what is a rhetorical analysis presentation

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How to write a rhetorical analysis

What is a rhetorical analysis?

What are the key concepts of a rhetorical analysis, rhetorical situation, claims, supports, and warrants.

• Step 1: Plan and prepare
• Step 2: Write your introduction
• Step 3: Write the body
• Step 4: Write your conclusion

Frequently Asked Questions about rhetorical analysis

Related articles.

Rhetoric is the art of persuasion and aims to study writers’ or speakers' techniques to inform, persuade, or motivate their audience. Thus, a rhetorical analysis aims to explore the goals and motivations of an author, the techniques they’ve used to reach their audience, and how successful these techniques were.

This will generally involve analyzing a specific text and considering the following aspects to connect the rhetorical situation to the text:

• Does the author successfully support the thesis or claims made in the text? Here, you’ll analyze whether the author holds to their argument consistently throughout the text or whether they wander off-topic at some point.
• Does the author use evidence effectively considering the text’s intended audience? Here, you’ll consider the evidence used by the author to support their claims and whether the evidence resonates with the intended audience.
• What rhetorical strategies the author uses to achieve their goals. Here, you’ll consider the word choices by the author and whether these word choices align with their agenda for the text.
• The tone of the piece. Here, you’ll consider the tone used by the author in writing the piece by looking at specific words and aspects that set the tone.
• Whether the author is objective or trying to convince the audience of a particular viewpoint. When it comes to objectivity, you’ll consider whether the author is objective or holds a particular viewpoint they want to convince the audience of. If they are, you’ll also consider whether their persuasion interferes with how the text is read and understood.
• Does the author correctly identify the intended audience? It’s important to consider whether the author correctly writes the text for the intended audience and what assumptions the author makes about the audience.
• Does the text make sense? Here, you’ll consider whether the author effectively reasons, based on the evidence, to arrive at the text’s conclusion.
• Does the author try to appeal to the audience’s emotions? You’ll need to consider whether the author uses any words, ideas, or techniques to appeal to the audience’s emotions.
• Can the author be believed? Finally, you’ll consider whether the audience will accept the arguments and ideas of the author and why.

Summing up, unlike summaries that focus on what an author said, a rhetorical analysis focuses on how it’s said, and it doesn’t rely on an analysis of whether the author was right or wrong but rather how they made their case to arrive at their conclusions.

Although rhetorical analysis is most used by academics as part of scholarly work, it can be used to analyze any text including speeches, novels, television shows or films, advertisements, or cartoons.

Now that we’ve seen what rhetorical analysis is, let’s consider some of its key concepts .

Any rhetorical analysis starts with the rhetorical situation which identifies the relationships between the different elements of the text. These elements include the audience, author or writer, the author’s purpose, the delivery method or medium, and the content:

• Audience: The audience is simply the readers of a specific piece of text or content or printed material. For speeches or other mediums like film and video, the audience would be the listeners or viewers. Depending on the specific piece of text or the author’s perception, the audience might be real, imagined, or invoked. With a real audience, the author writes to the people actually reading or listening to the content while, for an imaginary audience, the author writes to an audience they imagine would read the content. Similarly, for an invoked audience, the author writes explicitly to a specific audience.
• Author or writer: The author or writer, also commonly referred to as the rhetor in the context of rhetorical analysis, is the person or the group of persons who authored the text or content.
• The author’s purpose: The author’s purpose is the author’s reason for communicating to the audience. In other words, the author’s purpose encompasses what the author expects or intends to achieve with the text or content.
• Alphabetic text includes essays, editorials, articles, speeches, and other written pieces.
• Imaging includes website and magazine advertisements, TV commercials, and the like.
• Audio includes speeches, website advertisements, radio or tv commercials, or podcasts.
• Context: The context of the text or content considers the time, place, and circumstances surrounding the delivery of the text to its audience. With respect to context, it might often also be helpful to analyze the text in a different context to determine its impact on a different audience and in different circumstances.

An author will use claims, supports, and warrants to build the case around their argument, irrespective of whether the argument is logical and clearly defined or needs to be inferred by the audience:

• Claim: The claim is the main idea or opinion of an argument that the author must prove to the intended audience. In other words, the claim is the fact or facts the author wants to convince the audience of. Claims are usually explicitly stated but can, depending on the specific piece of content or text, be implied from the content. Although these claims could be anything and an argument may be based on a single or several claims, the key is that these claims should be debatable.
• Support: The supports are used by the author to back up the claims they make in their argument. These supports can include anything from fact-based, objective evidence to subjective emotional appeals and personal experiences used by the author to convince the audience of a specific claim. Either way, the stronger and more reliable the supports, the more likely the audience will be to accept the claim.
• Warrant: The warrants are the logic and assumptions that connect the supports to the claims. In other words, they’re the assumptions that make the initial claim possible. The warrant is often unstated, and the author assumes that the audience will be able to understand the connection between the claims and supports. In turn, this is based on the author’s assumption that they share a set of values and beliefs with the audience that will make them understand the connection mentioned above. Conversely, if the audience doesn’t share these beliefs and values with the author, the argument will not be that effective.

Appeals are used by authors to convince their audience and, as such, are an integral part of the rhetoric and are often referred to as the rhetorical triangle. As a result, an author may combine all three appeals to convince their audience:

• Ethos: Ethos represents the authority or credibility of the author. To be successful, the author needs to convince the audience of their authority or credibility through the language and delivery techniques they use. This will, for example, be the case where an author writing on a technical subject positions themselves as an expert or authority by referring to their qualifications or experience.
• Logos: Logos refers to the reasoned argument the author uses to persuade their audience. In other words, it refers to the reasons or evidence the author proffers in substantiation of their claims and can include facts, statistics, and other forms of evidence. For this reason, logos is also the dominant approach in academic writing where authors present and build up arguments using reasoning and evidence.
• Pathos: Through pathos, also referred to as the pathetic appeal, the author attempts to evoke the audience’s emotions through the use of, for instance, passionate language, vivid imagery, anger, sympathy, or any other emotional response.

To write a rhetorical analysis, you need to follow the steps below:

With a rhetorical analysis, you don’t choose concepts in advance and apply them to a specific text or piece of content. Rather, you’ll have to analyze the text to identify the separate components and plan and prepare your analysis accordingly.

Here, it might be helpful to use the SOAPSTone technique to identify the components of the work. SOAPSTone is a common acronym in analysis and represents the:

• Speaker . Here, you’ll identify the author or the narrator delivering the content to the audience.
• Occasion . With the occasion, you’ll identify when and where the story takes place and what the surrounding context is.
• Audience . Here, you’ll identify who the audience or intended audience is.
• Purpose . With the purpose, you’ll need to identify the reason behind the text or what the author wants to achieve with their writing.
• Subject . You’ll also need to identify the subject matter or topic of the text.
• Tone . The tone identifies the author’s feelings towards the subject matter or topic.

Apart from gathering the information and analyzing the components mentioned above, you’ll also need to examine the appeals the author uses in writing the text and attempting to persuade the audience of their argument. Moreover, you’ll need to identify elements like word choice, word order, repetition, analogies, and imagery the writer uses to get a reaction from the audience.

Once you’ve gathered the information and examined the appeals and strategies used by the author as mentioned above, you’ll need to answer some questions relating to the information you’ve collected from the text. The answers to these questions will help you determine the reasons for the choices the author made and how well these choices support the overall argument.

Here, some of the questions you’ll ask include:

• What was the author’s intention?
• Who was the intended audience?
• What is the author’s argument?
• What strategies does the author use to build their argument and why do they use those strategies?
• What appeals the author uses to convince and persuade the audience?
• What effect the text has on the audience?

Keep in mind that these are just some of the questions you’ll ask, and depending on the specific text, there might be others.

Once you’ve done your preparation, you can start writing the rhetorical analysis. It will start off with an introduction which is a clear and concise paragraph that shows you understand the purpose of the text and gives more information about the author and the relevance of the text.

The introduction also summarizes the text and the main ideas you’ll discuss in your analysis. Most importantly, however, is your thesis statement . This statement should be one sentence at the end of the introduction that summarizes your argument and tempts your audience to read on and find out more about it.

After your introduction, you can proceed with the body of your analysis. Here, you’ll write at least three paragraphs that explain the strategies and techniques used by the author to convince and persuade the audience, the reasons why the writer used this approach, and why it’s either successful or unsuccessful.

You can structure the body of your analysis in several ways. For example, you can deal with every strategy the author uses in a new paragraph, but you can also structure the body around the specific appeals the author used or chronologically.

No matter how you structure the body and your paragraphs, it’s important to remember that you support each one of your arguments with facts, data, examples, or quotes and that, at the end of every paragraph, you tie the topic back to your original thesis.

Finally, you’ll write the conclusion of your rhetorical analysis. Here, you’ll repeat your thesis statement and summarize the points you’ve made in the body of your analysis. Ultimately, the goal of the conclusion is to pull the points of your analysis together so you should be careful to not raise any new issues in your conclusion.

After you’ve finished your conclusion, you’ll end your analysis with a powerful concluding statement of why your argument matters and an invitation to conduct more research if needed.

A rhetorical analysis aims to explore the goals and motivations of an author, the techniques they’ve used to reach their audience, and how successful these techniques were. Although rhetorical analysis is most used by academics as part of scholarly work, it can be used to analyze any text including speeches, novels, television shows or films, advertisements, or cartoons.

The steps to write a rhetorical analysis include:

Your rhetorical analysis introduction is a clear and concise paragraph that shows you understand the purpose of the text and gives more information about the author and the relevance of the text. The introduction also summarizes the text and the main ideas you’ll discuss in your analysis.

Ethos represents the authority or credibility of the author. To be successful, the author needs to convince the audience of their authority or credibility through the language and delivery techniques they use. This will, for example, be the case where an author writing on a technical subject positions themselves as an expert or authority by referring to their qualifications or experience.

Appeals are used by authors to convince their audience and, as such, are an integral part of the rhetoric and are often referred to as the rhetorical triangle. The 3 types of appeals are ethos, logos, and pathos.

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III. Rhetorical Situation

3.2 What is Rhetorical Analysis?

A Guide to Rhetoric, Genre, and Success in First-Year Writing

Rhetoric: The art of persuasion

Analysis: Breaking down the whole into pieces for the purpose of examination

Unlike summary, a rhetorical analysis does not simply require a restatement of ideas; instead, you must recognize rhetorical moves that an author is making in an attempt to persuade their audience to do or to think something. In the 21st century’s abundance of information, it can sometimes be difficult to discern what is a rhetorical strategy and what is simple manipulation. However, an understanding of rhetoric and rhetorical moves will help you become more savvy with the information surrounding you on a day-to-day basis. In other words, rhetorical moves can be a form of manipulation, but if you can recognize those moves, then you can be a more critical consumer of information rather than blindly accepting whatever you read, see, hear, etc. as indisputable truth.

The goal of a rhetorical analysis is to explain what is happening in the text, why the author might have chosen to use a particular move or set of rhetorical moves, and how those choices might affect the audience . The text you analyze might be explanatory, although there will be aspects of argument because you must negotiate with what the author is trying to do and what you think the author is doing.

One of the elements of doing a rhetorical analysis is looking at a text’s rhetorical situation. The rhetorical situation is the context out of which a text is created. Another element of rhetorical analysis is simply reading and summarizing the text. You have to be able to describe the basics of the author’s thesis and main points before you can begin to analyze it.

To do rhetorical analysis, first connect the rhetorical situation to the text. Move beyond simply summarizing and instead look at how the author shapes their text based on its context . In developing your reading and analytical skills, allow yourself to think about what you’re reading, to question the text and your responses to it as you read. Consider using the following questions to help you to take the text apart—dissecting it or unpacking to see how it works:

• Does the author successfully support the thesis or claim? Is the point held consistently throughout the text or does it wander at any point?
• I s the evidence the author used effective for the intended audience? How might the intended audience respond to the types of evidence that the author used to support the thesis/claim?
• What rhetorical moves do you see the author making to help achieve their purpose? Are there word choices or content choices that seem to you to be clearly related to the author ’s agenda for the text?
• Describe the tone   in the piece. Is it friendly? Authoritative? Does it lecture? Is it biting or sarcastic? Does the author use simple language or is it full of jargon ? Does the language feel positive or negative? Point to aspects of the text that create the tone; spend some time examining these and considering how and why they work.
• Is the author objective, or do they try to convince you to have a certain opinion? Why does the author try to persuade you to adopt this viewpoint? If the author is biased, does this interfere with the way you read and understand the text?
• Do you feel like the author knows who you are? Does the text seem to be aimed at readers like you or at a different audience? What assumptions does the author make about their audience? Would most people find these reasonable, acceptable, or accurate?
• Does the flow of the text make sense? Is the line of reasoning logical? Are there any gaps? Are there any spots where you feel the reasoning is flawed in some way?
• Does the author try to appeal to your emotions? Does the author use any controversial words in the headline or the article? Do these affect your reading or your interest?
• Do you believe the author? Do you accept their thoughts and ideas? Why or why not?

Once you have done this basic, rhetorical, critical reading of your text, you are ready to think about how the rhetorical situation – the context out of which the text arises – influences certain rhetorical appeals that appear in it.

This section contains material from:

“What is Rhetorical Analysis?” In A Guide to Rhetoric, Genre, and Success in First-Year Writing , by Melanie Gagich and Emilie Zickel. Cleveland: MSL Academic Endeavors. Accessed July 2019. https://pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu/csu-fyw-rhetoric/chapter/what-is-rhetorical-analysis/ . Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License .

OER credited in the text above includes:

Burnell, Carol, Jaime Wood, Monique Babin, Susan Pesznecker, and Nicole Rosevear. The Word on College Reading and Writing . Open Oregon Educational Resources. Accessed December 18, 2020. https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/wrd/ . Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License .

To distinguish, perceive, or figure out usually through intuition, instinct, or inference; to discover information indirectly.

The person or group of people who view and analyze the work of a writer, researcher, or other content creator.

A statement, usually one sentence, that summarizes an argument that will later be explained, expanded upon, and developed in a longer essay or research paper. In undergraduate writing, a thesis statement is often found in the introductory paragraph of an essay. The plural of thesis is theses .

A brief and concise statement or series of statements that outlines the main point(s) of a longer work. To summarize is to create a brief and concise statement or series of statements that outlines the main point(s) of a longer work.

The set of circumstances that frame a particular idea or argument; the background information that is necessary for an audience to know about in order to understand why or how a text was written or produced.

The specialized language and vocabulary associated with a specific profession, trade, or group of people; words not commonly used outside the context in which they are normally found and with whom they are associated.

