If politics is your topic of interest, it’s plausible that you have come across two different politicians who have interpreted certain information in completely opposite ways. The same goes for journalists. Oh and don’t forget about advertising. One ad might resort to accuse its competitor for having unreasonably high prices. The same competitor will tell you that the price is higher because of the production costs.
How can people do that? Why do people tend to shed a different light on the exact same thing? Frankly speaking, it’s all a consequence of rhetoric. Rhetoric is an art of informing and persuading the audience. Rhetoric can use different methods, be it a biased opinion or the artistic use of facts to bring out certain emotions.
Rhetorical analysis essays strive to split a speech or written work into separate parts, explaining how rhetoric was used in each of them to create the needed impression. It demands listening or reading thoroughly, paying high attention on detail when analysing the information. Following the steps mentioned below, you are highly likely to compose a well-written rhetorical analysis essay.
Part 1: Research
Who will be the object of discourse? What companies or organisations is the person connected to? What are the objectives of those organisations? Who is the target audience? What are the aims of the author’s speech or text? When you dig to the core of the topic is when you will start to notice and realise each manipulation applied by its author.
Part 2: Appeals
To achieve the desired reaction in the audience, rhetoric uses three types of appeal to get deliver the message to its readers. Pathetic appeals are explicitly emotional, they seek to provoke an emotional reaction. This can be a heart-touching story that brings out empathy in the audience. An academic type of appeal is logos. Using common sense and logic,academic essay writers persuade their readers to acknowledge and, possibly, accept their opinion. And the ethical type of appeal utilizes the author’s credibility and status to impose one’s opinion. It is basically like saying, ‘take my word for it because I’m definitely competent in this regard.’
Part 3: Begin analyzing
Now that you’ve conducted necessary research, you start with your analysis. Determine the reasoning behind the strategies that had been applied. Then take into consideration the how those appeals worked out for the writer. Ask yourself why the appeals didn’t work out if that is the case. Finally, remember to separate the topic of discussion and the use of rhetoric. These are two independent elements because you may have a text that presents a hideous position but the method of delivering the information might have been quite successful. And vice versa. If you’re analysing a historical speech or writing, abstract yourself from the current times and sink into the mentioned era as if you lived back then australian writing. Ignore the aftermath of historical speeches, it is irrelevant to the rhetoric itself.
Part 4: Execution
The essay begins with the introduction. Now you shall inform your readers about the object of your essay. Give them a feeling about what they should expect, including any nuances and limitations that you might have placed during your analysis. Don’t forget about providing all of the relevant information. A brief overview of the speech or writing itself might also be of great use.
Afterwards, expand upon the methods the author uses to deliver a certain point of view to the audience. Your thesis is about whether or not the rhetoric was successful. The paragraphs that follow will include scrupulous analysis that supports your initial thesis.