Rhetorical Analysis Essay: Learn How to Write It With Our Guide

What Is a Rhetorical Analysis

Let's begin with a rhetorical analysis essay definition. It is crucial to understand the differences between various types of papers. As for rhetorical analysis – it is an essay that focuses on the publication author's main ideas. In contrast to literary analysis essay, we should be less concerned with what they say and notice how they sound instead.

While reading a suggested or assigned piece, students should keep an eye on:  

1. What goals did the author pursue by writing their work?
2. What rhetorical devices did they use?
3. How do they appeal to the reader?

The primary task is breaking a non-fiction work (speech, advertisement, article) into parts. Then, one should define how they perform together to convince, educate or entertain an audience. You shouldn't write about whether you agree or disagree with the author. Alternatively, you aim at discussing how their argument is made and what tone they use. Evaluate their approach in terms of being successful.

Rhetorical Appeals

Writing a rhetorical analysis essay requires you to understand and distinguish rhetorical appeals. These persuasive techniques are used to convince readers and get their approval by calling to emotions, experience, and other characteristics of human nature. There are three main kinds of appeals: ethos, pathos, and logos. In his book "Rhetoric," Aristotle brought these concepts to life. Now, these rhetorical techniques are excellent strategies that authors use to persuade their audience.

But what exactly do these terms mean? Let's make it clear:  

• Ethos As an ethical appeal, this approach focuses on proving that your expertise in subject matter is superior. The primary goal of using this technique is to make readers believe you. Provide evidence of your qualification and achieve stunning impact.
• Pathos This approach suggests you call upon audience's emotions. In this context, pathetic doesn't mean something negative. Effective use of this concept can conjure various feelings in one's mind. Sympathy, anger, compassion, sadness – all of these can be used to make your audience accept your argument and acquire endorsement.
• Logos It is a logical appeal that uses interpretation and evidence to prove an issue. One can notice this type of technique in academic writing as well. Most academic audiences appreciate logos-driven methods because they help provide undeniable facts and data.

Summing it up, a good persuasive argument can include all of these appeals. So if you want to make a massive impact on your public in your writing, consider using all of them.

How to Write a Rhetorical Analysis Essay?

By now, you might be wondering: "How to start a rhetorical analysis essay?" The answer is clear – start with text evaluation. In context of rhetorical analysis, it's not necessarily a written piece you should review. It could also be a commercial, debate, or illustration. In such cases, you should also mind imagery and sound aspects.

While analyzing your text, consider applying the SOAPS action plan. Here, the first S stands for speaker, O – occasion, A – audience, P – purpose, and the last S is for subject. To put it into practice when you read the text, ask yourself these questions:  

1. Who is the author?
2. Why did they decide to write the article?
3. Who are the readers, and why is the author appealing to them?
4. What were the author's intentions while writing the piece?
5. What is the author's main argument?

Lastly, you should closely examine the text's main point. Find an explicitly stated claim, define presented evidence that supports it. After that, find the warrant – reasoning that connects supporting evidence with a claim. Also, look at rhetorical appeals the writer uses and outline them in your paper.

Rhetorical Analysis Essay Introduction

Once you complete your analysis part, get ready to write a rhetorical essay introduction. It should give your readers a message of what your paper will be about. An appropriately crafted opening paragraph should include:

• Hook Start your paper with a catchy sentence to grab your readers' attention. This way, you will stir up their interest to know what comes next in your written piece.
• Background on the context Add some relevant information about your subject to let readers know what exactly you are analyzing. Some exclusive details that might expand the context can also be helpful for such purposes. Refer to the author and their publication title in this part.
• Thesis statement Your thesis should be the fundamental argument you make regarding author's rhetorical techniques used throughout the text. It should be a clear statement that defines your approach to analyzing the publication. Also, you can create a statement by Rhetorical Analysis Thesis Statement Generator.

Rhetorical Paper: Body Paragraphs

The main body of a rhetorical analysis paper is where you directly describe your findings of a text. It usually consists of 3 paragraphs. Sometimes you can focus on a single appeal in each section. Dedicate one for showing how pathos works, the other one for ethos, and the last one for logos. However, it's not always necessary to follow this structure. If the text's part you are analyzing includes specifics of two concepts at once, you can outline this in a single paragraph.

Start each section with a topic sentence that gives an overview of what this paragraph will be about. Include quotations from your text as evidence and cite them correctly to avoid plagiarism. Next, express your argument by analyzing how this piece of text functions in rhetoric using ethos, pathos, or logos concepts. End each body paragraph with a brief concluding statement that shows the core of your analysis. And remember: your main body sections should directly relate to the thesis statement you have developed before. 
 

Rhetorical Analysis: Essay Conclusion

Last but not least, let's find out how to conclude a rhetorical analysis essay. This paragraph should draw the final line in your paper.

There are a couple of simple recommendations that will help to answer the question, "How to write a good conclusion for an easy?"

• Begin with a brief synopsis of the claims you made in your essay.
• Extend background by emphasizing relevance of analysis.
• Conclude your investigation with a powerful, noteworthy statement leaving food for thought for your readers.

After you've completed your essay, all that's left is editing and proofreading. Don't skip this process, and never overestimate your abilities. It's always better to double-check what you've done and ensure that your work is impeccable.

You may need rhetorical analysis topics for your essay. Check them out in our blog.

Bottom Line

A rhetorical analysis essay can be a tricky task. Nevertheless, writing one following our tips will help you breeze through this assignment and get a high grade. As you've got all necessary tools, completing this task won't be a headache anymore.