3.2 What is Rhetorical Analysis? Copyright © 2022 by A Guide to Rhetoric, Genre, and Success in First-Year Writing is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Module 8: Analysis and Synthesis

Rhetorical analysis, learning objectives.

• Describe rhetorical analysis
• Analyze an argument using rhetorical analysis

Sometimes, the best way to learn how to write a good argument is to start by analyzing other arguments. When you do this, you get to see what works, what doesn’t, what strategies another author uses, what structures seem to work well and why, and more.

When we understand the decisions other writers make and why, it helps us make more informed decisions as writers. We can move from being the “accidental” writer, where we might do well but are not sure why, to being a “purposeful” writer, where we have an awareness of the impact our writing has on our audience at all levels.

The Importance of Rhetoric

Rhetoric is the art of effective and persuasive communication that is appropriate to a given situation. Although a thorough understanding of effective oral, written, and visual communication can take years of study, the foundation of such communication begins with rhetoric. With this foundation, even if you are just starting out, you can become a more powerful, more flexible writer. Rhetoric is key to being able to write effectively and persuasively in a variety of situations.

Every time you write or speak, you’re faced with a different rhetorical situation. Each rhetorical situation requires thoughtful consideration on your part if you want to be as effective and impactful as possible. Often, a successful essay or presentation is one that manages to persuade an audience to understand a question or issue in a particular way, or to respond to a question or issue by taking a particular action. Urging one’s reader to think or act in response to an important question or issue is one way of addressing the “so what?” element of analysis.

Many times, when students are given a writing assignment, they have an urge to skim the assignment instructions and then just start writing as soon as the ideas pop into their minds. But writing rhetorically and with intention requires that you thoroughly investigate your writing assignment (or rhetorical situation) before you begin to write the actual paper.

Thinking about concepts like purpose, audience, and voice will help you make good decisions as you begin your research and writing process.

Take a look at the following definition of rhetorical analysis:

Rhetorical analysis shows how the words, phrases, images, gestures, performances, texts, films, etc. that people use to communicate work, how well they work, and how the artifacts, as discourse, inform and instruct, entertain and arouse, and convince and persuade the audience; as such, discourse includes the possibility of morally improving the reader, the viewer, and the listener. [1]

Basically, when you conduct a rhetorical analysis, you’re examining the way authors (or speakers) communicate their message. This means you can conduct a rhetorical analysis of any act of communication. Naturally, this makes rhetorical analysis one of the most common types of analysis you will perform at the college level.

Read the following short article by Richard Stallman about “open” educational resources (which, incidentally, you are using right now), and think about how Stallman makes his argument (not what he is arguing).

Online Education Is Using a Flawed Creative Commons License

By Richard Stallman

September 2012

Prominent universities are using a nonfree license for their digital educational works. That is bad already, but even worse, the license they are using has a serious inherent problem.

When a work is made for doing a practical job, the users must have control over the job, so they need to have control over the work. This applies to software, and to educational works too. For the users to have this control, they need certain freedoms (see gnu.org ), and we say the work is “free” (or “libre,” to emphasize we are not talking about price). For works that might be useful in commercial contexts, the requisite freedom includes commercial use, redistribution and modification.

Creative Commons publishes six principal licenses. Two are free/libre licenses: the Sharealike license CC-BY-SA is a free/libre license with copyleft , and the Attribution license (CC-BY) is a free/libre license without copyleft. The other four are nonfree, either because they don’t allow modification (ND, Noderivs) or because they don’t allow commercial use (NC, Noncommercial).

In my view, nonfree licenses that permit sharing are OK for works of art/entertainment, or that present some party’s viewpoint (such as this article itself). Those works aren’t meant for doing a practical job, so the argument about the users’ control does not apply. Thus, I do not object if they are published with the CC-BY-NC-ND license, which allows only noncommercial redistribution of exact copies.

Use of this license for a work does not mean that you can’t possibly publish that work commercially or with modifications. The license doesn’t give permission for that, but you could ask the copyright holder for permission, perhaps offering a quid pro quo, and you might get it. It isn’t automatic, but it isn’t impossible.

However, two of the nonfree CC licenses lead to the creation of works that can’t in practice be published commercially, because there is no feasible way to ask for permission. These are CC-BY-NC and CC-BY-NC-SA, the two CC licenses that permit modification but not commercial use.

The problem arises because, with the internet, people can easily (and lawfully) pile one noncommercial modification on another. Over decades this will result in works with contributions from hundreds or even thousands of people.

What happens if you would like to use one of those works commercially? How could you get permission? You’d have to ask all the substantial copyright holders. Some of them might have contributed years before and be impossible to find. Some might have contributed decades before, and might well be dead, but their copyrights won’t have died with them. You’d have to find and ask their heirs, supposing it is possible to identify those. In general, it will be impossible to clear copyright on the works that these licenses invite people to make.

This is a form of the well-known “orphan works” problem, except exponentially worse; when combining works that had many contributors, the resulting work can be orphaned many times over before it is born.

To eliminate this problem would require a mechanism that involves asking someone for permission (otherwise the NC condition turns into a nullity), but doesn’t require asking all the contributors for permission. It is easy to imagine such mechanisms; the hard part is to convince the community that one such mechanisms is fair and reach a consensus to accept it.

I hope that can be done, but the CC-BY-NC and CC-BY-NC-SA licenses, as they are today, should be avoided.

Unfortunately, one of them is used quite a lot. CC-BY-NC-SA, which allows noncommercial publication of modified versions under the same license, has become the fashion for online educational works. MIT’s “Open Courseware” got it stared, and many other schools followed MIT down the wrong path. Whereas in software “open source” means “probably free, but I don’t dare talk about it so you’ll have to check for yourself,” in many online education projects “open” means “nonfree for sure”.

Even if the problem with CC-BY-NC-SA and CC-BY-NC is fixed, they still won’t be the right way to release educational works meant for doing practical jobs. The users of these works, teachers and students, must have control over the works, and that requires making them free. I urge Creative Commons to state that works meant for practical jobs, including educational resources and reference works as well as software, should be released under free/libre licenses only.

Educators, and all those who wish to contribute to on-line educational works: please do not to let your work be made non-free. Offer your assistance and text to educational works that carry free/libre licenses, preferably copyleft licenses so that all versions of the work must respect teachers’ and students’ freedom. Then invite educational activities to use and redistribute these works on that freedom-respecting basis, if they will. Together we can make education a domain of freedom.

Copyright 2012 Richard Stallman, released under the Creative Commons Attribution Noderivs 3.0 license.

How to Write a Rhetorical Analysis

As a part of thinking rhetorically about an argument, your professor may ask you to write a formal or informal rhetorical analysis essay. Rhetorical analysis is about “digging in” and exploring the strategies and writing style of a particular piece. Rhetorical analysis can be tricky because, chances are, you haven’t done a lot of rhetorical analysis in the past.

To add to this trickiness, you can write a rhetorical analysis of any piece of information, not just an essay. You may be asked to write a rhetorical analysis of an ad, an image, or a commercial.

When you analyze a work rhetorically, you explore the following concepts in a piece:

• Style or Tone
• Ethos – an appeal to ethical considerations. Is the author credible and knowledgeable? Are the actions or understandings that they are calling for ethical?
• Pathos – an appeal to emotions. Is the author trying to evoke strong feelings for or against something?
• Logos – an appeal to rational, logical understanding. Is the author using facts and “hard” research to present a case? Is the argument coherent and cohesive?
• Note that these three rhetorical modes are closely interrelated. Consider that a strong logical appeal will often convince us that a writer is ethical and diligent in his analysis, whereas an emotional appeal that seems manipulative or a weak substitute for a substantive argument may undermine a writer’s ethos, that is, his credibility.

In a rhetorical analysis, you will think about the decisions that author has made regarding the supporting appeals, the styple, tone, purpose, and audience, considering whether these decisions are effective or ineffective.

Part of understanding the rhetorical context of a situation includes understanding an author’s intent. This video walks you through the process of thinking critically about why, how, and to whom the author is speaking.

When analyzing an author’s intent, you will consider their point of view, their purpose in writing, the audience, and their tone. Taking all of this into consideration is part of understanding the broader context in which a person is writing.

You can view the transcript for “Evaluating an Author’s Intent” here (opens in new window) .

Sample Rhetorical Analysis

Here you can see a sample rhetorical analysis with some notes to help you better understand your goals when writing a formal rhetorical analysis.

rhetoric : the art of effective and persuasive communication that is appropriate to a given situation

ethos : a rhetorical appeal to ethical considerations, whether regarding the author or the topic at hand

pathos : a rhetorical appeal to emotion

logos : a rhetorical appeal to logic, often utilizing facts and figures in a strong organizational structure

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhetorical_criticism ↵
• Rhetorical Analysis. Authored by : Andrew Davis. Provided by : University of Mississippi. License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
• Thinking Rhetorically. Provided by : Excelsior College Online Writing Lab. Located at : https://owl.excelsior.edu/argument-and-critical-thinking/argument-analysis/argument-analysis-sample-rhetorical-analysis/ . License : CC BY: Attribution
• Evaluating an Author's Intent. Provided by : Excelsior Online Reading Lab. Located at : https://owl.excelsior.edu/orc/what-to-do-after-reading/analyzing/evaluating-an-authors-intent/ . License : CC BY: Attribution
• Assignment Analysis. Provided by : Excelsior OWL. Located at : https://owl.excelsior.edu/research/assignment-analysis/ . License : CC BY: Attribution

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8.10: Rhetorical Analysis

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Learning Objectives

• Describe rhetorical analysis
• Analyze an argument using rhetorical analysis

Sometimes, the best way to learn how to write a good argument is to start by analyzing other arguments. When you do this, you get to see what works, what doesn’t, what strategies another author uses, what structures seem to work well and why, and more.

When we understand the decisions other writers make and why, it helps us make more informed decisions as writers. We can move from being the “accidental” writer, where we might do well but are not sure why, to being a “purposeful” writer, where we have an awareness of the impact our writing has on our audience at all levels.

The Importance of Rhetoric

Rhetoric is the art of effective and persuasive communication that is appropriate to a given situation. Although a thorough understanding of effective oral, written, and visual communication can take years of study, the foundation of such communication begins with rhetoric. With this foundation, even if you are just starting out, you can become a more powerful, more flexible writer. Rhetoric is key to being able to write effectively and persuasively in a variety of situations.

Every time you write or speak, you’re faced with a different rhetorical situation. Each rhetorical situation requires thoughtful consideration on your part if you want to be as effective and impactful as possible. Often, a successful essay or presentation is one that manages to persuade an audience to understand a question or issue in a particular way, or to respond to a question or issue by taking a particular action. Urging one’s reader to think or act in response to an important question or issue is one way of addressing the “so what?” element of analysis.

Many times, when students are given a writing assignment, they have an urge to skim the assignment instructions and then just start writing as soon as the ideas pop into their minds. But writing rhetorically and with intention requires that you thoroughly investigate your writing assignment (or rhetorical situation) before you begin to write the actual paper.

Thinking about concepts like purpose, audience, and voice will help you make good decisions as you begin your research and writing process.

Rhetorical Analysis

Take a look at the following definition of rhetorical analysis:

Rhetorical analysis shows how the words, phrases, images, gestures, performances, texts, films, etc. that people use to communicate work, how well they work, and how the artifacts, as discourse, inform and instruct, entertain and arouse, and convince and persuade the audience; as such, discourse includes the possibility of morally improving the reader, the viewer, and the listener. [1]

Basically, when you conduct a rhetorical analysis, you’re examining the way authors (or speakers) communicate their message. This means you can conduct a rhetorical analysis of any act of communication. Naturally, this makes rhetorical analysis one of the most common types of analysis you will perform at the college level.

Read the following short article by Richard Stallman about “open” educational resources (which, incidentally, you are using right now), and think about how Stallman makes his argument (not what he is arguing).

Online Education Is Using a Flawed Creative Commons License

By Richard Stallman

September 2012

Prominent universities are using a nonfree license for their digital educational works. That is bad already, but even worse, the license they are using has a serious inherent problem.

When a work is made for doing a practical job, the users must have control over the job, so they need to have control over the work. This applies to software, and to educational works too. For the users to have this control, they need certain freedoms (see gnu.org ), and we say the work is “free” (or “libre,” to emphasize we are not talking about price). For works that might be useful in commercial contexts, the requisite freedom includes commercial use, redistribution and modification.

Creative Commons publishes six principal licenses. Two are free/libre licenses: the Sharealike license CC-BY-SA is a free/libre license with copyleft , and the Attribution license (CC-BY) is a free/libre license without copyleft. The other four are nonfree, either because they don’t allow modification (ND, Noderivs) or because they don’t allow commercial use (NC, Noncommercial).

In my view, nonfree licenses that permit sharing are OK for works of art/entertainment, or that present some party’s viewpoint (such as this article itself). Those works aren’t meant for doing a practical job, so the argument about the users’ control does not apply. Thus, I do not object if they are published with the CC-BY-NC-ND license, which allows only noncommercial redistribution of exact copies.

Use of this license for a work does not mean that you can’t possibly publish that work commercially or with modifications. The license doesn’t give permission for that, but you could ask the copyright holder for permission, perhaps offering a quid pro quo, and you might get it. It isn’t automatic, but it isn’t impossible.

However, two of the nonfree CC licenses lead to the creation of works that can’t in practice be published commercially, because there is no feasible way to ask for permission. These are CC-BY-NC and CC-BY-NC-SA, the two CC licenses that permit modification but not commercial use.

The problem arises because, with the internet, people can easily (and lawfully) pile one noncommercial modification on another. Over decades this will result in works with contributions from hundreds or even thousands of people.

What happens if you would like to use one of those works commercially? How could you get permission? You’d have to ask all the substantial copyright holders. Some of them might have contributed years before and be impossible to find. Some might have contributed decades before, and might well be dead, but their copyrights won’t have died with them. You’d have to find and ask their heirs, supposing it is possible to identify those. In general, it will be impossible to clear copyright on the works that these licenses invite people to make.

This is a form of the well-known “orphan works” problem, except exponentially worse; when combining works that had many contributors, the resulting work can be orphaned many times over before it is born.

To eliminate this problem would require a mechanism that involves asking someone for permission (otherwise the NC condition turns into a nullity), but doesn’t require asking all the contributors for permission. It is easy to imagine such mechanisms; the hard part is to convince the community that one such mechanisms is fair and reach a consensus to accept it.

I hope that can be done, but the CC-BY-NC and CC-BY-NC-SA licenses, as they are today, should be avoided.

Unfortunately, one of them is used quite a lot. CC-BY-NC-SA, which allows noncommercial publication of modified versions under the same license, has become the fashion for online educational works. MIT’s “Open Courseware” got it stared, and many other schools followed MIT down the wrong path. Whereas in software “open source” means “probably free, but I don’t dare talk about it so you’ll have to check for yourself,” in many online education projects “open” means “nonfree for sure”.

