Writing a rhetorical analysis essay well depends on your ability to apply universal concepts and principles of rhetoric to explain the specific effects of a speech or an argument on an audience. This means familiarizing yourself with concepts such as rhetorical devices and how they work on an audience on both an emotional and intellectual level.
In this article, I outline practical steps to follow when writing a rhetorical analysis and provide examples of how to do so. Read on to learn more.
What is a rhetorical analysis essay?
A rhetorical analysis essay is a critical form of academic writing that analyzes how speakers and writers achieve an intended effect on an audience to persuade them. A rhetorical analysis is typically applied to the following genres of literature:
Philosophical arguments
Social commentary
Historical arguments
Political commentary
Rhetorical analysis is also a term that can be used to describe the criticism of other forms of literature, such as poetry, novels, and other forms of nonfiction. However, for this article, we stick to rhetorical analysis meant to critique persuasive forms of writing.
To write a rhetorical analysis essay well you have to be familiar with the major concepts of rhetoric — namely, Logos, Pathos, and Ethos. You also need to be familiar with rhetorical devices — that is, patterns of speech used by speakers and writers to influence their audience.
Steps to writing a rhetorical analysis essay
As mentioned earlier, writing proper literary analysis begins with your familiarity with rhetorical concepts and approaches. This basis is required for the work of reading, analyzing, and understanding a rhetorical piece. The steps to writing a good rhetorical analysis essay are as follows:
Place the rhetorical piece in its proper context
Recognize the rhetorical concepts being used
Formulate your thesis statement
Bring your own unique interpretation to the analysis
Revise your work
Rhetorical concepts refer to both rhetorical devices and rhetorical approaches. The main rhetorical approaches are logos, pathos, and ethos. This describes the approach taken by the speaker or writer to appeal to the audience.
Logo refers to appeals to reason. Pathos is an appeal to emotion, and ethos refers to appeals to reputation and authority. More than one approach can be used in any given rhetorical piece. The table below gives definitions and examples:
Concept | Definition | Example |
Logos | Logos relies on arguments based on reason and logic to persuade an audience. | Federick Douglass uses logos in his speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” to point out the irony of the US celebrating independence while keeping slaves. |
Pathos | Pathos relies on appealing to the emotions of an audience to persuade them. | Winston Churchill relies on appealing to a spirit of heroic emotion when he says, “We are fighting by ourselves alone; but we are not fighting for ourselves alone.” |
Ethos | Ethos describes the authority of the speaker on the topic they’re speaking on. | A doctor can appeal to ethos to show their experience qualifies them to promote a specific health policy. |
Rhetorical devices refer to figures of speech that are used to achieve specific effects to influence or persuade an audience. They include rhetorical devices based on 1. Repetition, 2. Structure, and 3. Dramatic appeals. The list below provides some quick definitions:
i. Repetition-based rhetorical devices
Anaphora: repetition at the start
Epistrophe: repetition at the end
Anadiplosis: repetition of the ending at the beginning
Symploce: repetition at the end with a small change in the middle
Polyptoton: repetition of the variation of the root of a word
Chiasmus: repetition with the order in reverse
ii. Structure-based rhetorical devices
Isocolon — Parallel structure
Chiasmus — Reversal of structure
Anastrophe — Inversion of words
Polyptoton — Repetition of the root
Polysyndeton — Using extra conjunctions
Asyndeton — Leaving out conjunctions
Ellipsis — Leaving out words
iii. Dramatic-based rhetorical devices
Praeteritio — Saying things by not saying them
Aposiopesis — Breaking off in midstream
Metanoia — Correcting oneself
Litotes — Rhetorical uses of the negative
Erotema — Rhetorical questions
Hypophora — Asking questions and answering them
Prolepsis — Anticipating objections and answering them
Think of rhetorical analysis as being funnel-shaped. The wider outer edge of the funnel represents the broad approach that is used by the speaker or the writer of the rhetorical piece.
The narrow end of the funnel refers to the specific rhetorical devices used to achieve the intended effect in persuading the audience. We examine step-by-step the process of writing a proper rhetorical analysis below.
1. Place the rhetorical piece in proper context
Placing a piece of writing in context means that you explain what the background is. This means grounding your analysis in the appropriate historical and social context. For example, what is the proper context of MLK’s I Have a Dream speech?
Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech was a pivotal moment in the American Civil Rights movement. It was delivered on August 28, 1963, during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. In the speech, King addressed systemic racial injustice, segregation, and inequality in the United States. In a political environment fraught with heightened tensions and conflicts, King's speech became a rallying cry for justice, equality, and unity.
The paragraph gives the speech its proper historical context. MLK’s speech is rather famous and most people will be at least somewhat familiar with its context. However, this becomes even more important for works that are not as well known.
