What is rhetorical analysis? evaluating how something is said and includes making judgments about whether or not an author has succeeded in his or her purpose

Rhetoric Rhetoric is the art of understanding selecting, and using writing that is effective and appropriate in a given situation.

Aristotelian Model

pathos ethos logos

Ethos- credibility of the speaker

Writers/speakers ask the audience to -trust them-believe them-to bear with them-to listen to themThey imply that they are trustworthy, believable and have goodintentions.

Logos—logic Rational argument Logic behind the argumentsExamples:-factual evidence for support“Nine out of ten doctors agree…”-statistics, charts, graphs, definitions, etc.

Pathos-emotional appeals the quality or power of evoking a feeling of pity or compassion.

The feeling, as of sympathy or pity, so aroused.

Advertisements, movies, television, political speeches, sermons

Immediacy contributes to the effectiveness of emotional appeals

Images—evoke strong emotions

Components of Rhetoric – Aristotle’s Triangle

Speaker

MessageAudience

Ethos

The writer/speaker establishes credibility by:

1. Demonstrating knowledge about the topic

2. Establishing common ground with the audience through respect and concern

3. Demonstrating fairness and evenhandedness

Components of Rhetoric – Aristotle’s Triangle

Speaker

MessageAudience

Logos

The argument’s reasoning is underscored through:

1. examples, precedents, and narratives

2. Citing authority and testimony

3. Establishing causes and effects

4. Using inductive and deductive reasoning

Components of Rhetoric – Aristotle’s Triangle

Speaker

MessageAudience

Pathos

The writer appeals to readers by:

1. Using description and concrete language

2. Using figurative language

3. Shaping appeal(s) to a specific audience

SummarySummary

Ethos (the ethical appeal)--Writers create a relationship with readers that is based on a kind of trust.

Logos (the logical appeal)--Writers use logical reasoning in order to appeal to a readers’ sense of objectivity and reason.

Pathos (the emotional appeal)--Writers use emotional appeals to reach readers because this appeal is the strongest, most direct.

Style Style refers to the choices one makes that involve words, phrases, and sentences.

Style should appropriate for author’s purpose and affects the way that a reader reacts to a piece.

Style The three aspects of Style are Diction Syntax Figures of speech

Diction This is word choice. We we analyze diction we discuss:

--General versus Specific words. City is general, Atlanta is specific. Why do we use one or the other?

--Formal versus Informal--Denotation and connotation.--Monosyllabic words and polysyllabic words.

Syntax Syntax refers to construction of sentences.

Syntax discusses:--Sentence Type: complex or simple?--Sentence length: short or long?--Active versus Passive Sentences--Pacing. Sentence construction can speed up the reading of a passage or slow it down.

Rhetorical DevicesPuns Synedoche

Metaphors OxymoronSimiles ParadoxPersonification Onomatopoeia

Irony Litotes

HyperboleMetonym

Rhetorical Devices Balance--Parallelism, climax, antithesis,

ChiassmusWord order---AnastropheAddition--apposition, parenthesisOmission-- zuegmaRepetition-- epanalepsis,Sound--Alliteration, assonance, consonance

Anaphora Repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses, sentences, or lines.

Example:“This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle, This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, This other Eden, demi-paradise,This fortress built by Nature for herselfAgainst infection and the hand of war,This happy breed of men, this little world,This precious stone set in the silver sea…”

-John of Gaunt in Shakespeare's Richard II (2.1.40-51; 57-60)

Epistrophe Is the reverse of anaphora; repetition of same word or group at the end of clauses.

Ex. They saw no evil, they spoke no evil, and they heard no evil.

Anastrophe Inversion: Anastrophe occurs whenever normal syntactical arrangement is violated for emphasis:

:The verb before the subject-noun (normal syntax follows the order subject-noun, verb):Glistens the dew upon the morning grass. (Normally: The dew glistens upon the morning grass)

Adjective following the noun it modifies (normal syntax is adjective, noun):She looked at the sky dark and menacing. (Normally: She looked at the dark and menacing sky)

The object preceding its verb (normal syntax is verb followed by its object):Troubles, everybody's got. (Normally: Everybody's got troubles)

Asyndeton (uh-SIN-du-ton) Omission of conjunctions between related clauses—ex. I came, I saw, I conquered.

deliberate use of conjunctions between each clause in a series of clauses

Ex. This year I am taking math and English and history and gym and physics and Spanish and creative writing and creative photography.

Polysyndeton

Antithesis Juxtaposition of contrasting words or ideas (often, although not always, in parallel structure).

"It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues."

-Abraham Lincoln” It can't be wrong if it feels so right”

-Debbie Boone

Chiasmus1.Repetition of ideas in inverted order2.Repetition of grammatical structures in inverted order

When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! -Isaiah 5:20

Conceit An extended metaphor. Popular during the Renaissance and typical of John Donne or John Milton.

Marke but this flea, and marke in this, How little that which thou deny'st me is; Me it suck'd first, and now sucks thee, And in this flea our two bloods mingled bee; Confesse it, this cannot be said A sinne, or shame, or losse of maidenhead, Yet this enjoyes before it wooe, And pamper'd swells with one blood made of two, And this, alas, is more than wee would doe.-- “The Flea” John Donne

Idiom A use of words, a grammatic construction peculiar to a given language that can not be construction.

“To carry out…”

Litotes

Deliberate understatement, especially when expressing a thought by denying its opposite.

Ex.—She was not unmindful of the fact that she still owes me twenty dollars.

Since he’s no small man, perhaps he should reconsider the skinny jeans he likes so much.

Repetition Repeated use of sounds, words, phrases, or clauses to emphasize meaning or achieve effect

Allusion A reference to well-know people, events, or stories

Rhetorical Question A question posed by the speaker or writer not to seek an answer but instead to affirm or deny a point by simply asking the question

Ex. Do I really need to ask you to clean your room again?

Anecdote A brief narrative offered to capture the audience’s attention or to contribute to the overall purpose

Restatement Repeating an idea in a variety of ways.

Parallelism Similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses.

parallelism of words:She tried to make her pastry fluffy, sweet, and delicate.

parallelism of phrases:Singing a song or writing a poem is joyous.

parallelism of clauses:Perch are inexpensive; cod are cheap; trout are abundant; but salmon are best.

Metonymy Reference to something or someone by naming one of its attributes.

ExampleThe pen is mightier than the swordThe pen is an attribute of thoughts that are written with a pen; the sword is an attribute of military action

We await word from the crown.I'm told he's gone so far as to give her a diamond ring.

The IRS is auditing me? Great. All I need is a couple of suits arriving at my door.

Synechdoche A whole is represented by naming one of its parts (genus named for species), or vice versa (species named for genus).

ExamplesThe rustler bragged he'd absconded with five hundred head of longhorns.Both "head" and "longhorns" are parts of cattle that represent them as wholes

Listen, you've got to come take a look at my new set of wheels.One refers to a vehicle in terms of some of its parts, "wheels"”

He shall think differently," the musketeer threatened, "when he feels the point of my steel."A sword, the species, is represented by referring to its genus, "steel"