Conducting a Rhetorical Analysis

1. Conducting a Rhetorical Analysis

2. Goal of Rhetorical Analysis ** • Break down the text as a whole into the sum of its parts • What is the writer trying to achieve? • What strategies is he using to meet this goal? • Are these strategies effective?

3. Questions to Ask While Reading Critically- What to annotate! • What is the general subject of the text? • Does it have meaning to you? • Is it controversial? • Does it bring up other associations in your mind?

4. Questions to Ask While Reading Critically ** • What is the thesis? • How does the thesis comment on the subject? • What is the purpose of the argument? What is the author hoping to achieve? • What is the tone of the text? • How is that tone developed throughout the piece? • Is the tone effective in achieving the purpose? • Who is the audience for this argument?

5. Three Appeals • Does the author consider the Rhetorical Triangle? • If not, where does the author fail in this regard • If so, what are the strongest appeals and how do they affect the success of the piece?

6. Claims- arguments/ thesis (Is there more than one?) • What claims are made in the argument? • What techniques or devices does the author use to establish these claims? • What issues are raised in the piece?

7. Considering the Context What are the contexts considered in the piece: *Read the prompt/ background info! • Social • Political • Historical • Cultural Whose interests do these contexts serve? Who gains or loses as a result of the argument?

8. How does the Style of the Argument Work to Persuade an Audience? ** • How would you characterize the overall style of the piece? • Formal / informal • Serious / light-hearted • Slanted / objective ect. • Is there anything unique or interesting about the style that is worth discussing?

9. How does the Language of the Argument Work to Persuade an Audience? • Consider the diction • How does the word choice relate to the purpose? • How does the sentence structure or syntax affect the piece? Do sentences stand out that might be significant?

10. Making Connections ** • No matter what items you choose to comment on during a rhetorical analysis, you must make connections to your thesis or to the author’s purpose. • Don’t just make observations about a text, you must tie it to something important about the bigger picture of the piece as a whole!

11. What will you be asked to do on this exam segment? • Question 2 is your rhetorical analysis question. • This is usually the most challenging prompt on the writing segment of the exam. • Timing: suggested time is 40 minutes. • Remember, you get 2 hours and 15 minutes for all 3 essays. • See the example on the next slide... 11

12. Sample Question • The following is the actual question for the 2nd free response (the rhetorical analysis). From 2010- see sample tests • What exactly is it asking you to do?? • If you were to annotate this prompt, what would you underline or note? *student volunteer* • Question 2 (Suggested time—40 minutes. This question counts for one-third of the total essay section score.) Benjamin Banneker, the son of former slaves, was a farmer, astronomer, mathematician, surveyor, and author. In 1791 he wrote to Thomas Jefferson, framer of the Declaration of Independence and secretary of state to President George Washington. Read the following excerpt from the letter and write an essay that analyzes how Banneker uses rhetorical strategies to argue against slavery. 12

13. What to do before even reading the text... • Fully read and mark up the prompt. • Yes...write in the test booklet! • Underline the exact sentence in the prompt that tells you what to analyze and what to write. • If you don’t read the directions, you can’t possibly answer the question correctly! 13

14. What might the prompt ask of you? • It might be rather general like this one found in 2010’s test. (Analyze any/all rhetorical techniques.) • It might be a bit more specific like 2009’s prompt: The two passages below, both written by noted contemporary scientist Edward O. Wilson, appear in Wilson’s book The Future of Life (2002). In the passages, Wilson satirizes the language of two groups that hold opposing attitudes about environmentalism. Read each passage carefully. Then write an essay in which you analyze how Wilson’s satire illustrates the unproductive nature of such discussions. 14

15. Continued... • It might be extreeeeeemely specific like 2004’s exam: Read carefully the following passage from the introduction to Days of Obligation by Richard Rodriguez. Then, in a well-written essay, analyze how Rodriguez uses contrasts between Mexico and California to explore and convey his conflicting feelings. • It might be extreeeeeemely vague like 2008’s exam: Read the following passage from “America Needs Its Nerds” by Leonid Fridman. Then write an essay in which you analyze how Fridman develops his argument. 15

16. Back to the 2010 exam text to analyze... • Take a look at the test booklet and read over the actual text. • Also skim over the annotations that the test-taker (hopefully) made during reading. • Consider what you would annotate during reading. This, of course, depends on what the prompt is asking you. • If it is asking you to analyze rhetorical techniques, highlight/underline those you notice...but of course you cannot mention them all in your essay. 16

17. Keep it simple, but specific when the prompt is asking you about rhetorical techniques in general... ** • Analyzing diction, tone, major rhetorical techniques (symbolism, figurative language, etc) is a must. • If you see major repeating elements of syntax you should mention those. • What not to do: • 2 things: • Never summarize...This tells the scorer, “I do not understand the text or prompt, so I will summarize and hope for the best.” • Mention every single syntactical element in a list-like format. 17

18. As said before... • Don’t just make observations about a text- you must tie it to something important about the bigger picture of the piece as a whole! 18

19. How we will practice: • We will learn extremely specific elements of diction and syntax. • We will learn how to paraphrase difficult texts to break them down into parts to analyze. • We will even practice analyzing footnotes and understanding how important these seemingly insignificant additions can impact a text. 19