Even if the problem with CC-BY-NC-SA and CC-BY-NC is fixed, they still won’t be the right way to release educational works meant for doing practical jobs. The users of these works, teachers and students, must have control over the works, and that requires making them free. I urge Creative Commons to state that works meant for practical jobs, including educational resources and reference works as well as software, should be released under free/libre licenses only.

Educators, and all those who wish to contribute to on-line educational works: please do not to let your work be made non-free. Offer your assistance and text to educational works that carry free/libre licenses, preferably copyleft licenses so that all versions of the work must respect teachers’ and students’ freedom. Then invite educational activities to use and redistribute these works on that freedom-respecting basis, if they will. Together we can make education a domain of freedom.

A copyleft license has the advantage that modified versions must be free also. That means either CC-BY-SA or the GNU Free Documentation License, or a dual license offering the two of them as options.

Copyright 2012 Richard Stallman Released under the Creative Commons Attribution Noderivs 3.0 license.

https://assessments.lumenlearning.co...sessments/5608

How to Write a Rhetorical Analysis

As a part of thinking rhetorically about an argument, your professor may ask you to write a formal or informal rhetorical analysis essay. Rhetorical analysis is about “digging in” and exploring the strategies and writing style of a particular piece. Rhetorical analysis can be tricky because, chances are, you haven’t done a lot of rhetorical analysis in the past.

To add to this trickiness, you can write a rhetorical analysis of any piece of information, not just an essay. You may be asked to write a rhetorical analysis of an ad, an image, or a commercial.

When you analyze a work rhetorically, you explore the following concepts in a piece:

• Style or Tone
• Ethos – an appeal to ethical considerations. Is the author credible and knowledgeable? Are the actions or understandings that they are calling for ethical?
• Pathos – an appeal to emotions. Is the author trying to evoke strong feelings for or against something?
• Logos – an appeal to rational, logical understanding. Is the author using facts and “hard” research to present a case? Is the argument coherent and cohesive?
• Note that these three rhetorical modes are closely interrelated. Consider that a strong logical appeal will often convince us that a writer is ethical and diligent in his analysis, whereas an emotional appeal that seems manipulative or a weak substitute for a substantive argument may undermine a writer’s ethos, that is, his credibility.

In a rhetorical analysis, you will think about the decisions that author has made regarding the supporting appeals, the styple, tone, purpose, and audience, considering whether these decisions are effective or ineffective.

https://assessments.lumenlearning.co...essments/20273

Part of understanding the rhetorical context of a situation includes understanding an author’s intent. This video walks you through the process of thinking critically about why, how, and to whom the author is speaking.

When analyzing an author’s intent, you will consider their point of view, their purpose in writing, the audience, and their tone. Taking all of this into consideration is part of understanding the broader context in which a person is writing.

https://lumenlearning.h5p.com/content/1290922675810696988/embed

You can view the transcript for “Evaluating an Author’s Intent” here (opens in new window) .

Sample Rhetorical Analysis

Here you can see a sample rhetorical analysis with some notes to help you better understand your goals when writing a formal rhetorical analysis.

rhetoric : the art of effective and persuasive communication that is appropriate to a given situation

ethos : a rhetorical appeal to ethical considerations, whether regarding the author or the topic at hand

pathos : a rhetorical appeal to emotion

logos : a rhetorical appeal to logic, often utilizing facts and figures in a strong organizational structure

• https://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhetorical_criticism ↵

Contributors and Attributions

• Rhetorical Analysis. Authored by : Andrew Davis. Provided by : University of Mississippi. License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
• Thinking Rhetorically. Provided by : Excelsior College Online Writing Lab. Located at : https://owl.excelsior.edu/argument-and-critical-thinking/argument-analysis/argument-analysis-sample-rhetorical-analysis/ . License : CC BY: Attribution
• Evaluating an Author's Intent. Provided by : Excelsior Online Reading Lab. Located at : https://owl.excelsior.edu/orc/what-to-do-after-reading/analyzing/evaluating-an-authors-intent/ . License : CC BY: Attribution
• Assignment Analysis. Provided by : Excelsior OWL. Located at : https://owl.excelsior.edu/research/assignment-analysis/ . License : CC BY: Attribution

The Art of the Audio Essay PWR 2 Fall Quarter 2007 Jonah G. Willihnganz Stanford University

Rhetorical Analysis In-Class Presentations Audience: Your Classmates

• traditional rhetorical appeals (logos, pathos, ethos)
• structure and organization of material (introduction, conclusion, arrangements of description, dialogue, etc.)
• evidence (of any kind—examples, analogies, etc. count)
• rhetorical strategies such as establishing common ground, anticipating objections, posing a question, using motifs, creating associations, disarming the audience, etc.

Qualities specific to audio from of the piece might include:

• voice quality (distance, inflection, specific intonations to indicate meaning, etc.)
• voice pacing (rate, variation, use of pauses, etc.)
• language (diction, alliteration, assonance, repeated words, phrases, or syntactical structures, etc.)
• music (kinds, patterns, relation to narration or dialogue)
• sound (kinds, patterns, relation to narration or dialogue)

Group 1: Ward, Yarborough, Taylor, and Lyf, " Oakland Scenes " (in Youth Radio's Violence section) Group 2: Jack Hitt, " Mapping the Ambient World " (Act II of TAL show on Mapping) Group 3: Jonathan Mitchell, " City X " (from prx.org) Group 4: Jeremy Richards, " Behind the Man " (scroll down to find the piece) Group 5: Radio Lab, " One Eye Open " (Part I of episode on Sleep)

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Rhetorical Analysis

Almost every text makes an argument. Rhetorical analysis is the process of evaluating elements of a text and determining how those elements impact the success or failure of that argument. Often rhetorical analyses address written arguments, but visual, oral, or other kinds of “texts” can also be analyzed. 

Rhetorical Features—What to Analyze

Asking the right questions about how a text is constructed will help you determine the focus of your rhetorical analysis. A good rhetorical analysis does not try to address every element of a text; discuss just those aspects with the greatest [positive or negative] impact on the text’s effectiveness. 

The Rhetorical Situation

Remember that no text exists in a vacuum. The rhetorical situation of a text refers to the context in which it is written and read, the audience to whom it is directed, and the purpose of the writer. 

The Rhetorical Appeals

A writer makes many strategic decisions when attempting to persuade an audience. Considering the following rhetorical appeals will help you understand some of these strategies and their effect on an argument. Generally, writers should incorporate a variety of different rhetorical appeals rather than relying on only one kind. 

Ethos (appeal to the writer’s credibility)

• What is the writer’s purpose (to argue, explain, teach, defend, call to action, etc.)?
• Do you trust the writer? Why?
• Is the writer an authority on the subject? What credentials does the writer have?
• Does the writer address other viewpoints?
• How does the writer’s word choice or tone affect how you view the writer?

Pathos (appeal to emotion or to an audience’s values or beliefs)

• Who is the target audience for the argument?
• How is the writer trying to make the audience feel (i.e., sad, happy, angry, guilty)?
• Is the writer making any assumptions about the background, knowledge, values, etc. of the audience?

Logos (appeal to logic)

• Is the writer’s evidence relevant to the purpose of the argument? Is the evidence current (if applicable)? Does the writer use a variety of sources to support the argument?
• What kind of evidence is used (i.e., expert testimony, statistics, proven facts)?
• Do the writer’s points build logically upon each other?
• Where in the text is the main argument stated? How does that placement affect the success of the argument?
• Does the writer’s thesis make that purpose clear?

Kairos (appeal to timeliness)

• When was the argument originally presented?
• Where was the argument originally presented?
• What circumstances may have motivated the argument?
• Does the particular time or situation in which this text is written make it more compelling or persuasive?
• What would an audience at this particular time understand about this argument?

Writing a Rhetorical Analysis Essay

No matter the kind of text you are analyzing, remember that the text’s subject matter is never the focus of a rhetorical analysis. The most common error writers make when writing rhetorical analyses is to address the topic or opinion expressed by an author instead of focusing on how that author constructs an argument.

You must read and study a text critically in order to distinguish its rhetorical elements and strategies from its content or message. By identifying and understanding how audiences are persuaded, you become more proficient at constructing your own arguments and in resisting faulty arguments made by others.

A thesis for a rhetorical analysis does not address the content of the writer’s argument. Instead, the thesis should be a statement about specific rhetorical strategies the writer uses and whether or not they make a convincing argument.

Incorrect: Smith’s editorial promotes the establishment of more green space in the Atlanta area through the planting of more trees along major roads.

This statement is summarizing the meaning and purpose of Smith’s writing rather than making an argument about how – and how effectively – Smith presents and defends his position.

Correct: Through the use of vivid description and testimony from affected citizens, Smith makes a powerful argument for establishing more green space in the Atlanta area.

Correct: Although Smith’s editorial includes vivid descriptions of the destruction of green space in the Atlanta area, his argument will not convince his readers because his claim is not backed up with factual evidence.

These statements are both focused on how Smith argues, and both make a claim about the effectiveness of his argument that can be defended throughout the paper with examples from Smith’s text.

Introduction

The introduction should name the author and the title of the work you are analyzing. Providing any relevant background information about the text and state your thesis (see above). Resist the urge to delve into the topic of the text and stay focused on the rhetorical strategies being used.

Summary of argument

Include a short summary of the argument you are analyzing so readers not familiar with the text can understand your claims and have context for the examples you provide.

The body of your essay discusses and evaluates the rhetorical strategies (elements of the rhetorical situation and rhetorical appeals – see above) that make the argument effective or not. Be certain to provide specific examples from the text for each strategy you discuss and focus on those strategies that are most important to the text you are analyzing. Your essay should follow a logical organization plan that your reader can easily follow.

Go beyond restating your thesis; comment on the effect or significance of the entire essay. Make a statement about how important rhetorical strategies are in determining the effectiveness of an argument or text.

Analyzing Visual Arguments

The same rhetorical elements and appeals used to analyze written texts also apply to visual arguments. Additionally, analyzing a visual text requires an understanding of how design elements work together to create certain persuasive effects (or not). Consider how elements such as image selection, color, use of space, graphics, layout, or typeface influence an audience’s reaction to the argument that the visual was designed to convey.

This material was developed by the KSU Writing Center and is licensed under a  Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License . All materials created by the KSU Writing Center are free to use and can be adopted, remixed, and shared at will as long as the materials are attributed. Please keep this information on materials you adapt or adopt for attribution purposes. 

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2 Rhetorical Analysis

Elizabeth Browning

For many people, particularly those in the media, the term “rhetoric ” has a largely negative connotation.  A political commentator, for example, may say that a politician is using “empty rhetoric” or that what that politician says is “just a bunch of rhetoric.”  What the commentator means is that the politician’s words are lacking substance, that the purpose of those words is more about manipulation rather than meaningfulness.  However, this flawed definition, though quite common these days, does not offer the entire picture or full understanding of a concept that is more about clearly expressing substance and meaning rather than avoiding them.

This chapter will clarify what rhetorical analysis means and will help you identify the basic elements of rhetorical analysis through explanation and example .

1.       What is rhetorical analysis?

2.       What is rhetorical situation?

3.       What are the basic elements of rhetorical analysis?

3.1 The appeal to ethos.

3.2 The appeal the pathos.

3.3 The appeal to logos.

3.4 The appeal to kairos.

4.       Striking a balance? 

1. What is rhetorical analysis?

Simply defined, rhetoric is the art or method of communicating effectively to an audience, usually with the intention to persuade; thus, rhetorical analysis means analyzing how effectively a writer or speaker communicates her message or argument to the audience.

The ancient Greeks, namely Aristotle, developed rhetoric into an art form, which explains why much of the terminology that we use for rhetoric comes from Greek.  The three major parts of effective communication, also called the Rhetorical Triangle , are ethos , patho s, and logos , and they provide the foundation for a solid argument. As a reader and a listener, you must be able to recognize how writers and speakers depend upon these three rhetorical elements in their efforts to communicate. As a communicator yourself, you will benefit from the ability to see how others rely upon ethos, pathos, and logos so that you can apply what you learn from your observations to your own speaking and writing.

Rhetorical analysis can evaluate and analyze any type of communicator, whether that be a speaker, an artist, an advertiser, or a writer, but to simplify the language in this chapter, the term “writer” will represent the role of the communicator.

2. What is a rhetorical situation?

Essentially, understanding a rhetorical situation means understanding the context of that situation.  A rhetorical situation comprises a handful of key elements, which should be identified before attempting to analyze and evaluate the use of rhetorical appeals.  These elements consist of the communicator in the situation (such as the writer), the issue at hand (the topic or problem being addressed), the purpose for addressing the issue, the medium of delivery (e.g.–speech, written text, a commercial), and the audience being addressed.

Answering the following questions will help you identify a rhetorical situation :

• Who is the communicator or writer?
• What is the main argument that the writer is making?
• To provoke, to attack, or to defend?
• To push toward or dissuade from certain action?
• To praise or to blame?
• To teach, to delight, or to persuade?
• What is the structure of the communication; how is it arranged?
• What oral or literary genre is it?
• What figures of speech (schemes and tropes) are used?
• What kind of style and tone is used and for what purpose?
• Does the form complement the content?
• What effect could the form have, and does this aid or hinder the author’s intention?
• Who is the intended audience?
• What values does the audience hold that the author or speaker appeals to?
• Who have been or might be secondary audiences?
• If this is a work of fiction, what is the nature of the audience within the fiction?

Figure 2.1 A Balanced Argument

3. What are the basic elements of rhetorical analysis?

3.1 the appeal to ethos.

Literally translated, ethos means “character.”  In this case, it refers to the character of the writer or speaker, or more specifically, his credibility.  The writer needs to establish credibility so that the audience will trust him and, thus, be more willing to engage with the argument.  If a writer fails to establish a sufficient ethical appeal , then the audience will not take the writer’s argument seriously.

For example, if someone writes an article that is published in an academic journal, in a reputable newspaper or magazine, or on a credible website, those places of publication already imply a certain level of credibility.  If the article is about a scientific issue and the writer is a scientist or has certain academic or professional credentials that relate to the article’s subject, that also will lend credibility to the writer. Finally, if that writer shows that he is knowledgeable about the subject by providing clear explanations of points and by presenting information in an honest and straightforward way that also helps to establish a writer’s credibility.

When evaluating a writer’s ethical appeal , ask the following questions:

Does the writer come across as reliable?

• Viewpoint is logically consistent throughout the text
• Does not use hyperbolic (exaggerated) language
• Has an even, objective tone (not malicious but also not sycophantic)
• Does not come across as subversive or manipulative

Does the writer come across as authoritative and knowledgeable?

