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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