Rhetorical Analysis

For your first paper, your assignment is to write a rhetorical analysis of a text of your choice. Be sure to select something complex enough to allow you to write a thoughtful and insightful analysis.

By definition, the act of analysis is breaking something into its component parts and examining the ways in which those parts contribute to the whole. Textual analysis often involves extracting and creating meaning. Rhetorical analysis is something more specific. Rhetoric involves all the available means of persuasion. So as you write a rhetorical analysis, you are not analyzing only the meaning of the text; you are analyzing the effectiveness of the text by examining the different strategies that the author uses to persuade their audience.

1. How effectively does the writer of your chosen text convey the main idea of the text? In what ways do ethos, logos, and pathos affect the author’s ability to persuade the audience? You must discuss all three strategies. For this topic, you must include thoughtful analysis of direct quotations from the text of your choice.