• Explains concepts and ideas thoroughly
• Addresses any counter-arguments and successfully rebuts them
• Uses a sufficient number of relevant sources
• Shows an understanding of sources used

What kind of credentials or experience does the writer have?

• Look at byline or biographical info
• Identify any personal or professional experience mentioned in the text
• Where has this writer’s text been published?

Recognizing a Manipulative Appeal to Ethos:

In a perfect world, everyone would tell the truth, and we could depend upon the credibility of speakers and authors. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. You would expect that news reporters would be objective and tell news stories based upon the facts; however, Janet Cooke, Stephen Glass, Jayson Blair, and Brian Williams all lost their jobs for plagiarizing or fabricating part of their news stories. Janet Cooke’s Pulitzer Prize was revoked after it was discovered that she made up “Jimmy,” an eight-year old heroin addict ( Prince, 2010 ). Brian Williams was fired as anchor of the NBC Nightly News for exaggerating his role in the Iraq War.

Others have become infamous for claiming academic degrees that they didn’t earn as in the case of Marilee Jones. At the time of discovery, she was Dean of Admissions at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). After 28 years of employment, it was determined that she never graduated from college ( Lewin, 2007 ). However, on her website    (http://www.marileejones.com/blog/) she is still promoting herself as “a sought after speaker, consultant and author” and “one of the nation’s most experienced College Admissions Deans.”

Beyond lying about their own credentials, authors may employ a number of tricks or fallacies to lure you to their point of view. Some of the more common techniques are described in the next chapter . When you recognize these fallacies, you should question the credibility of the speaker and the legitimacy of the argument. If you use these when making your own arguments, be aware that they may undermine or even destroy your credibility.

Exercise 1: Analyzing Ethos

Choose an article from the links provided below.  Preview your chosen text, and then read through it, paying special attention to how the writer tries to establish an ethical appeal.  Once you have finished reading, use the bullet points above to guide you in analyzing how effective the writer’s appeal to ethos is.

“Why cancer is not a war, fight, or battle ” by Xeni Jordan (https://tinyurl.com/y7m7bnnm)

“Relax and Let Your Kids Indulge in TV” by Lisa Pryor (https://tinyurl.com/y88epytu)

“Why are we OK with disability drag in Hollywood?” by Danny Woodburn and Jay Ruderman (https://tinyurl.com/y964525k)

3.2 The appeal to pathos

Literally translated, pathos means “suffering.”  In this case, it refers to emotion, or more specifically, the writer’s appeal to the audience’s emotions.  When a writer establishes an effective pathetic appeal , she makes the audience care about what she is saying.  If the audience does not care about the message, then they will not engage with the argument being made.

For example, consider this: A writer is crafting a speech for a politician who is running for office, and in it, the writer raises a point about Social Security benefits.  In order to make this point more appealing to the audience so that they will feel more emotionally connected to what the politician says, the writer inserts a story about Mary, an 80-year-old widow who relies on her Social Security benefits to supplement her income.  While visiting Mary the other day, sitting at her kitchen table and eating a piece of her delicious homemade apple pie, the writer recounts how the politician held Mary’s delicate hand and promised that her benefits would be safe if he were elected.  Ideally, the writer wants the audience to feel sympathy or compassion for Mary because then they will feel more open to considering the politician’s views on Social Security (and maybe even other issues).

When evaluating a writer’s pathetic appeal , ask the following questions:

Does the writer try to engage or connect with the audience by making the subject matter relatable in some way?

• Does the writer have an interesting writing style?
• Does the writer use humor at any point?
• Does the writer use narration , such as storytelling or anecdotes, to add interest or to help humanize a certain issue within the text?
• Does the writer use descriptive or attention-grabbing details?
• Are there hypothetical examples that help the audience to imagine themselves in certain scenarios?
•  Does the writer use any other examples in the text that might emotionally appeal to the audience?
• Are there any visual appeals to pathos, such as photographs or illustrations?

Recognizing a Manipulative Appeal to Pathos:

Up to a certain point, an appeal to pathos can be a legitimate part of an argument. For example, a writer or speaker may begin with an anecdote showing the effect of a law on an individual. This anecdote is a way to gain an audience’s attention for an argument in which evidence and reason are used to present a case as to why the law should or should not be repealed or amended. In such a context, engaging the emotions, values, or beliefs of the audience is a legitimate and effective tool that makes the argument stronger.

An appropriate appeal to pathos is different from trying to unfairly play upon the audience’s feelings and emotions through fallacious, misleading, or excessively emotional appeals. Such a manipulative use of pathos may alienate the audience or cause them to “tune out.” An example would be the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) commercials  (https://youtu.be/6eXfvRcllV8, transcript  here ) featuring the song “In the Arms of an Angel” and footage of abused animals. Even Sarah McLachlan, the singer and spokesperson featured in the commercials, admits that she changes the channel because they are too depressing (Brekke).

Even if an appeal to pathos is not manipulative, such an appeal should complement rather than replace reason and evidence-based argument. In addition to making use of pathos, the author must establish her credibility ( ethos ) and must supply reasons and evidence ( logos ) in support of her position. An author who essentially replaces logos and ethos with pathos alone does not present a strong argument.

Exercise 2: Analyzing Pathos

In the movie Braveheart , the Scottish military leader, William Wallace, played by Mel Gibson, gives a speech to his troops just before they get ready to go into battle against the English army of King Edward I.

See clip here  (https://youtu.be/h2vW-rr9ibE, transcript here ). See clip with closed captioning here .

Step 1 : When you watch the movie clip, try to gauge the general emotional atmosphere.  Do the men seem calm or nervous? Confident or skeptical? Are they eager to go into battle, or are they ready to retreat?  Assessing the situation from the start will make it easier to answer more specific, probing rhetorical questions after watching it.

Step 2 : Consider these questions:

• What issues does Wallace address?
• Who is his audience?
• How does the audience view the issues at hand?

Step 3 : Next, analyze Wallace’s use of pathos in his speech.

• How does he try to connect with his audience emotionally?  Because this is a speech, and he’s appealing to the audience in person, consider his overall look as well as what he says.
• How would you describe his manner or attitude?
• Does he use any humor, and if so, to what effect?
• How would you describe his tone?
• Identify some examples of language that show an appeal to pathos: words, phrases, imagery, collective pronouns (we, us, our).
• How do all of these factors help him establish a pathetic appeal?

Step 4 : Once you’ve identified the various ways that Wallace tries to establish his appeal to pathos, the final step is to evaluate the effectiveness of that appeal.

• Do you think he has successfully established a pathetic appeal?  Why or why not?
• What does he do well in establishing pathos?
• What could he improve, or what could he do differently to make his pathetic appeal even stronger?

3.3 The appeal to logos

Literally translated, logos means “word.”  In this case, it refers to information, or more specifically, the writer’s appeal to logic and reason. A successful logical appeal provides clearly organized information as well as evidence to support the overall argument.  If one fails to establish a logical appeal, then the argument will lack both sense and substance.

For example, refer to the previous example of the politician’s speech writer to understand the importance of having a solid logical appeal.  What if the writer had only included the story about 80-year-old Mary without providing any statistics, data, or concrete plans for how the politician proposed to protect Social Security benefits? Without any factual evidence for the proposed plan, the audience would not have been as likely to accept his proposal, and rightly so.

When evaluating a writer’s logical appeal , ask the following questions:

Does the writer organize his information clearly?

• Choose the link for examples of common transitions   (https://tinyurl.com/oftaj5g).
• Ideas have a clear and purposeful order

Does the writer provide evidence to back his claims?

• Specific examples
• Relevant source material

Does the writer use sources and data to back his claims rather than base the argument purely on emotion or opinion?

• Does the writer use concrete facts and figures, statistics, dates/times, specific names/titles, graphs/charts/tables?
• Are the sources that the writer uses credible?
• Where do the sources come from? (Who wrote/published them?)
• When were the sources published?
• Are the sources well-known, respected, and/or peer-reviewed (if applicable) publications?

Recognizing a Manipulative Appeal to Logos:

Pay particular attention to numbers, statistics, findings, and quotes used to support an argument. Be critical of the source and do your own investigation of the facts. Remember: What initially looks like a fact may not actually be one.  Maybe you’ve heard or read that half of all marriages in America will end in divorce. It is so often discussed that we assume it must be true. Careful research will show that the original marriage study was flawed, and divorce rates in America have steadily declined since 1985 (Peck, 1993). If there is no scientific evidence, why do we continue to believe it? Part of the reason might be that it supports the common worry of the dissolution of the American family.

Fallacies that misuse appeals to logos or attempt to manipulate the logic of an argument are discussed in the next chapter .

Exercise 3: Analyzing Logos

The debate about whether college athletes, namely male football and basketball players, should be paid salaries instead of awarded scholarships is one that regularly comes up when these players are in the throes of their respective athletic seasons, whether that’s football bowl games or March Madness.  While proponents on each side of this issue have solid reasons, you are going to look at an article that is against the idea of college athletes being paid.

Take note : Your aim in this rhetorical exercise is not to figure out where you stand on this issue; rather, your aim is to evaluate how effectively the writer establishes a logical appeal to support his position, whether you agree with him or not.

See the article here   (https://time.com/5558498/ncaa-march-madness-pay-athletes/).

Step 1 : Before reading the article, take a minute to preview the text, a critical reading skill explained in Chapter 1 .

Step 2 : Once you have a general idea of the article, read through it and pay attention to how the author organizes information and uses evidence, annotating or marking these instances when you see them.

Step 3 : After reviewing your annotations, evaluate the organization of the article as well as the amount and types of evidence that you have identified by answering the following questions:

• Does the writer use transitions to link ideas?
• Do ideas in the article have a clear sense of order, or do they appear scattered and unfocused?
• Was there too little of it, was there just enough, or was there an overload of evidence?
• Were the examples of evidence relevant to the writer’s argument?
• Were the examples clearly explained?
• Were sources cited or clearly referenced?
• Were the sources credible?  How could you tell?

3.4 The Appeal to Kairos

Literally translated, Kairos means the “supreme moment.”  In this case, it refers to appropriate timing, meaning when the writer presents certain parts of her argument as well as the overall timing of the subject matter itself.  While not technically part of the Rhetorical Triangle, it is still an important principle for constructing an effective argument. If the writer fails to establish a strong Kairotic appeal , then the audience may become polarized, hostile, or may simply just lose interest.

If appropriate timing is not taken into consideration and a writer introduces a sensitive or important point too early or too late in a text, the impact of that point could be lost on the audience.  For example, if the writer’s audience is strongly opposed to her view, and she begins the argument with a forceful thesis of why she is right and the opposition is wrong, how do you think that audience might respond?

In this instance, the writer may have just lost the ability to make any further appeals to her audience in two ways: first, by polarizing them, and second, by possibly elevating what was at first merely strong opposition to what would now be hostile opposition.  A polarized or hostile audience will not be inclined to listen to the writer’s argument with an open mind or even to listen at all.  On the other hand, the writer could have established a stronger appeal to Kairos by building up to that forceful thesis, maybe by providing some neutral points such as background information or by addressing some of the opposition’s views, rather than leading with why she is right and the audience is wrong.

Additionally, if a writer covers a topic or puts forth an argument about a subject that is currently a non-issue or has no relevance for the audience, then the audience will fail to engage because whatever the writer’s message happens to be, it won’t matter to anyone.  For example, if a writer were to put forth the argument that women in the United States should have the right to vote, no one would care; that is a non-issue because women in the United States already have that right.

When evaluating a writer’s Kairotic appeal , ask the following questions:

• Where does the writer establish her thesis of the argument in the text?  Is it near the beginning, the middle, or the end?  Is this placement of the thesis effective?  Why or why not?
• Where in the text does the writer provide her strongest points of evidence? Does that location provide the most impact for those points?
• Is the issue that the writer raises relevant at this time, or is it something no one really cares about anymore or needs to know about anymore?

Exercise 4: Analyzing Kairos

In this exercise, you will analyze a visual representation of the appeal to Kairos. On the 26 th of February 2015, a photo of a dress was posted to Twitter along with a question as to whether people thought it was one combination of colors versus another. Internet chaos ensued on social media because while some people saw the dress as black and blue, others saw it as white and gold. As the color debate surrounding the dress raged on, an ad agency in South Africa saw an opportunity to raise awareness about a far more serious subject: domestic abuse.

Step 1 : Read this article   (https://tinyurl.com/yctl8o5g)   from CNN about how and why the photo of the dress went viral so that you will be better informed for the next step in this exercise:

Step 2 : Watch the video   (https://youtu.be/SLv0ZRPssTI, transcript here )from CNN that explains how, in partnership with The Salvation Army, the South African marketing agency created an ad that went viral.

Step 3 : After watching the video, answer the following questions:

• Once the photo of the dress went viral, approximately how long after did the Salvation Army’s ad appear? Look at the dates on both the article and the video to get an idea of a time frame.
• How does the ad take advantage of the publicity surrounding the dress?
• Would the ad’s overall effectiveness change if it had come out later than it did?
• How late would have been too late to make an impact? Why?

4. Striking a Balance:

Figure 2.3 An Unbalanced Argument

The foundations of rhetoric are interconnected in such a way that a writer needs to establish all of the rhetorical appeals to put forth an effective argument.  If a writer lacks a pathetic appeal and only tries to establish a logical appeal, the audience will be unable to connect emotionally with the writer and, therefore, will care less about the overall argument.  Likewise, if a writer lacks a logical appeal and tries to rely solely on subjective or emotionally driven examples, then the audience will not take the writer seriously because an argument based purely on opinion and emotion cannot hold up without facts and evidence to support it.  If a writer lacks either the pathetic or logical appeal, not to mention the kairotic appeal, then the writer’s ethical appeal will suffer.  All of the appeals must be sufficiently established for a writer to communicate effectively with his audience.

For a visual example, watch  (https://tinyurl.com/yct5zryn, transcript here ) violinist Joshua Bell show how the rhetorical situation determines the effectiveness of all types of communication, even music.

Exercise 5: Rhetorical Analysis

Step 1 : Choose one of the articles linked below.

Step 2 : Preview your chosen text, and then read and annotate it.

Step 3 : Next, using the information and steps outlined in this chapter, identify the rhetorical situation in the text based off of the following components: the communicator, the issue at hand, the purpose, the medium of delivery, and the intended audience.

Step 4 : Then, identify and analyze how the writer tries to establish the rhetorical appeals of ethos, pathos, logos, and Kairos throughout that text.

Step 5 : Finally, evaluate how effectively you think the writer establishes the rhetorical appeals, and defend your evaluation by noting specific examples that you’ve annotated.

