What sort of examples/analogies does the writer use as evidence?

Purpose
The purpose of your rhetorical analysis is to analyze another writer’s argument. Of
course, your essay should address what the writer has written, but the emphasis of your
rhetorical analysis essay should be a close examination of how the writer has presented an
argument. Your purpose is not to argue with (or state your agreement with) the writer’s
position. Your primary purpose is to analyze the strategies and features another writer
has used to be persuasive. You may interweave your own commentary and opinion with
your analysis to evaluate how effectively (or ineffectively) the argument is rhetorically.
But do not be diverted from your primary task: to demonstrate that you have uncovered
interesting, important things about the way the author’s argument has been presented.
Process
The essay you will be analyzing for this assignment is The Education of Dasmine
Cathey, which is in Writing Memphis (pp. 321-339). The final product should be 800-
1000 words.
What Should Be Analyzed?
Listed below are the sorts of things your rhetorical analysis should consider. This list is
neither a checklist nor an outline. In other words, do not try to include every single one of
these considerations in your analysis, as that will make for a crowded and likely
ineffective final product.
All rhetorical analyses need to contend, at least briefly, with purpose and audience, of
course, but, beyond that, it is up to you what specific rhetorical strategies you want to
consider and write about. You may even consider aspects of the text (or, in this case, the
accompanying pictures) that are not mentioned here. This list is just to help you in the
planning process.
Purpose (What is the writer trying to accomplish with the essay?)
Audience (To whom does the writer try to appeal? How does the writer try to
connect with that audience?)
Organization (How has the writer structured and presented the argument?)
Nods to the Opposition (How does the writer anticipate and address arguments
that might be made against his/her position?)
Definition (How does the writer define key terms used in the argument?)
Examples (What sort of examples/analogies does the writer use as evidence?)
Appeals to Authority (How does the writer use other sources, experts, statistics, etc.?)
Ethos (How does the writer present him/herself to the reader?)
Logos (How does the writer appeal to the reader’s sense of logical reasoning?)
Pathos (How does the writer appeal to the reader’s emotions, beliefs, and values?)
Tone (What is the writer’s attitude towards the subject?)
Diction and Imagery (What are the effects of the writer’s word choices?)
Organizing Your Essay
Somewhere near the opening of your essay, identify the author and article under
consideration and offer a description of the controversy with which the article is
concerned. You should also summarize the article briefly. Be sure to clearly and fairly
articulate its thesis. An introduction should engage your reader, so find something
interesting to say about what interests you about the article or the issue under
consideration. Make clear what you think most significant about the rhetorical strategies
the author has used in the essay.
Organizing your analysis around the sequential organization of the essay being analyzed
(In paragraph one, the writer . . . . In paragraph two, . . . .) is one possibility, though
such an organizational pattern can become tedious. Since the purpose of your analysis is
to analyze another writer’s rhetorical strategies, another way to organize your essay is to
highlight those strategies and choices. You could even organize your analysis around the
ideas presented in the article you have selected to analyze and then focus on the strategies
and choices used to convey those ideas. If you choose, you can interweave your
evaluation of the article’s rhetorical effectiveness throughout your analysis.
It is also appropriate to use your ending to make explicit your evaluation of the rhetorical
effectiveness of the article in question. Other strategies useful for ending this kind of
essay include reiterating particular strengths (and/or weaknesses) of the essay or
suggesting ways the essay might have been more effective.

Last Completed Projects