Rhetorical Analysis Essay Notes

• Introductions   * Guide the reader to the thesis   * Provide pertinent information about the rhetorical situation   * Is not overly long     * In a pinch, the thesis statement can be your intro   * Process     * Intro text       * Not a “hook”, but more of something leading us, providing information, or an interesting insight     * SPACE       * Provide the significant rhetorical situation information which applies to the choices you will be analyzing       * Show a complex understanding of the rhetorical situation     * Thesis       * Provide your controlling argument       * Audience + Choices + Message
• Line of Reasoning   * Using each idea to future and argument with a clear “through line”   * Each sentence is a building block to support a main idea, and no block is laid in the wrong manner   * Building a Line of Reasoning     * Divide the passage into rhetorical sections       * Consider the purpose for each part; this is not necessarily paragraphs       * Chunk like with like       * Consider how these sections support each other       * Look for shifts     * Explore the passage in chronological order, emphasizing the open features you have identified in your open thesis     * Your subclaims are what had been accomplished in that given section and how it supports the overall purpose
• Conclusions   * Finish with Flourish     * Broaden       * Be philosophical     * Contextualize       * Be historical     * Respond       * Be personal     * Connect       * Be emotional

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