BBC News , “ Taylor Swift Sexual Assault Case: Why is it significant ? ” (https://tinyurl.com/ybopmmdu)

NPR , “ Does Cash Aid Help the Poor–Or Encourage Laziness ? ”  (https://tinyurl.com/y8ho2fhw)

Key Takeaways

Understanding the Rhetorical Situation:

• Identify who the communicator is.
• Identify the issue at hand.
• Identify the communicator’s purpose.
• Identify the medium or method of communication.
• Identify who the audience is.

Identifying the Rhetorical Appeals:

• Ethos = the writer’s credibility
• Pathos = the writer’s emotional appeal to the audience
• Logos = the writer’s logical appeal to the audience
• Kairos = appropriate and relevant timing of subject matter
• In sum, effective communication is based on an understanding of the rhetorical situation and on a balance of the rhetorical appeals.

CC Licensed Content, Shared Previously

English Composition I , Lumen Learning, CC-BY 4.0.

English Composition II , Lumen Learning, CC-BY 4.0.

Image Credits

Figure 2.1 “A Balanced Argument,” Kalyca Schultz, Virginia Western Community College, CC-0.

Figure 2.2, “ Brian Williams at the 2011 Time 100 Gala ,” David Shankbone,  Wikimedia, CC-BY 3.0.

Figure 2.3 “An Unbalanced Argument,” Kalyca Schultz, Virginia Western Community College, CC-0.

Brekke, Kira. “ Sarah McLachlan: ‘I Change The Channel’ When My ASPCA Commercials Come On .” Huffington Post . 5 May 2014.

Lewin, Tamar. “ Dean at M.I.T. Resigns, Ending a 28-Year Lie .” New York Times . 27 April 2007, p. A1,

Peck, Dennis, L. “The Fifty Percent Divorce Rate: Deconstructing a Myth.” The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare . Vol. 20, no.3, 1993, pp. 135-144.

Prince, Richard. “ Janet Cooke’s Hoax Still Resonates After 30 Years .” The Root . October 2010.

Rhetorical Analysis Copyright © 2021 by Elizabeth Browning is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Rhetorical Analysis Definition and Examples

The analysis can be used on any communication, even a bumper sticker

• An Introduction to Punctuation

Sample Rhetorical Analyses

Examples and observations, analyzing effects, analyzing greeting card verse, analyzing starbucks, rhetorical analysis vs. literary criticism.

• Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
• M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
• B.A., English, State University of New York

Rhetorical analysis is a form of criticism or close reading that employs the principles of rhetoric to examine the interactions between a text, an author, and an audience . It's also called rhetorical criticism or pragmatic criticism.

Rhetorical analysis may be applied to virtually any text or image—a speech , an essay , an advertisement, a poem, a photograph, a web page, even a bumper sticker. When applied to a literary work, rhetorical analysis regards the work not as an aesthetic object but as an artistically structured instrument for communication. As Edward P.J. Corbett has observed, rhetorical analysis "is more interested in a literary work for what it does than for what it is."

• A Rhetorical Analysis of Claude McKay's "Africa"
• A Rhetorical Analysis of E.B. White's "The Ring of Time"
• A Rhetorical Analysis of U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday"
• "Our response to the character of the author—whether it is called ethos, or 'implied author,' or style , or even tone—is part of our experience of his work, an experience of the voice within the masks, personae , of the work...Rhetorical criticism intensifies our sense of the dynamic relationships between the author as a real person and the more or less fictive person implied by the work." (Thomas O. Sloan, "Restoration of Rhetoric to Literary Study." The Speech Teacher )
• "[R]hetorical criticism is a mode of analysis that focuses on the text itself. In that respect, it is like the practical criticism that the New Critics and the Chicago School indulge in. It is unlike these modes of criticism in that it does not remain inside the literary work but works outward from the text to considerations of the author and the audience...In talking about the ethical appeal in his 'Rhetoric,' Aristotle made the point that although a speaker may come before an audience with a certain antecedent reputation, his ethical appeal is exerted primarily by what he says in that particular speech before that particular audience. Likewise, in rhetorical criticism, we gain our impression of the author from what we can glean from the text itself—from looking at such things as his ideas and attitudes, his stance, his tone, his style. This reading back to the author is not the same sort of thing as the attempt to reconstruct the biography of a writer from his literary work. Rhetorical criticism seeks simply to ascertain the particular posture or image that the author is establishing in this particular work in order to produce a particular effect on a particular audience." (Edward P.J. Corbett, "Introduction" to " Rhetorical Analyses of Literary Works ")

"[A] complete   rhetorical analysis requires the researcher to move beyond identifying and labeling in that creating an inventory of the parts of a text represents only the starting point of the analyst's work. From the earliest examples of rhetorical analysis to the present, this analytical work has involved the analyst in interpreting the meaning of these textual components—both in isolation and in combination—for the person (or people) experiencing the text. This highly interpretive aspect of rhetorical analysis requires the analyst to address the effects of the different identified textual elements on the perception of the person experiencing the text. So, for example, the analyst might say that the presence of feature x will condition the reception of the text in a particular way. Most texts, of course, include multiple features, so this analytical work involves addressing the cumulative effects of the selected combination of features in the text." (Mark Zachry, "Rhetorical Analysis" from " The Handbook of Business Discourse , " Francesca Bargiela-Chiappini, editor)

"Perhaps the most pervasive type of repeated-word sentence used in greeting card verse is the sentence in which a word or group of words is repeated anywhere within the sentence, as in the following example:

In quiet and thoughtful ways , in happy and fun ways , all ways , and always , I love you.

In this sentence, the word ways is repeated at the end of two successive phrases, picked up again at the beginning of the next phrase, and then repeated as part of the word always . Similarly, the root word all initially appears in the phrase 'all ways' and is then repeated in a slightly different form in the homophonic word always . The movement is from the particular ('quiet and thoughtful ways,' 'happy and fun ways'), to the general ('all ways'), to the hyperbolic ('always')." (Frank D'Angelo, "The Rhetoric of Sentimental Greeting Card Verse." Rhetoric Review )

"Starbucks not just as an institution or as a set of verbal discourses or even advertising but as a material and physical site is deeply rhetorical...Starbucks weaves us directly into the cultural conditions of which it is constitutive. The color of the logo, the performative practices of ordering, making, and drinking the coffee, the conversations around the tables, and the whole host of other materialities and performances of/in Starbucks are at once the rhetorical claims and the enactment of the rhetorical action urged. In short, Starbucks draws together the tripartite relationships among place, body, and subjectivity. As a material/rhetorical place, Starbucks addresses and is the very site of a comforting and discomforting negotiation of these relationships." (Greg Dickinson, "Joe's Rhetoric: Finding Authenticity at Starbucks." Rhetoric Society Quarterly )

"What essentially are the differences between literary criticism analysis and rhetorical analysis? When a critic explicates Ezra Pound's Canto XLV , for example, and shows how Pound inveighs against usury as an offense against nature that corrupts society and the arts, the critic must point out the 'evidence'—the 'artistic proofs' of example and enthymeme [a formal syllogistic argument that is incompletely stated}—that Pound has drawn upon for his fulmination. The critic will also call attention to the 'arrangement' of the parts of that argument as a feature of the 'form' of the poem just as he may inquire into the language and syntax. Again these are matters that Aristotle assigned mainly to rhetoric...

"All critical essays dealing with the persona of a literary work are in reality studies of the 'Ethos' of the 'speaker' or 'narrator'—the voice—source of the rhythmic language which attracts and holds the kind of readers the poet desires as his audience, and the means this persona consciously or unconsciously chooses, in Kenneth Burke's term, to 'woo' that reader-audience." (Alexander Scharbach, "Rhetoric and Literary Criticism: Why Their Separation." College Composition and Communication )

• Definition and Examples of Explication (Analysis)
• Audience Analysis in Speech and Composition
• Definition and Examples of Ethos in Classical Rhetoric
• Stylistics and Elements of Style in Literature
• A Rhetorical Analysis of U2's 'Sunday Bloody Sunday'
• Definition of Belles-Lettres in English Grammer
• Invented Ethos (Rhetoric)
• What is a Rhetorical Situation?
• Definition of Audience
• Rhetoric: Definitions and Observations
• Critical Analysis in Composition
• Definition and Examples of the Topoi in Rhetoric
• What Is the Second Persona?
• What Is Phronesis?
• Feminist Literary Criticism
• Quotes About Close Reading

Chapter 6: Thinking and Analyzing Rhetorically

6.4 Rhetorical Appeals: Logos, Pathos, and Ethos Defined

Melanie Gagich & Emilie Zickel

Rhetoric, as the previous chapters have discussed, is the way that authors use and manipulate language in order to persuade an audience. Once we understand the rhetorical situation out of which a text is created (why it was written, for whom it was written, by whom it was written, how the medium in which it was written creates certain constraints, or perhaps freedoms of expression), we can look at how all of those contextual elements shape the author’s creation of the text.

We can look first at the classical rhetorical appeals, which are the three ways to classify authors’ intellectual, moral, and emotional approaches to getting the audience to have the reaction that the author hopes for.

Rhetorical Appeals

Rhetorical appeals refer to ethos, pathos, and logos. These are classical Greek terms, dating back to Aristotle, who is traditionally seen as the father of rhetoric. To be rhetorically effective (and thus persuasive), an author must engage the audience in a variety of compelling ways, which involves carefully choosing how to craft his or her argument so that the outcome, audience agreement with the argument or point, is achieved. Aristotle defined these modes of engagement and gave them the terms that we still use today: logos, pathos, and ethos.

Logos: Appeal to Logic

Logic. Reason. Rationality. Logos is brainy and intellectual, cool, calm, collected, objective.

When an author relies on logos, it means that he or she is using logic, careful structure, and objective evidence to appeal to the audience. An author can appeal to an audience’s intellect by using information that can be fact checked (using multiple sources) and thorough explanations to support key points. Additionally, providing a solid and non-biased explanation of one’s argument is a great way for an author to invoke logos.

For example, if I were trying to convince my students to complete their homework, I might explain that I understand everyone is busy and they have other classes (non-biased), but the homework will help them get a better grade on their test (explanation). I could add to this explanation by providing statistics showing the number of students who failed and didn’t complete their homework versus the number of students who passed and did complete their homework (factual evidence).

Logical appeals rest on rational modes of thinking , such as

• Comparison –  a comparison between one thing (with regard to your topic) and another, similar thing to help support your claim. It is important that the comparison is fair and valid – the things being compared must share significant traits of similarity.
• Cause/effect thinking –  you argue that X has caused Y, or that X is likely to cause Y to help support your claim. Be careful with the latter – it can be difficult to predict that something “will” happen in the future.
• Deductive reasoning –  starting with a broad, general claim/example and using it to support a more specific point or claim
• Inductive reasoning –  using several specific examples or cases to make a broad generalization
• Exemplification –  use of many examples or a variety of evidence to support a single point
• Elaboration – moving beyond just including a fact, but explaining the significance or relevance of that fact
• Coherent thought – maintaining a well organized line of reasoning; not repeating ideas or jumping around

Pathos: Appeal to Emotions

When an author relies on pathos, it means that he or she is trying to tap into the audience’s emotions to get them to agree with the author’s claim. An author using pathetic appeals wants the audience to feel something: anger, pride, joy, rage, or happiness.  For example, many of us have seen the ASPCA commercials that use photographs of injured puppies, or sad-looking kittens, and slow, depressing music to emotionally persuade their audience to donate money.

Pathos-based rhetorical strategies are any strategies that get the audience to “open up” to the topic, the argument, or to the author. Emotions can make us vulnerable, and an author can use this vulnerability to get the audience to believe that his or her argument is a compelling one.

Pathetic appeals might include

• Expressive descriptions of people, places, or events that help the reader to feel or experience those events
• Vivid imagery  of people, places or events that help the reader to feel like he or she is seeing  those events
• Sharing  personal stories that make the reader feel a connection to, or empathy for, the person being described
• Using emotion-laden   vocabulary  as a way to put the reader into that specific emotional mindset (what is the author trying to make the audience feel? and how is he or she doing that?)
• Using any information that will evoke an emotional response from the audience . This could involve making the audience feel empathy or disgust for the person/group/event being discussed, or perhaps connection to or rejection of the person/group/event being discussed.

When reading a text, try to locate when the author is trying to convince the reader using emotions because, if used to excess, pathetic appeals can indicate a lack of substance or emotional manipulation of the audience. See the links below about fallacious pathos for more information.

Ethos: Appeal to Values/Trust

Ethical appeals have two facets: audience values and authorial credibility/character.

On the one hand, when an author makes an ethical appeal, he or she is attempting to  tap into the  values or ideologies that the audience holds , for example, patriotism, tradition, justice, equality, dignity for all humankind, self preservation, or other specific social, religious or philosophical values (Christian values, socialism, capitalism, feminism, etc.). These values can sometimes feel very close to emotions, but they are felt on a social level rather than only on a personal level. When an author evokes the values that the audience cares about as a way to justify or support his or her argument, we classify that as ethos. The audience will feel that the author is making an argument that is “right” (in the sense of moral “right”-ness, i.e., “My argument rests upon that values that matter to you. Therefore, you should accept my argument”). This first part of the definition of ethos, then, is focused on the audience’s values.

On the other hand, this sense of referencing what is “right” in an ethical appeal connects to the other sense of ethos: the  author. Ethos that is centered on the author revolves around two concepts: the credibility of the author and his or her character.

Credibility of the speaker/author is determined by his or her knowledge and expertise in the subject at hand. For example, if you are learning about Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, would you rather learn from a professor of physics or a cousin who took two science classes in high school thirty years ago? It is fair to say that, in general, the professor of physics would have more credibility to discuss the topic of physics. To establish his or her credibility, a n author may draw attention to who he or she is or what kinds of experience he or she has with the topic being discussed as an ethical appeal (i.e., “Because I have experience with this topic –  and I know my stuff! – you should trust what I am saying about this topic”). Some authors do not have to establish their credibility because the audience already knows who they are and that they are credible.

Character  is another aspect of ethos, and it   is different from credibility because it involves personal history and even personality traits. A person can be credible but lack character or vice versa. For example, in politics, sometimes the most experienced candidates – those who might be the most credible candidates – fail to win elections because voters do not accept their character. Politicians take pains to shape their character as leaders who have the interests of the voters at heart. The candidate who successfully proves to the voters (the audience) that he or she has the type of character that they can trust is more likely to win.

Thus, ethos comes down to trust. How can the author get the audience to trust him or her so that they will accept his or her argument? How can the the author make him or herself appear as a credible speaker who embodies the character traits that the audience values?