2. Recognize the rhetorical concepts being used
Logos, pathos, and ethos are the broad and dominant approaches used in rhetorical language. Rhetorical devices are the specific strategies used by the writer to achieve their intended effect. Long before you even start writing your essay, you should become familiar with these concepts. This would mean that you’re able to recognize them in the works that you have to analyze.
You first need to recognize which one of the approaches is being used by the writer (i.e., logos, ethos, or pathos). As mentioned earlier, the writer may use more than one or even all three approaches in a single rhetorical piece.
Then you need to judge how they use rhetorical devices or other rhetorical techniques to make their argument or persuade the audience. Let’s look at an example.
Churchill, speech in the House of Commons (1940):
You ask, what is our policy? I will say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us: to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. . . . You ask, what is our aim? I can answer that in one word: It is Victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.
Churchill is using an appeal to emotion or pathos. He makes appeals to beliefs and values. For example, he mentions “monstrous tyranny” and “lamentable catalogue of human crime.” All this would work toward giving listeners the impression that they were fighting against an evil that they had no choice but to beat to survive.
Churchill uses rhetorical devices deftly to make his point. He uses hypophora, that is, he asks a question and then proceeds to answer. “You ask, what is our policy?” He also uses different types of repetition, including simple repetition and anaphora. He also uses isocolon or parallel structure. For example, “It is to wage war, by sea, land and air.” However, the main effects of the speech rely on the hypophora used in the beginning and the various types of repetition.
The use of hypohora would have the effect of making the listener feel that the speech was a conversation that they were actively participating in. The repetition would give a sense of rhythm and urgency to the speech.
3. Devise your thesis statement or main idea
After recognizing the appeals and devices being used in a speech, you need to develop your thesis statement. This iis the most important part of your essay. You should only write your outline after writing out your thesis statement.
Here are three steps to follow when writing a thesis statement:
1. Do the reading. Learn about the historical background and context of the rhetorical piece that you will be analyzing.
2. Develop your position carefully. After learning the context of the piece of writing, develop your position accordingly.
3. Refine your position. After writing down your initial thesis statement go over it and try to find ways to improve it. You can even think of asking for opinions from friends or professors to see how that can be done.
Ideally, a thesis statement should be between one and three sentences. Below, we provide an example of a thesis statement for rhetorical analysis. This is a thesis statement for the speech from Winston Churchill that was quoted earlier:
In his speech, Churchill appeals to the emotion of the British public to both impress upon them the urgency of the fight against German Nazism and how their very survival depends on it. In the process, he relies heavily on repetitive rhetorical devices such as anaphora.
4. Bring your unique Interpretation to the analysis
You should bring your own unique perspective to an analysis. This is likely more important than anything else. However, it does not mean reinventing the wheel. Instead, it means paying attention to how the piece of rhetoric personally affects you and trying to successfully express that feeling.
Your analysis should be based on deep familiarity with the text, deep knowledge of the broad principles of rhetorical analysis. The more deeply you study the text and the more likely you study the rhetorical analyses of others, the more likely you can come up with insightful or interesting commentary.
5. Revise your rhetorical analysis essay
After completing your analysis you should revise or edit your own writing. Don’t think of revision as something extra to do. Instead, it should be seen as the final stage of the writing process. Editing your own work involves the following process:
Working against a style sheet. A style sheet is a document that maks it clear what type of academic writing style you’re supposed to use. For example, APA vs MLA, American vs US English, or Oxford commas vs no Oxford comma usage.
Giving your essay some distance. If possible, finish the essay early and give it a day or two before coming back to it. This will help give you a “fresh set of eyes” that can allow you to see things that you missed.
Use a second pair of eyes. It is a good idea to ask a friend or even professor to read your essay. In this way, you can discover problems that you by yourself won’t be able to reconize.
Follow a self-editing checklist. By following a list of items to be checked while you self-edit, you can ensure that your essay is error-free as much as possible. Below is an example of a self-editing checklist:
Criteria | Checklist Items | Place a check here after completing each step |
Punctuation |
| ✅ |
Capitalization |
| ✅ |
Grammar |
| ✅ |
Spelling |
| ✅ |
More important than anything else, you should make sure that that you begin and finish your essay on time. The more time you have to double-check and edit your essay, the more likely you will be able to produce the best possible rhetorical analysis essay.
How EminentEdit helps with your rhetorical analysis
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Our editing, proofreading, and commentary services are based on our deep and extensive familiarity with the standards and conventions of rhetorical analysis.
EminentEdit provides editing and proofreading services that are:
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EminentEdit’s proofreading and editing services for rhetorical analysis include:
Editing for tone of voice
Critiquing your thesis statements
Substantive editing to improve the quality of your writing on a sentence level
Proofreading to make sure your writing is grammatically correct with proper spelling and punctuation
Commentary to point out areas of improvement
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Cite this EminentEdit article |
Antoine, M. (2024, November 19). How to Write a Rhetorical Analysis Essay. https://www.eminentediting.com/post/how-to-write-a-rhetorical-analysis-essay |
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