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Analyzing a Text Rhetorically

Analyzing a Text Rhetorically. Definition of a “Text”. A set of symbols that communicates or means something. A text can be read and interpreted. From the Latin root, texere , meaning “to weave”. Significant Texts in our Lives – Can be Analyzed. Religious texts Political texts

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Analyzing a Text Rhetorically

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  1. Analyzing a Text Rhetorically

  2. Definition of a “Text” • A set of symbols that communicates or means something. A text can be read and interpreted. • From the Latin root, texere, meaning “to weave”

  3. Significant Texts in our Lives – Can be Analyzed • Religious texts • Political texts • Legal texts • News articles • Advertisements • Songs • Poetry • Photography • Personal experiences • Dreams • Student papers • Academic articles • Memories • Speeches • Films • Books • Video games • Performances • Bodies • Clothes

  4. Textual Analysis What does the term “analysis” mean to you?

  5. Analysis • Breaking something down into its essential parts to understand how and why those parts work together to accomplish something (what + how and why) • Versus “summary” (what) • Importance of structure • Looking at the relationship between the parts

  6. Step 1: Breaking down into essential parts

  7. Step 2: Determining how parts work together

  8. Step 3: Determining what is accomplished when parts work together

  9. Analysis Involves Interpretation • Analyze: To break something down into its essential parts to determine how those parts work together to accomplish something. We can all see the same parts of the same text working together in the same way, yet we each see it accomplishing something different. Or perhaps we all see a text accomplishing the same thing, but see it doing so in different ways.

  10. There are no “wrong” or “right” interpretations of a text. It’s a duck! It’s a bunny! But there are supported and unsupported interpretations (quotations). It’s a tractor!

  11. Questions for Analysis • Who is the author/speaker? • What is the purpose of writing? What is the occasion that gives rise to the writing? • Who is the intended audience? • What is the main argument? • What does the nature of the communication reveal about the culture(s) that produced it? • What overarching themes or ideas do you notice in the text?

  12. Bryn Mawr College Library, Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

  13. This 1755 copper engraving shows the ruins of Lisbon in flames and a tsunami overwhelming the ships in the harbor.

  14. Different “Schools of Thought” or Theories • Formalists (symbols) • Gender theorists (gender, sexuality, sexual-orientation) • Marxist theorists (social class) • Race-based theorists (race) • Post-colonial theorists (nationality, empire) • Psychoanalytical theorists (unconscious) • Disability theorists (disability) • Happiness theorists (happiness) • Rhetoricians (rhetorical situations, language)

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