In building ethical appeals, we see authors

• Referring either directly or indirectly to the values that matter to the intended audience (so that the audience will trust the speaker)
• Using language, phrasing, imagery, or other writing styles common to people who hold those values, thereby “talking the talk” of people with those values (again, so that the audience is inclined to trust the speaker)
• Referring to their experience and/or authority with the topic (and therefore demonstrating their credibility)
• Referring to their own character, or making an effort to build their character in the text

When reading, you should always think about the author’s credibility regarding the subject as well as his or her character. Here is an example of a rhetorical move that connects with ethos: when reading an article about abortion, the author mentions that she has had an abortion. That is an example of an ethical move because the author is creating credibility via anecdotal evidence and first person narrative. In a rhetorical analysis project, it would be up to you, the analyzer, to point out this move and associate it with a rhetorical strategy.

 When writers misuse Logos, Pathos, or Ethos, arguments can be weakened

Above, we defined and described what logos, pathos, and ethos are and why authors may use those strategies. Sometimes, using a combination of logical, pathetic, and ethical appeals leads to a sound, balanced, and persuasive argument. It is important to understand, though, that using rhetorical appeals does not always lead to a sound, balanced argument.

In fact, any of the appeals could be misused or overused. When that happens, arguments can be weakened.

To see what a misuse of logical appeals might consist of, see the next chapter,   Logical Fallacies.

To see how authors can overuse emotional appeals and turn-off their target audience, visit the following link from WritingCommons.org :   Fallacious Pathos . 

To see how ethos can be misused or used in a manner that may be misleading, visit the following link to WritingCommons.org :  Fallacious Ethos

A Guide to Rhetoric, Genre, and Success in First-Year Writing by Melanie Gagich & Emilie Zickel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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9.3 Glance at Genre: Rhetorical Strategies

Learning outcomes.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Identify key rhetorical strategies that authors use to persuade readers.
• Analyze texts to demonstrate understanding of key rhetorical concepts.
• Identify genre conventions and explain how they are shaped by purpose, culture, and expectation.

Rhetorical analysis is the genre , or type of writing, that examines the way writers and speakers use language to influence readers. Rather than describing or summarizing content—the what of characters or themes—rhetorical analysis focuses on the individual parts of a text to show how language works to create the effects the writer wants. In other words, in addition to content, writers use rhetorical strategies to deliver and strengthen their ideas and thus influence their readers. A rhetorical analysis should, therefore, address the rhetorical situation , or conditions of communication that surround the rhetoric. These consist of the author (who), message (what), readers (to whom), purpose (why), means (how), context (where and when), and culture (community).

Culture refers to the way of life that a defined group of people establish. Their beliefs, laws, customs, and habits represent them as a group and may provide a signature to identify who they are and what they have accomplished. Rhetorical analysis must take these factors into full consideration, especially because cultural patterns are constantly changing and evolving with new knowledge and behaviors. Moreover, culture will vary greatly from group to group. Subgroups within a larger culture—for example, minorities within a majority population—may have distinct expressions of culture. When rhetorical analysis approaches language of a particular culture, questions may arise about who is best equipped to do the analysis and on what criteria, based on time and place.

Writers of rhetorical analyses consider these elements carefully and ask questions based on them. What are the goals of the author of the text? What factors are at play in the author’s choice of strategies used to make a rhetorical impact? What may occur in the interaction between the writer and reader? Will readers approach the piece neutrally, with no previous opinions? Are they likely to agree because they are of the same opinion, or are they hostile and ready to reject the arguments? Have they heard or read the ideas before? Will the ideas be too radical or too familiar? Are readers likely to see the author as sharing the field with them or as a stranger who must win their confidence?

The Workings of Rhetorical Analysis

The aim of rhetorical analysis is not to find agreement with or praise for the writer, although either may be implied or stated. The essential task of analyzing requires a detachment that will convince the readers of the validity and effectiveness (or lack thereof) of the writing by identifying the writer’s tools and what they accomplish.

As you formulate your rhetorical analysis, be aware of the following approaches and strategies that writers use to persuade an audience. Your goal will be to identify them in your analysis, explain their use, and evaluate their effectiveness.

• Establishing credibility. Writers include their credentials or experience with the subject to ensure that readers will take them seriously as someone who knows what they’re talking about. To reinforce their authority, they cite reliable sources as support for their points.
• Sharing personal experience. Sharing a personal experience related to the subject enhances credibility and may also appeal to readers’ emotions.
• Targeting emotional concerns. By specifically addressing those incidents or outcomes that readers may fear or desire, the author can rally them to take a particular position. Emotional concerns also include appeals to the five senses and to broader sentiments such as love, loyalty, anger, justice, or patriotism.
• Using devices that draw attention to claims. These include literary devices such as parallelism, repetition, and rhetorical questions that writers and speakers use to emphasize points and unify a text.
• Supporting claims with convincing evidence. Ways of supporting claims include quoting, summarizing, or paraphrasing expert opinions; relating anecdotes and examples; and citing appropriate statistics and facts.
• Acknowledging the opposition. If a writer makes a point of explaining other groups’ positions carefully and respectfully, readers from those groups, as well as the target audience, are more likely to be responsive to the writer. By acknowledging the opposition, writers show they have considered opposing views and can then demonstrate that their position is preferable.
• Questioning the motivation of the opposition. By exposing others’ possibly conflicting interests, the writer can undermine the credibility of an opponent’s character or argument.

In addition to these, writers may use more questionable rhetorical devices to persuade readers. While the techniques of each strategy differ, all lead away from the actual argument and seek to persuade through means other than reasonable, logical thought. Such strategies include bandwagon, ad hominem (name-calling), bait and switch, and more. Recall the roommates’ use of some of these in their efforts at persuasion in Breaking the Whole into Its Parts .

Rhetorical Strategies in Advertising and Public Policy

The strategies and other devices of rhetorical writing that are open to analysis are present in many types of communication, including multimodal examples such as advertisements that combine visuals with carefully crafted texts, dialogue, and voice-over.

Look at the M&Ms commercial, for example, in this collection of Super Bowl ads. Starting at minute 4:57, the prize-winning ad for M&Ms initially shows the widely recognizable candy in its multiple colors as both speaking cartoon figures and symbols of human behavior. The simple pitch: when people have offended others in one of a range of interpersonal blunders, the candy is offered as a peace offering. For example, the first image shows a man on a plane bumping into another passenger’s seat, causing him to spill his drink. The offender then offers the passenger a package of M&Ms. What is the rhetorical strategy behind the situation and the gesture? The ad appeals to pathos in the sense that people feel the need to be liked. Despite the humorous twist in the comment that he kicked the seat on purpose, the offending man nonetheless doesn’t want to be disliked. Nor do the others who commit other blunders. The sense of taste—sweetness—also comes into play, appealing to the senses, as does the sense of sight in the images of the colorful candy.

Furthermore, placing the ad during the Super Bowl targets an audience of game watchers whose ages, interests, and habits have been studied. They may be in a snacking frame of mind, so the appeal of candy is timely (kairos). The ad combines sophistication, appropriate adult behavior, and childishly amusing animation and personification. Seeing the product makes it more memorable. On the other hand, note the subtle use of the bandwagon fallacy: different people in different situations are doing the same thing—offering M&Ms. The bandwagon implication is that if you do something you’re sorry for or should be sorry for (or even if you don’t), giving out M&Ms is the way to apologize and be likable. Because travelers, businesspeople, the religiously observant, and others from different walks of life are doing it, so should you.

Figure 9.4 is an image from the U.S. Forest Service that also reflects the use of rhetorical strategies. Smokey Bear is a symbol created in 1944 to raise awareness of the danger of forest fires. Images of this gentle, personified bear are often accompanied by the slogan “Remember . . . only you can prevent forest fires” or a variation of it. The image shows Smokey dressed in rolled-up jeans, a name belt, and a ranger’s hat. He is reading letters delivered by a mail truck and sent to his own ZIP code, 20252, from children and adults promising to cooperate with his environmental efforts. The entire image is among the most recognizable of American cultural symbols.

The continuing identification of the bear and his appeal over decades is an example of the powerful use of rhetorical devices that speak without seeming to become dated and lose impact. First, a wild and dangerous animal is personified and made credible so that the credibility (ethos) of Smokey as a domesticated father figure with a fuzzy, playful cub climbing on the family mailbox removes any sense of danger and instead makes him into a believable voice for safety. No humans are emphasized in the illustration; the mail truck is seen only in the distance after having delivered another stack of fan mail. Other small animals are present in the background, as are familiar household items such as a shovel, a mailbox, an American flag, a boat on crystal clear water, and the playful images of the ranger’s hat and rolled-up jeans on crossed legs. The drawing features bright primary colors and the dark forest green of bountiful nature. The print medium in the center of the illustration, the sign reading “Prevent forest fires,” unifies the visual.

Because the images are emotionally accessible to children as well as adults, they appeal to widely shared pathos. The unspoken implication is that preventing forest fires will allow these young animals and forest plants to live rather than die in a carelessly started—and deadly—fire. In addition, it will allow human life to continue safely and pleasurably, as viewers can see, far in the background, people sailing and enjoying the water. If children’s wisdom and receptivity to images are present, this idealized picture has great appeal. Rather than a harsh rebuke for adult negligence, the lesson of Smokey relies on the power of rhetoric to modify behavior with specific, carefully crafted appeals. Yet the most frequently used slogan, “Only you can prevent forest fires,” is an example of hyperbole. Certainly “you” are not the sole person responsible for starting or preventing fires. Other people and other factors are at work aside from yourself.

More explicit, however, is this earlier image:

The rhetorical strategy again is pathos, appealing to a sense of guilt. If these children can help prevent fires, then surely adults can do the same, as they are likely more knowledgeable and care for the safety and health of their children.

Rhetorical Analysis: Key Terms

Rhetorical appeals.

When doing a rhetorical analysis, notice these appeals writers use to persuade their audiences.

• Ethos : believable, authoritative voice that elicits credibility and audience trust.
• Kairos : sense of appropriate timing when attempting to persuade.
• Logos : credible information—facts, reasons, or examples—presented as evidence that moves toward a sensible and acceptable conclusion.
• Pathos : the use of appeals to feelings and emotions shared by an audience. Some of the general categories are fear, guilt, anger, love, loyalty, patriotism, and duty.

Rhetorical Devices and Language Use

When doing a rhetorical analysis, notice these devices writers use to organize and emphasize their writing.

• Figurative language : similes and metaphors. Comparing one aspect of things that in other ways are completely different is an essential part of rhetorical language. Simile example: “The treasure chest of nature’s wonders shone like a pirate’s gold tooth.” Metaphor example: “The pizza was a disk of saucy sunlight.”
• Numerical data : statistics and figures. When accurate, numerical data can strengthen an argument.
• Parallel structure : repetition of the same pattern of words to show that ideas are equally significant. Parallel structure, or parallelism, calls attention to these ideas, achieves balance, and makes the statements more memorable. Example: “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.”
• Personification : giving an inanimate or nonhuman object human characteristics to make it seem alive and relatable. Examples: “The virus packed its bags and spread across the ocean”; “Twitter erupted in outrage.”
• Repetition : repeating a single word or group of words to build emphasis. Example: “The first underline cause end underline is poverty; the second underline cause end underline is poor health; the third underline cause end underline is discrimination. These underline causes end underline have been studied, but to what effect?”
• Rhetorical question : a question that is not expected to be answered, one for which there is no answer, or one that creates a dramatic effect. Examples: “Has it occurred to you to ask why the economy is so unstable? A first point to consider is . . .”; “Do you think poverty will go away by itself?”
• Understatement : presenting something as less important than it is as a way of distancing from the truth. Understatement is often used sarcastically or ironically. Example: “It may not have occurred to politicians that poverty leads to a host of health-related issues.”

Rhetorical Fallacies

When doing a rhetorical analysis, notice these fallacies writers may use to unethically persuade their audiences.

• Ad hominem : logical fallacy that attempts to discredit a person, not an argument. Ad hominem , meaning “against the man,” is often termed name-calling . Examples: “She’s just a leftover from another era who can’t accept change”; “He’s a stupid bully and an outright thief.”
• Bait and switch : logical fallacy that introduces a point about one thing that is likely to be accepted and then changes the terms once initial agreement occurs. Example: “Buy these phones at this price before they’re all gone!” When you go to buy one, moments later, the phones are gone—and they’re far more expensive.
• Bandwagon : logical fallacy often used in advertising and propaganda. It tries to make people do something or think a certain way because everyone is doing it, and if they don’t go along, they will be excluded. Example: “Everyone is buying these sneakers; get yours now before you’re left out.” Negative example: “This style is so dated; no one wears things like this now.”
• Causal fallacy : the faulty logic of claiming or believing that an event that follows another event is the result of it. For example, losing your keys after going to a concert does not mean the events are connected causally; going to the concert did not cause you to lose your keys.
• Hyperbole : exaggeration. Hyperbole is one of the staples of advertising language. Examples: “Season’s Best Peppermint Glazed Delights”; “I have a ton of homework.”

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III. Rhetorical Situation

3.4 What is the Rhetorical Situation?

Robin Jeffrey; Emilie Zickel; Terri Pantuso; Kalani Pattison; and Sarah LeMire

A key component of rhetorical analysis involves thinking carefully about the rhetorical situation of a text. You can think of the rhetorical situation as the context or set of circumstances out of which a text arises. Any time anyone is trying to make an argument, one is doing so out of a particular context, one that influences and shapes the argument that is being made. When we do a rhetorical analysis, we look carefully at how the rhetorical situation (context) shapes the rhetorical act (the text). In addition, when you set down to compose a text, you should consider the various elements of rhetorical situation as they apply to your own work in order to help you make the best rhetorical choices to write and communicate effectively.

We can understand the concept of a rhetorical situation if we examine it piece by piece, by looking carefully at the rhetorical concepts from which it is built. The philosopher Aristotle organized these concepts as purpose, author, setting, text, and audience. Answering the questions about these rhetorical concepts below will give you a good sense of your text’s rhetorical situation – the starting point for rhetorical analysis.

You may have learned about rhetorical situation in previous course work or reading, though the particular aspects addressed may be slightly different. Though these five aspects of rhetorical situation are some of the most traditional in Western discussions of rhetoric, rhetorical situation itself is a little like a pizza — it can be cut into eight slices, six slices, triangles, or squares, but it is still the same pizza. Different discussions of rhetorical situation may use different divisions, and may combine some aspects and split others, but they are all generally referring to the same concepts. For the purposes of this course and textbook, one easy way to remember the 5 parts of rhetorical situation is to think of PASTA:

We will use the example of T-Mobile’s 2023 Super Bowl ad [1] to sift through these questions about the rhetorical situation (context).  The video of this advertisement is included below.

