PAPER 1: Rhetorical Analysis
As the authors of Everything’s an Argument state, a rhetorical analysis is “a close reading of a text to find
out how and whether it persuades.” You will do exactly this – a close reading and analysis of a text to see if
it is persuasive and effective for its intended audience, purpose, and occasion. Study the rhetorical
strategies and appeals the author used and make a claim about the “how” of the piece. I’ve selected a few
pieces related to our theme of gender/LGBTQ+/sexuality. Choose ONE to analyze for your paper.
1.“The Marriage Plot” – by Roxane Gay, a critique of how gender and romance are portrayed on shows like
The Bachelorette, from a 2017 New York Times opinion editorial.
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/05/11/opinion/sunday/the-marriage-plot.html?
hp&rref=opinion&_r=1&referrer=&referer=http://www.roxanegay.com/writing/ Purpose: To analyze a piece of rhetoric in a professional, intelligent way, and to inform your audience
about your findings. To make an objective, clear, academic CLAIM about the “how” of the piece and
whether it is effective.
Audience: Our class. Keep in mind that not everyone in your audience will have read the text that you are
analyzing, so you will need to provide context.
Format: MLA format, 3-4 pages plus a Works Cited page that lists at least the text you are analyzing, as
well as any other sources you refer to in your essay. You may include other credible sources as you see fit.
As noted on Unit One calendar BY EMAIL AS A WORD DOC. Note other due
dates on calendar.
Basic structure elements:
1. Intro: Clarify the what/when/who/why/where. Include brief synopsis/summary of the piece.
Remember, not all of your readers will know your piece, so in order to understand your paper, they will
need a brief summary.
2. Near the end of your intro set up your claim, or at least a hint, to set up your essay. COME UP WITH
SOME KIND OF A JUDGMENT ABOUT THE ESSAY YOU ANALYZE. Must be arguable. Do not say “this is
about gender” or something.
3. Body: Here, you will support your claim by explaining and giving textual examples as proof. Consider
the rhetorical strategies employed by the author. Pay attention to the ones that serve your argument’s
purpose. Break up the paragraphs and topics in whatever way makes sense for your essay. Things to
consider about the article you analyze include:
a.Title – what’s going on with it? What is its function – maybe to start the argument, or to grab
attention, or to shock, or what?
b.
Who is the author? Do they have a known point of view? Where do they fit in to the
scholarly conversation on this topic? Credible?
c.Who is the intended audience? Did the author seem to understand the characteristics of that
audience very well? d.
What is the purpose of their text? Claim/thesis? Is the thesis clear? Is it stated or implied?
Is it clearly explained and supported?
e.
Structure things: How does the article look? Is it visually appealing and easy to follow,
broken up enough not to be confusing? Does their intro set up the issue clearly? Does the whole
article flow logically? How effective is the conclusion? What works, or not?
f. Pathos – how does their text appeal to emotion? Connect? Does the author employ too much
emotion? Does it feel manipulative or fake? Or not enough emotion – too flat? Think about things
like tone, language, humor, graphics, anecdotes, etc. How does it feel?
g.Logos – are the arguments logical? Do they make sense in this situation? Are claims reasonably
supported and convincing? Flawed?
4. Conclusion – make your final claim here about whether you think that this author’s rhetorical strategies
are/are not effective for the intended audience, purpose, and occasion – and why. Be specific/clear
Notes:
1. Rhetorical strategies overlap and influence each other – so I don’t recommend you try something like
one paragraph on pathos, one on ethos, etc. Figure out YOUR big claim first, then determine how to
break that idea up into chunks (paragraphs) each on ONE clear idea.
2. Be sure to back claims and ideas with evidence from the text – in short quotes (no huge quotes).
ScholarMatic: Explanation & Answer
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