph of the passage (one at a time), and sometimes this means that you will
divide the text into sections and discuss the beginning, middle, and end of the text.
● To help you move chronologically through the text, you may want to use transition words such as begins, shifts to, juxtaposes,
ends, contrasts, moves to.
● Identify the part of the text you are analyzing and use strong verbs to explain what the writer is doing in that section. Identify the
strongest rhetorical strategies used in that section. This includes incorporating specific text examples (exact words from the text)
into your own words. You do not have to discuss every strategy the writer uses; pick what you think is the strongest.
● Clearly and specifically explain how the rhetorical strategies are used to help the writer achieve their purpose and reach their
audience.

Sample Body Paragraph Format:

From President Reagan’s speech after the space shuttle Challenger explosion in the 1980s:

Reagan begins his tribute to the Challenger astronauts by acknowledging that the shuttle accident has appropriately postponed
his planned State of the Union address and by expression the depth of his and his wife’s personal grief. He appeals to the mournful
emotions of the audience by admitting that he and Nancy are “pained to the core,” that today is rightfully a “day for mourning and
remembering”, and that the accident is “truly a national loss.” He joins in this time of mourning in order to unify the nation and
humbly admit that “we share this pain with all people of our country.” This outpouring of emotion from the president calms and
reassures the Nation that their grief is both understandable and proper.

Sentence-by-Sentence Breakdown
1. The first sentence identifies which
1. Reagan begins his tribute to the Challenger astronauts by acknowledging that the section of the text you are discussing and
shuttle accident has appropriately postponed his planned State of the Union address and the main idea of that section.
by expression the depth of his and his wife’s personal grief.
2. The second sentence conveys the
2. He appeals to the mournful emotions of the audience by admitting that he and Nancy writer’s support for the main idea by
are “pained to the core,” that today is rightfully a “day for mourning and identifying and providing a specific
remembering”, and that the accident is “truly a national loss.” example for one rhetorical strategy used
by the writer.
3. He joins in this time of mourning in order to unify the nation and humbly admit that
“we share this pain with all people of our country.” 3. The third sentence explains how the
rhetorical strategies you discussed in the
4. This outpouring of emotion from the president calms and reassures the Nation that previous sentences help the writer
their grief is both understandable and proper. achieve his purpose (notice the “in order
to” statement.)

4. The fourth sentence identifies the

effect of the writer’s use of these
rhetorical strategies on the audience.

Conclusion
Do not (please do not) do the restatement-of-thesis or recap-the-intro thing in your conclusion. Instead take a step forward. Leave your
reader with a resonating thought.
 Rhetorically Precise Verbs vs. Weak Verbs

Using strong verbs allows you to focus on the WHY instead of the WHAT. By incorporating strong verbs into your writing, you move
away from summary and toward ANALYSIS. Below is a list of verbs that are considered weak because they lead to summary and a list
of verbs that are considered strong because they lead to analysis.

WEAK VERBS
uses relates goes on to say tells
this quote shows utilizes states shows employs

Rhetorically STRONG Precise Verbs

implies trivializes flatters qualifies processes describes
suggests denigrates lionizes dismisses analyzes questions
compares vilifies praises supports enumerates contrasts
emphasizes demonizes establishes admonishes expounds argues
defines ridicules minimizes narrates lists warns

Powerful and meaningful verbs to use in your analyses. Alternatives to “show”

Acknowledge Discover Illustrate Obtain Rely

Address Discuss Impair Offer Remove
Analyze Dismiss Implement Omit Repair
Apply Distinguish Implicate Optimize Report
Argue Duplicate Imply Organize Represent
Assert Elaborate Improve Outline Resolve
Augment Emphasize Include Overstate Retrieve
Broaden Enable Incorporate Persist Reveal
Calculate Engage Indicate Point Out Revise
Capitalize Enhance Induce Possess Separate
Characterize Establish Initiate Predict Shape
Claim Evaluate Inquire Present Signify
Clarify Exacerbate Instigate Probe Simulate
Compare Examine Integrate Produce Solve
Complicate Exclude Interpret Promote Specify
Confine Exhibit Intervene Propose Structure
Connect Expand Invert Prove Suggest
Consider Explain Isolate Provide Summarize
Construct Exploit Justify Qualify Support
Contradict Express Locate Quantify Suspend
Correct Extend Loosen Question Sustain
Create Facilitate Maintain Realize Tailor
Convince Feature Manifest Recommend Terminate
Critique Forecast Manipulate Reconstruct Testify
Declare Formulate Measure Redefine Theorize
Deduce Fracture Merge Reduce Translate
Defend Generalize Minimize Refer Undermine
Demonstrate Group Modify Reference Understand
Deny Guide Monitor Refine Unify
Describe Hamper Necessitate Reflect Validate
Determine Hypothesize Negate Refute Vary
Differentiate Identify Nullify Regard View
Disagree Illuminate Obscure Reject Vindicate
Discard Observe Relate Yield

Do NOT do this: She uses an allusion to…

Do THIS instead: She alludes to X, acknowledging x’s role…
 Analyzing Diction

Diction is simply the words the writer chooses to convey a particular meaning.

When analyzing diction, look for specific words or short phrases that seem stronger than the others (ex. Bragg’s use of slingshot
instead of travel). Diction is NEVER the entire sentence!

Also, look for a pattern (or similarity) in the words the writer chooses. Do the words imply sadness, happiness, etc.? This pattern helps
to create a particular kind of diction.

This pattern can also include repetition of the same words or phrases. Repeating the same word or phrase helps the reader emphasize a
point, feeling, etc.

Effective diction is shaped by words that are clear, concrete, and exact. Good writers avoid words like pretty, nice, and bad because
they are not specific enough. Instead, they rely on words that invoke a specific effect in order to bring the reader into the event being
described.

Examples:

A coat isn’t torn; it is tattered.

The US Army does not want revenge; it is thirsting for revenge. A door does not shut; it
thuds.

Diction depends on subject, purpose, occasion, and audience.

The subject often determines how specific or sophisticated the diction needs to be. For example, articles on computers are
filled with a specialized language: e-mail, e-shopping, web, interface. Many topics generated special vocabularies to convey
meaning.

The writer’s purpose – whether to persuade, entertain, inform – partly determines diction. Words chosen to impart a particular
effect on the reader reflect the writer’s purpose. For example, if an author’s purpose is to inform, the reader should expect
straightforward diction. On the other hand, if the author’s purpose is to entertain, the readers will likely encounter words used in
ironic, playful, or unexpected ways.

Diction also depends on occasion. Formal diction is reserved for scholarly writing and serious texts. Informal diction is often
used in narrative essays and newspaper editorials. Colloquial diction and slang are typically used to capture the language of a
particular time frame or culture.

Finally, the type of diction a writer uses depends on the audience (readers, listeners). An author who uses sophisticated diction
knows he is writing for an intelligent audience. An author who uses more informal diction knows he is writing for an audience
of varied intelligence.

When you are writing an essay in which you are analyzing the diction of the writer:

Avoid saying: “The writer used diction…” – since this is obvious (diction IS the words on the page; without them, the page
would be blank ☺).

Instead, say: “The writer creates a ______________ diction through the use of…” OR “The language of the text is
___________________.”