Looking at a text’s purpose means looking at both the occasion or exigence — what motivated the author to write the text in the first place — and the telos — the end goal or what the author hoped to accomplish with the text. Of course, you may not be able to know why an author created a text, but understanding the author’s motivations for creating it may give you insight and understanding.

Purpose is impossible to really understand without taking into account the author, the setting, and the audience and their relations to each other. When an author creates a text, they have decided to start a conversation or join one that is already underway. Why have they decided to join in? In any text, the author may be trying to inform, to convince, to define, to announce, or to activate a debate or discussion. When determining rhetorical purpose, consider the following in regard to the author:

• What is the author hoping to achieve with this text?
• Why did the author decide to join the conversation about the topic?
• What does the author want from their audience? What does the author want the audience to do once the text is communicated?

When you write your own texts, you may be prompted by wide ranging exigencies of needing to fulfill the course requirements, to respond to an email that someone has sent, to complain about a broken product received in the mail, or any number of other specific situations. You may also have multiple  tele  (plural of telos) for a single text. For instance, your text may both have the purpose of receiving a good grade on an assignment and persuading your classmates to see your point of view about a specific topic. Taking a moment to identify your own  telos to yourself will help you stay focused in your construction of your texts.

The exigence or occasion was the need to advertise a new service, home internet, to a broad audience during Super Bowl LVII. The author’s telos in this advertisement was to convince viewers to purchase home internet from T-Mobile.

The author of a text is the creator – the person who is communicating in order to try to effect a change in their audience. An author doesn’t have to be a single person or a person at all – an author could be an organization. To understand the rhetorical situation of a text, one must examine the identity of the author and their background. The relationship between the author and the audience and the relationship between the author and the content are both important to take into consideration.

• What kind of experience or authority does the author have in the subject about which they are speaking?
• What values does the author have, either in general or with regard to this particular subject?
• How invested is the author in the topic of the text? In other words, what affects the author’s perspective on the topic?

When you write your own texts, consider not only who you are as the author and how your identity may shape your text and tone, but also what aspects of your identity you may need to convey to your audience. For instance, if you have personal experience with or some kind of expertise about a topic, do you need to convey that experience or expertise to the audience in order to increase your persuasiveness? What might be the most effective ways of communicating that information? The ways in which you establish your identity as someone who is trustworthy is known as ethos and will be discussed in more depth in another section. In addition, you need to consider your relationship with your intended audience — are you friendly or antagonistic? Is one of you in a supervisory position over the other? Your identity in relation to your audience will affect what types of evidence are most persuasive and the tone you choose among other things.

Example of Author Analysis for the Rhetorical Situation (T-Mobile Advertisement)

The author of this advertisement is T-Mobile’s marketing firm.  T-Mobile is a well known international provider of cellular phone services, though at the time that this advertisement first aired, it was not well known as a provider of home internet.

Nothing happens in a vacuum, and that includes the creation of any text. Essays, speeches, photos, political ads – any texts – are written in a specific time and/or place, all of which can affect the way the text communicates its message. One way to think about setting is to examine both place and time (both Chronos — actual linear time– and Kairos — timeliness). Looking at Setting can also overlap with Purpose and the occasion or exigence of a text.

Looking at the Place of a text means pay attention to location in both a literal and figurative manner. For instance, texts created in different countries will need to follow different cultural and linguistic expectations for structure and evidence. In some places in the world, argument from authority is seen as very convincing, but in the United States, such evidence is seen as weak or even fallacious.

In addition to “where in the world” is the text constructed and expected to be read, the location of a text might refer to the medium or place of publication. How might a text publish online on a blog be understood or read differently than a text in a printed magazine? What different expectations for the text are reflected in place?

Just as with place, there is both a literal and figurative understanding of time when considering rhetorical situation. In literal/linear time, or  chronos , when a text was written and the history/culture of the time matter when understanding a text. For instance, the address to the legislature of New York by Elizabeth Cady Stanton on the rights of married women in February of 1854 [2] is much more understandable and conveys more nuance if the audience understands the laws restricting the various classes, races, and genders at the time and the intersection of the history of civil rights for women and African Americans. Similarly, knowledge of the 1950s and 1960s civil rights fight makes Martin Luther King’s writings and speeches more powerful and convincing.

In addition to linear/chronological time, the setting of a text also refers to the text figurative time, or “timeliness.” The term kairos is an ancient Greek word that, in rhetoric, refers to the notion that timing can impact the effectiveness of a message. For a message to be received effectively, the recipient has to be ready and able to receive the message. However, many factors can impede a recipient’s ability to receive a message. They may be distracted by other issues, experiencing strong emotions, or just be too busy to hear the message. While any individual may not be able to receive a message at a given point of time, to be effective, a speaker should consider factors that could prevent many of their intended recipients from receiving their message.

It is important to note that kairos is not about censorship or freedom of speech. It doesn’t mean that a speaker is prevented from speaking. Have you ever tried to tell a friend something when they’re distracted by something else? For example, if you’re chatting with a friend while they’re driving, they may lose their focus on the conversation for a few minutes while navigating heavy traffic. Kairos is about timing that message so you speak when your friend is ready to listen; you might pause the conversation until traffic becomes lighter.

Kairos is easy to observe in commercial speech. You don’t see advertisers putting out school supply ads in November or April. Instead, they wait and advertise their wares in July and August when parents are thinking about purchasing supplies for back to school. Similarly, marketers don’t wait to sell Super Bowl T-shirts two months after the game ends. Instead, they famously print sets of T-shirts featuring each team. They recognize that fans are most likely to part with dollars for apparel immediately following the game, so they make sure they’re ready to capitalize on the moment no matter which team wins.

When a speaker doesn’t take kairos into consideration, their message may not be received effectively by the recipient. An example of this is Cinnabon’s Twitter message about Carrie Fisher back in 2016. [3] . Although the message is, on the surface, a tribute to Carrie Fisher and her iconic portrayal of Princess Leia in the Star Wars films, there is also a secondary purpose. Cinnabon is a commercial entity. Its Twitter account is primarily promotional; it is intended to persuade potential consumers to buy one of its cinnamon rolls.

So why is this message ineffective? Viewing the tweet with the distance of several years, recipients may not immediately recognize why this tweet was received with outrage. The tweet, dated December 27, 2016, was made on the same day that Fisher died. Many viewers of the ad were in shock, mourning the sudden loss of a favorite movie star. The timing of the tweet led the message’s intended recipients, potential Cinnabon customers, to view the message as exploitative and insensitive rather than a humorous tribute.

Had Cinnabon released the same message at another point in time, perhaps to coincide with a Star Wars movie release, it may have been received differently. This same message may have been received as a nostalgic tribute and an effective marketing moment. But, because Cinnabon did not adequately consider the timing of the message, they instead deleted the tweet and issued an apology for the message.

When considering the timing of your message, ask yourself:

• How will my audience be likely to receive this message?
• Are there problems with the timing of this message?
• Is there a better time to convey this message effectively?

Application

When considering the setting in terms of rhetorical analysis, consider the following:

• Where was the text? Where was it expected to be read? What aspects of location might affect or influence the meaning of the text?
• In what place is the text found? What medium or genre or publication? How might these aspects of setting influence the expectations or conventions of the text?
• What context, historically speaking, needs to be known to understand the arguments being made? What historical information is helpful in understanding the occassion or exigence of the text?
• Was there a debate about the topic that the author of the text addresses? If so, what are (or were) the various perspectives within that debate?
• Did something specific occur that motivated the author to speak out?
• How is the text timely (or not), taking into account the  kairos of the situation?

When you are writing your own texts, remember to pay attention to the events in the world around you — consider not only what may prompt your own writing, but also how current events will influence the way your audience understands your text. Consider the place — are you writing an essay, an email, an instagram post, or a chat? Where is your audience? Will their location in the world or different cultural background affect how they receive your text? Are there current events than mean your text needs to be distributed at a specific time or not be distributed at a particular point in time? Remember that paying attention to rhetorical situation is not meant to determine what you “can and can’t” say, but meant to help you determine how to make your text accomplish your purpose in the most effective way.

Example of Setting Analysis for the Rhetorical Situation (T-Mobile)

This advertisement aired during Super Bowl LVII.  The Super Bowl, which is the annual championship game of the National Football League, is well known for its advertisements in addition to its halftime show (and the game itself).  Due to its large number of viewers, airtime during the Super Bowl is well known to be extremely expensive.  Marketers often prepare for the event by developing new, highly polished advertising campaigns  intended to capture viewers’ attention. The kairos of the advertisement comes from T-Mobile’s capitalizing on a major marketing opportunity (the Super Bowl) to launch its new service, home internet.

In addition, the advertisement draws on knowledge of the movie Grease and its actors. The movie came out in 1978, and this ad was aired 45 years later. The popularity of the original movie, especially among teens and young adults, lasted for years after the release. Therefore, most of the original audience of Grease (and the actors) would now be middle aged.  T-Mobile was savvy in choosing a film that evoke a nostalgic reaction from their target market.

When analyzing the rhetorical situation of a given text, it is important to consider the format, or medium, in which the text is being made. If you are analyzing an image for rhetorical situation, elements such as shading, color, and placement are part of the argument being presented. Other forms of media that a text might take include a written essay, speech, song, protest sign, meme, or sculpture. Visual elements apply to papers as well, of course — typeface (font) choice, design and formatting, etc. can influence the first impression that a text gives the reader and affect how they understand the ethos or credibility of the author.

In addition to medium or form, examining the text may mean looking at the tone, the register of the language used (the formality/informality of the word choice and formatting), style, organization, etc. Examining the text as part of rhetorical situation can include word choice, such as whether or not the text uses contractions (such as isn’t rather than is not) or whether the text uses second person pronouns (you) or local slang (y’all, fixing to).

When examining the rhetorical situation of a text’s medium and style, ask yourself the following:

• What is gained by having a text composed in a particular format/medium?
• What expectations of genre/medium does the text meet or not meet?
• What limitations does that format/medium have?
• What opportunities for expression does that format/medium have (that perhaps other formats do not have?)
• How does the language used affect the audience’s understanding of the text? What is the register of the word choice? What style and organization choices were made and how do they affect the presentation of the text as a whole?

When composing your own text, take the time to make sure you understand the conventions and expectations of the medium or form you plan to use. Using the appropriate tone and formality for the situation is one part of attention to the rhetorical situation of the text. The second part means paying attention to other details.  For instance, if you are writing an email to a potential employer, you may want to make sure you follow conventions of professional email — short paragraphs, extra space between paragraphs, but no first-line indents, and an email signature on the bottom. If you are recording a video presentation, you might consider the level of transitions, design, etc. that are appropriate for the situation. You might also consider the conventions for accessibility such as captions or subtitles for videos or alt-text for images on a web page or PDF.

Example of Text Analysis for the Rhetorical Situation (T-Mobile Advertisement)

Advertisements are intended to persuade viewers. Television advertisements are inherently multimodal — using visuals, words, and sounds to convey their text. Analysis of the text of this ad would need to include the words of the song, the tune, the stage setting of the neighborhood in the background, the costuming choices, the dance moves, and even some of Travolta’s facial expressions.  Because they have little time to connect with viewers, advertisements often will use repetition, jingles, popular songs or versions of popular tunes, familiar symbols or references to cultural commonalities, and other devices in order to help their message stick in the viewer’s mind.  Although the tone of an advertisement can be serious, this one is funny and nostalgic in order to connect with viewers’ emotions. The nostalgia also serves to make something new and strange (like a cellular phone company providing home internet) seem more familiar.

In any text, an author is attempting to engage an audience. Before we can analyze how effectively an author engages an audience, we must spend some time thinking about that audience. An audience is any person or group who is the recipient of the text. In addition to audience engagement, analysis of a text’s audience will help you identify what level of knowledge the audience is expected to have, the attitude or position of the audience toward the topic, and the reasoning behind some of the author’s rhetorical moves. In addition, understanding the intended audience of a text can help you determine if you are a part of that intended audience or not.

In addition to evidence from within the text itself, audience can also be determined based on the setting of the text (where was it published? What to other texts are connected to it, and what do they together reveal about the evidence?) and the purpose of the text (what is the author trying to accomplish? And who would be in a position to make a difference?).

Three Audiences

Any text has potentially at least three audiences, though the some of these audiences may be the same. The audience may be

• The intended audience — who the author meant to read the text. As mentioned above, whom the text is written for can often be determined by understanding the setting and purpose of a text. For instance, Informed Arguments as a textbook is intended to be read by students, instructors, textbook reviewers, and course designers.
• The implied audience — who the text seems to be addressing in the text. This is often more evident in literary texts, where, for instance, a poet may be addressing a lover, though the intended audience is the readers of the book rather than an actual lover. In non-literary texts, however, an implied audience is often indicated by the use of the second-person. Oftentimes the intended and implied audiences overlap, but are not identical. This textbook, for instance, has an implied audience of students in a rhetoric and composition course, though the intended audience is a bit broader. One of the indicators of the implied audience is the use of “you” and the imperative mood (commands).
• The actual audience — who actually reads the text. In many cases, a text may move beyond the intended audience and the implied audience and be read by people whom the author may not expect. This is particularly true of older texts — as authors can’t really predict how culture and history will unfold, there is a good chance, for instance, that things considered common knowledge in the past may need more explanation now. If you are a part of the actual audience of a text, but not part of the intended audience, you may need to do slightly more work and perhaps background research to understand the text more fully.

Sometimes all three audiences are the same — for instance, if you receive an email, there is a good chance you are the intended, implied, and actual audience. Other times, however, considering these three aspects of audience and their relationships can lead to insights into the interpretation of a text’s meaning and an understanding of the text’s effectiveness.

To understand the rhetorical situation of a text, one must examine who the audience is by thinking about these things:

• Who is the author addressing? Sometimes this is the hardest question of all. We can get this information of who the author is addressing by looking at where an article is published. Be sure to pay attention to the newspaper, magazine, website, or journal title where the text is published. Often, you can research that publication to get a good sense of who reads it.
• What is the audience’s demographic information (age, gender, etc.)?
• What is/are the background, values, interests of the intended audience?
• How open is this intended audience to the author?
• What assumptions might the audience make about the author?
• In what context is the audience receiving the text?

When you are preparing to compose your own text, thinking about audience can be a bit tricky. As discussed above, in one sense, your audience is the person or group that you intend to reach with your writing. However, again, any text likely also has an unintended actual audience, a reader (or readers) who read it even without being the intended recipient. The actual audience or reader might be the person you have in mind as you write, the audience you’re trying to reach, but they might be some random person you’ve never thought of a day in your life. You can’t always know much about random readers, but you should have some understanding of who your audience is. It’s the audience that you want to focus on as you shape your message. The audience works in tandem with the other elements of rhetorical situation to shape the choices you make for the most effective text to convey your message and achieve your purpose.

