Non-Fiction

A Rhetorical Analysis

Author’s purpose: the reason the author writes; what the reader wants to take with him/her from the text.

Example: Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his “I Have a Dream” speech to inspire/persuade people to believe in a future with freedom for all.

Example: Maya Angelou wrote her memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings to share her story with the world and inspire others who are struggling.

Audience: A writer’s readers or listeners.

It is important to know the audience of the work to understand authors purpose. The audience determines what rhetorical devices to use.

Example:

Squealer is able to convince the animals to believe anything he says no matter how unpleasant because he knows that his audience has a need for reassurance and a natural need to believe the voice of authority.

Exigence: an issue, problem, or situation that causes or prompts someone to write or speak.

(Why now?)

Your job is to determine the exigence of each work.

Example:

Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” is powered by the civil rights movement, which King is a key leader.

Tone: the writer’s or speaker’s attitude toward the subject.

It is your job to determine the tone the Author creates and why.

Example: Orwell adopts a humorous and light hearted tone in the alcohol scene of Animal Farm so that his readers will enjoy his work of satire. 

When writing your essay, avoid saying: The writer uses tone since ALL writers use a tone of some kind. Instead, say: The writer creates a __________ tone...

Tone Quizzes this semester (will include last semesters tone words as well):-January 28-February 20-March28-April 11-May 21-22 (final exam)

Satire: A literary work in which vices, follies, stupidities, abuses, etc., are held up to ridicule and contempt.A pointing out of the difference between how things are and how they ought to be.

Your job is to decide what the author is making fun of and how.

Example: Vonnegut satires the United States everlasting quest for equality even at the expense of individuality in his short story “Harrison Bergeron.” He mentions the “211th, 212th, and 213th amendments to the constitution” to mock our current government.

Figurative Language: any element or the entirety of elements a writer uses in the structure of their work.

Your job is to determine the purpose/impact of the term.

Example:

In Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, he contrasts segregation with racial justice by using the contrasting metaphors of dark and desolate valley (of segregation) and sunlit path (of racial justice.)

Anecdote: a brief story told as an example to illustrate a point.

Your job is to find out why the author uses this anecdote. (how does it further prove his/her point?) Novelist, Amy Tan, in her narrative

essay, Fish Cheeks, she recounts an embarrassing Christmas Eve dinner when she was 14 years old. Tans 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.

Allusion: a reference to a historical or literary person, place, event, or aspect of culture.

Your job is to find out why the author makes the allusion.

Example: Martin Luther King Jr.s repetition of the phrase “Let freedom ring” is an allusion to the star spangled banner. He is alluding to this document to show how America was founded on this principle, therefore everyone deserved it (King).

Diction: the word choice, including the vocabulary used, the appropriateness of the words, and the vividness of the language.

It is your job to determine if the author intentionally uses certain diction and what it indicates. Look for specific words or phrases that seem stronger than other. Never write: The author used diction in an rhetorical analysis essay!

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.

Denotation: the meaning of the word is strictly literal, as found in the dictionary.

Connotation: the meaning of a word that carries ideas and feelings.

Denotation: Connotation:Vs.

“Squealer always spoke of it as a readjustment and never as a reduction” (Orwell 112).

Literally translated: both “readjustment” and “reduction” meant they had less food.

Readjustment makes the animals feel better because it doesn’t imply less food.

Dialect: a regional variety of language distinguished by features of vocabulary, grammar and diction employed by a specific people as distinguished from other persons geographically or socially.

Example: Twain uses dialect in his novel Huck Finn to differentiate between characters, such as when Huck and Finn are discussing Jim’s freedom:

Jim: “We’s safe,Huck, we’s safe! Jump up and crack yo’ heels! Dat’s de good ole Cairo at las’. I jis knows it!”

Huck: “I’ll take the canoe and go see Jim. It mightn’t be, you know.”

Repetition: Repeated words or phrases for effect.

Example: The word “comrade” was used throughout Animal Farm to remind the animals that they were a team united for one cause. This made them feel like they were a part of all the decisions made on the farm (Orwell).

Syntax: refers to the way words are arranged within sentences

One aspect of syntax is sentence length: Good writers will use a variety for emphasis. ･

Short sentences: imply straightforward

Long sentences: imply descriptive, detailed.

Sentence Type: A second aspect of syntax is sentence type. Again, good writers use a variety.

Simple: subject+verb+complete thought.

Example 1: Harry Potter went to Hogwarts.

Example 2: Harry went to Hogwarts and learned the art of wizardry.

Example 3: Harry, Ron, and Hermione went to Hogwarts.

Simple Sentence: compound predicate

Simple Sentence: compound subject

Compound: 2 independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction or a semicolon.

ForAnd NorButOr Yet So

Harry defeated Voldemort, and they all lived happily ever after.

Coordinating Conjunctions:

2 independent clauses connected by a semi-colon must relate to one another:

Harry defeated Voldemort; It was epic.

Complex: independent clause and dependent clause.

After I watched the last Harry Potter, I felt a strange void in my life.

A dependant clause has a subject and a verb but does not have a complete thought. It is identified by a dependant clause marker.

Some markers: after, although, as, as if, because, before, even if, even though, if, in order to, since, though, unless, until, whatever, when, whenever, whether, and while.

Compound-complex: 2 independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses

I felt a void because there will be no more Harry Potter, and no other series even compares to its greatness.

Harry Potter is a tale of growing up and finding oneself, and it is a fan favorite because of the action and adventure throughout.

Because J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter, you girls now have your sparkling vampires, and you can dream about werewolves with anger management problems.

Punctuation: A final aspect of syntax is punctuation. Yes, good writers use a variety here too. ･

Semicolon(;) gives equal weight to two or more independent clauses in a sentence. Writers use this to reinforce parallel ideas and show how both ideas are equally important

Colon(:) directs the reader’s attention to the words that follow. Writers use this to show the reader that the information after the colon is important.

Dash (-) marks a sudden change in thought or tone or sets off a brief summary

Anaphora: repetition of beginning phrases of sentences to create a dramatic effect.

It is your job to identify the anaphora and determine the effect.

Example:

In time the savage bull sustains the yoke,In time all haggard hawks will stoop to lure,In time small wedges cleave the hardest oak,In time the flint is pierced with softest shower.

— Thomas Kyd, The Spanish Tragedy, I, vi. 3

Parallelism: an arrangement of the parts of a composition so that elements of equal importance are balanced in similar constructions.

It is your job to identify what two things the author is saying are of equal importance and the effect of this statement.

Ex 1: In Patrick Henry’s historical speech he states, “Give me liberty or give me death” to show that a life without liberty is equal to death (Henry).

Ex 2:

"The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessing; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries."

Ethos: an ethical appeal based on the nature of the person giving the appeal. Think: Is this source credible?

It’s your job to analyze how the author uses ethosto persuade theaudience.

While Squealer is convincing the animals the necessity of the pigs getting the milk and the windfalls, he develops ethos by saying, “I myself do not even like milk and apples” (Orwell 12).

Logos: An Appeal to reason.

It’s your job to analyze how the author uses logos to persuade theAudience. While Squealer is convincing

the animals the necessity of the pigs getting the milk and the windfalls, he develops logos by saying, “This is scientifically proven comrades” (Orwell 12).

Pathos: An appeal to emotion.

Squealer always convinces the animals to do what they are ordered to do by appealing to their fear of Jones. He always warns the animals, “You wouldn’t want Jones to come back would you? (Orwell 15).

It’s your job to analyze how the author uses pathos to persuade the audience.