NE

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