Example of Audience Analysis for the Rhetorical Situation (T-Mobile Advertisement)

T-Mobile was addressing Super Bowl viewers during this advertisement; the ad was broadcast nationally on Fox.  However, it is important to note that T-Mobile’s audience was actually even broader; they shared the ad on YouTube before, during, and after the Super Bowl event, ensuring that the ad was able to reach an international audience as well.

When considering who, within that general audience, T-Mobile was specifically appealing to, you may consider the details of the advertisement.  What pop culture references are they making?  Would Grease references and John Travolta be as recognizable to a teenager as they would to a Gen Xer?  What about the other famous faces in the ad?  Would a Baby Boomer be as likely to recognize the stars of Scrubs as a Millennial?  Consider which demographic groups are most likely to be in a decision-making position about home internet. Does it make sense that T-Mobile is appealing to a middle-aged audience?

Practice Activity

This section contains material from:

Jeffrey, Robin, and Emilie Zickel. “What is the Rhetorical Situation?” In A Guide to Rhetoric, Genre, and Success in First-Year Writing , by Melanie Gagich and Emilie Zickel. Cleveland: MSL Academic Endeavors. Accessed July 2019. https://pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu/csu-fyw-rhetoric/chapter/rhetorical-situation-the-context/ . Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License . Archival link: https://web.archive.org/web/20201027010031/https://pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu/csu-fyw-rhetoric/chapter/rhetorical-situation-the-context/

OER credited in the text above include:

Burnell, Carol, Jaime Wood, Monique Babin, Susan Pesznecker, and Nicole Rosevear. The Word on College Reading and Writing . Open Oregon Educational Resources. Accessed December 18, 2020. https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/wrd/ . Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License . Archival link: https://web.archive.org/web/20230711210420/https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/wrd/

Jeffrey, Robin. About Writing: A Guide . Portland, OR: Open Oregon Educational Resources. Accessed December 18, 2020. https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/aboutwriting/ . Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License . Archival link: https://web.archive.org/web/20230711210756/https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/aboutwriting/

• T-Mobile, "New year. New neighbor 2023 Big Game Day Commercial T-Mobile Home Internet," YouTube video, February 9, 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSO-Whn2sCQ&t=2s ↵
• https://www.loc.gov/item/55045184/ ↵
• Cinnabon, "RIP Carrie Fisher, you'll always have the best buns in the galaxy," Instagram post, December 27, 2016, post deleted. ↵

A classical Greek philosopher and orator who lived from 384-322 B.C. A student of Plato, he is known for creating his own branch of philosophy known as Aristotelianism which is based on the use of inductive reasoning and deductive logic in order to study nature and natural law. Aristotle also wrote on various subjects including biology, physics, ethics, poetry, politics, linguistics, mathematics, and rhetoric. Aristotle’s rhetorical triangle is based on ethos, pathos, and logos and is considered the basis for understanding the rhetorical situation.

An event -- in rhetoric, the event or occurrence prompting the creation of a text

The urgency of a situation demanding action. In rhetoric, the exigence of a speech or text is the pressing reason or need for the speech or text

The Greek term for end goal/purpose, generally used to discuss the ultimate aim of some act or text

Ethos is a rhetorical appeal that is based on authority or credibility. It can involve the reader evoking their own expertise on a topic or pointing to experts on a topic. Ethos is related to "ethics" and character, in that a speaker or source's reputation determines their credibility. Sometimes ethos-driven appeals can mistakenly rely on false authority; for example, using a celebrity endorsement even though the celebrity has no expertise on the topic. Ethos is one of three types of rhetorical appeals described by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle.

Linear or literal time -- usually in contrast to Kairos.

Time in a less literal sense; timeliness, or time in context with other events and information

To occupy or attract the attention of someone or something.

A receiver or beneficiary.

Taking something for granted; an expected result; to be predisposed towards a certain outcome.

The set of circumstances that frame a particular idea or argument; the background information that is necessary for an audience to know about in order to understand why or how a text was written or produced.

3.4 What is the Rhetorical Situation? Copyright © 2023 by Robin Jeffrey; Emilie Zickel; Terri Pantuso; Kalani Pattison; and Sarah LeMire is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Chapter 1: What is Rhetorical Theory?

This chapter offers a brief overview and definitions of rhetorical theory. “Theory” is sometimes imagined as abstract thinking or complex philosophy. However, in this class “theory” is something that all people do when they seek to apply a way of thinking about the world to real-life circumstances. It describes the imaginative and practical meanings that are applied to a surrounding world, and how we revise those meanings in accordance with perceived changes to that environment. Rhetorical Theory most often describes our ways of understanding practices of meaning-making and interpretation that rely on  persuasion.  As explained below, persuasion is traditionally associated with historical practices of speeches and speech-making. This is why Rhetorical Theory is often described as the “art of persuasion” or the “art of speechmaking,” although subsequent chapters will build on (and depart from) this foundation.

Please note that the audio recording for this chapter covers the same content as is presented in the chapter below.

Chapter Recording

• What is Rhetorical Theory?  (Audio, ~12m)

Read this Next

• James, Joy. “Teaching Theory, Talking Community.” Seeking the Beloved Community: A Feminist Race Reader, State University of New York Press, 2013, pp. 3-7.
• Handout: Definitions of Rhetoric

Defining Rhetorical Theory

The two Greek words that combine to form rhetoric are  techne , as art or skill, and  rhetor , or speaker. The two terms are not explicitly linked in fifth-century Greek texts, and there is no explicit reference to the art of persuasion in the first recorded use of the word. The word  rhetor  was a legal term denoting a specific class of people: those who often put forward motions in courts of law and in the general assembly.

Perhaps the most widely circulated definition of rhetoric still circulating today is from Aristotle: “ the faculty of observing the available means of persuasion, in any given situation .” [1] That means that rhetoric isn’t just how we persuade. It’s also the ability to stand back from the scenes where persuasion happens to understand how and why it is happening. Another popular definition of rhetoric is “ the capacity to affect and be affected .” This means that rhetoric becomes the art of movement, or how people use their bodies to create movements and change. Both definitions capture the perspective that we can take when we think rhetorically: one that seeks to understand the way that influence and power move and the role of communication in creating common knowledge.

My preferred definition of rhetoric is “ the active and retroactive organization of discourse .” This means that rhetoric is a way of creating a shared perspective on the past and future, a way of organizing speech to correct or realign a point of view. At its most basic, we might think of rhetoric as “the art of speaking” or even “the art of speaking  well ,” which is part of the reason why public speaking classes are housed in Communication Studies departments. Before Communication Studies existed as an academic discipline, most of these departments were named “Speech Communication,” which reflects rhetoric’s traditional emphasis on the theory, criticism, and practice of speech-making. That’s still a central aspect of the  theory  that rhetoricians are interested in, although these theories have also grown broader in scope.

In this class, rhetoric, as we understand it today, is a collection of humanist, literary, and political theories that explain how speech motivates human action and imagines possible futures. As developed in this un-textbook, it is a theory of how  speech ,  representation , and  power  are instruments rooted in understandings of persuasion and its audiences. Persuasion is key to rhetoric because it is both the thing that rhetoricians study and the thing that rhetorical scholarship seeks to generate: the imagining of a more just world.

More important than just defining rhetoric is thinking critically about which definitions of rhetoric that we choose to embrace. Although he is among the earliest people to theorize rhetoric, Aristotle is not always the best authority because we would register many of the views he espoused as philosophy as categorically inhumane or racist.

It is important not only to situate rhetorical theory in the context from which it emerges but also to assess the utility of these theories according to the ethical standards that we would abide by in our own present-day. As the scholar and abolitionist Joy James writes:

Philosophy or theory courses may emphasize logic and memorizing the history of “Western” philosophy rather than the activity of creating philosophies or theorizing. When the logic of propositions is the primary object of study, how one argues becomes more important than for what one argues. The exercise of reason may take place within an illogical context — in which academic canons absurdly claim universal supremacy derived from the hierarchical splintering of humanity into greater and lesser beings, or the European Enlightenment’s deification of scientific rationalism as the truly “valid” approach to “Truth. [2]

In keeping with James’s statement, this class seeks to  critically  address how rhetorical theory has been made or built. It is not just about memorizing rhetoric’s ancient history. It does not seek to elevate a predominantly white or “Western” tradition as the only one that matters or exists.

One way to think beyond this tradition is what rhetorical theorist Molefi Kete Asante calls  “Afrocentricity .” Afrocentricity describes a worldview that is “ pro-African and consistent in its beliefs that technology belongs to the world; Afrocentricity is African genius and African values created reconstructed and derived from our history and experiences in our best interests .” Asante argues that Afrocentricity is essential to understanding rhetoric for the following reasons:

“Maulana Karenga argues that “no people can turn its history and humanity over to alien hands and expect social justice and respect” (Karenga, 1979). Language is the essential instrument of social cohesion. Social cohesion is the fundamental clement of liberation. All language is epistemic. Our language provides our understanding of our reality. A revolutionary language must not befuddle; it cannot be allowed to confuse. Critics must actively pursue the clarification of public language when they believe it is designed to whiten the issues. We know through science and rhetoric; they are parallel systems of epistemology. Rhetoric is art and art is as much a way of knowing as science.” [3]

This course is about rhetorical terms and concepts. It is also about why it matters where and when we start rhetoric’s story and why rhetorical criticism is still a useful theory of practice. In this un-textbook, we will return to ancient Greece, but with a specific purpose: to highlight the ways that rhetoric signaled a broken or unhealthy state of public and political affairs. By telling this ancient story in this way, we may also bear witness to how the characteristically unjust patterns and practices of those times live on for us in the present day.

Artistic Proofs and Genres

Let’s talk about some of the most commonly discussed concepts in rhetoric and rhetorical theory:  ethos ,  pathos , and  logos,  which are also known as the  artistic proofs . The phrase “artistic proofs” means that they are the elements of persuasion that originate from the speaker, rather than from  inartistic  sources, or the data the speaker uses but did not ‘originate,’ ‘invent,’ or ‘create.’ Entire courses on rhetorical theory have been built around these concepts. They correspond to the major premises of Aristotle’s book, the  Rhetoric , and form three pillars that much present-day rhetorical theory is built upon.

• Ethos , or the appeal to authority. These are the ethical proofs derived from the moral character of the speaker.
• Pathos , or the appeal to the emotions. The objective of pathos is to put the hearer into a certain frame of mind using what the speaker already knows about their audience.
• Logos , or the appeal to reason, logic, and the word. These are the proofs contained in the speech itself when a real or apparent truth is demonstrated. The two modes of logical proof that Aristotle describes are induction and deduction. Induction refers to “bottom-up” reasoning; deduction refers to principles applied from the “top-down.”

Aristotle’s explanation of logos also describes three genres of rhetoric, which correspond to different “tenses” in which a speech may be made. These include the forensic, the epideictic, and the deliberative. In each of these, rhetoric manages some uncertainty: uncertainty over what is and what is not; uncertainty over whether to praise or to blame; and uncertainty over what one should or should not do.

The Genres of Speech

The  forensic  genre of rhetoric is about matters of fact, what is and is not, what did or did not happen. The forensic corresponds to the past. The site of forensic arguments is typically the judicial system and the courts. Today, the word “forensic” has meaning specifically in a criminal justice context. There, and on “forensic” science television shows, the problem is reconstructing the past, what did or did not happen, who did or did not perpetrate the act.

The  epideictic  genre of rhetoric is about matters of praise or blame, whether to celebrate or to denounce. It corresponds to the now, the place between past and future. Epideictic speeches are traditionally speeches like eulogies, special-occasion speeches, or toasts; other versions of epideictic could include newspaper opinion-editorials, news-comedy hybrids, or pundit pieces that try to offer ‘spin’ to politicize a person or issue. They can also be speeches, images, and text that highlight a “now” as a particularly urgent or important moment of transition or change.

The  deliberative  genre of rhetoric is about policy and what should or should not be done. The deliberative corresponds to the future and the course of action that should be taken to attain it. It is traditionally associated with lawmaking and legislature. A speech about the decision to impeach, for instance, is a deliberative one: it is a question of policy and the path that people should pursue.

This rhetorical terminology — ethos, pathos, and logos; forensic, epideictic, and deliberative — is just some of the basic language that is most often associated with the history and discipline of rhetoric. If you take classes in rhetoric elsewhere in the university, you will very likely encounter these foundational terms again.

Histories of Rhetorical Theory

The last thing I want to talk about is the organization of this course and how it relates to the history of rhetoric. Most of the time, rhetorical theory classes start in Classical Greece, where the term was allegedly invented. They might then move through Rome into Western Europe. Many times, such classes end in the 20th century when speech communication departments began appearing in American universities around 1914. Sometimes these courses also cover the 20th century and the developments of structuralist, post-structuralist, and materialist theories. In Communication Studies, this could also include accounts of the functionalist, constructivist, and critical traditions. This course has a little bit of each of these approaches, and we will talk about each of them as the semester goes on.

The first two weeks are devoted to the so-called “ origins ” of rhetorical theory, its deeply troubling beginnings, and the idea of the “ common good .” We start here because this history helps us to define rhetoric and illustrates how problems within a rhetorical culture illuminate similar problems that resonate with us in the early 21st century.

We then turn to several foundational 20th-century communication concepts: the  symbol , the  sign ,  ideology , and  argument . These theories describe two ways of thinking about what communication is and how it occurs. They also account for shared structures of belief and agreed-upon ways of making claims and establishing facts.

The following weeks address key commonplaces in rhetorical theory:  narratives ,  visual rhetoric , the  rhetorical situation , and the  settler-colonial situation . The final two weeks are dedicated to specialized topic areas that reflect some of the topical interests of rhetorical scholars today:  secrecy  and  digital rhetorics .

By the end of this course, I hope to have made the following rhetorical ideas clear. First, that speech, words, and language have consistent and long-lasting effects. Second, that rhetoric describes a theory of the speaker and their ability to invent persuasion, a theory of the audience, and the scenes where rhetoric is received or taken up. It is also a theory of meaning-making and representation that gives text a viral life of its own. Finally, we will learn that rhetoric is a tool for ethical world-making that allows us to make more deliberate and inclusive choices about our speech.

Additional Resources

• Ira Allen, “ Presentation and Rhetorical Theory ” and “ Fantasies of Rhetorical Theory “
• Aristotle. Art of Rhetoric. Loeb Classical Library 193. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2020. ↵
• Joy James,  Seeking the Beloved Community , Albany: State University of New York Press, p.4. ↵
• Molefi Kete Asante, Afrocentricity, Trenton: Africa World Press, p. 32 ↵

Reading Rhetorical Theory Copyright © 2022 by Atilla Hallsby is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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