Rhetorical analysis

1. Rhetorical analysis How To Do It. H. Reece

2. What to include: Introduction: Make sure that you have a thesis statement in the first paragraph. Your thesis should take a clear position. The thesis is usually not the first sentence in the paragraph, but the last. Everything before the thesis serves as background or contextual information. Your thesis statement should be similar to or a close variation of this formula: author’s name + author’s attitude/purpose + subjects + devices. Example: In “The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln, the ninth (Title of work) (author) President uses the setting of the battlefield and the jargon of (device) democratic ideals ironically to promote a new idea of rebirth of   government in the United States (thesis).

3. First Body Paragraph What to Include: You first body paragraph, should include a topic sentence (preferably one that is a transition from the last sentence in the first paragraph). Mention one or more of the appeals at least once in your first body paragraph to get the ball rolling. Example:Mayfield makes an ethical appeal by alluding to JFK’s passionate statement, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. “ By quoting such a well-beloved American President, Mayfield is attempting to stir up feelings of patriotism in his audience. Discuss FIDDS t(Figurative language, Imagery, Details, Diction, and Syntax). Mention each component of the acronym at least once.

4. Examples: Figurative Language refers to any language that is not literal. Figurative language includes metaphors, similes, personification, hyperbole, onomatopoeia and alliteration. Sample analysis of figurative language. Sample Analysis: Figurative language (specifically metaphor) is sprinkled throughout Dr. King’s speech to emphasize important points, intensify the engagement of his audience and/or clarify his position. The Emancipation Proclamation is compared to a "greatbeacon light of hope,” and the injustice of slavery is compared to searing flames. King also compares the Emancipation Proclamation to a joyous daybreak after a long night. Original Quote:"This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity." Topic Sentence

5. Imagery: The total sensory effect of related sensory images in poetry or prose. Sample Analysis: Through clear, although violent and disturbing imagery, Mitford describes the macabre inner-workings of the funeral industry, an industry whose primary business is to make the dead look “natural.” The embalmment procedure is particularly graphic. The author informs us that about three to six gallons of a dyed and perfumed solution of formaldehyde, glycerin, borax, phenol, alcohol, and water is soon circulating through Mr. Jones, “ whose mouth has been sewn together with a “needle directed upward between the upper lip and gum and brought out through the left nostril.” Her imagery is designed to shock and educate the reader; to make us think twice about Americans strange and expensive rituals surrounding the end of life.

6. 2nd Body Paragraph (must include a topic sentence) • 3. Details: Without details, what we are left with is summary, a sketch, or an outline. Analysis is not possible without details. Whether it is art, film, literature, clothing, automobiles or architecture; we are all impressed by details; it separates average from excellent; mediocre from superb quality. Details help to evoke a sense of place and to capture the essence of an event. Events can be anything from washing the car to college graduation. Here are just a few ideas to help you spot those telling details: • The piles of wrapping paper after a birthday party or holiday celebration • School supplies stacked neatly in anticipation of the first day of school • Candles burning in the window during winter holidays • Close-ups of favorite Christmas decorations on a tree • Table settings for a dinner celebration • Race number from a marathon.

7. Sample Analysis:Nabokov’s mastery of details transports the reader to a train station in Berlin as passengers aboard the train.The author’s sentences are exquisitely constructed, rich with personification and moves in fluid metaphoric cadences to render space and time with crystal clarity. The opening sentence is a prelude to a paragraph rich in imagery and layered in elegant prose. The first sentence begins “The huge black clock hand is still at rest but is on the point of making its once-a-minute gesture, that resilient jolt will set a whole world in motion.” Nabokov extends the metaphor in the next sentence by further personification of the clock and parallel adjectives: “The clock face will slowly turn away, full of despair, contempt, and boredom, as one by one the iron pillars will start walking past…” (mention the author’s attention to details at least 1x) Topic Sentence

8. 4th Body Paragraph (must include topic sentence) 4. Diction is of course word choice. Diction choices (why one word is used as opposed to another) are the essential building blocks of composition. Sample Analysis: Jonathan Edwards’s moralistic language conveys the sentiments of the puritans, whose entire lives were essentially governed by edicts of the church.Edwards establishes an ominous tone through words such as judgment, torment, sinful, hell, destruction and the devil. The sermonic warning “There will be no end to this exquisite, horrible misery” is designed to frighten believers into moral submission. (using a strong adjective, mention the author’s diction at least 2x) Topic Sentence

9. 5. Syntax: Discuss at least two syntax devices [parallel structure, chiasmus, epistrophe, antithesis, asyndeton, polysyndeton and connect them to meaning or purpose. Example: In the opening paragraph of Tale of Two Cities, Dickens employs a series of antithetical clauses and phrases to depict the highs and lows of the 18th Century; an era marked by war, upheaval and revolution, as well as, a time of enlightenment and hope. The see-saw like contrast between the ups and downs is drawn even sharper in Dickens’ prose, because he omits conjunctions or transitional words, which make the differences, appear even starker. Many people who have never read A Tale of Two Cities are familiar with the lines, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…” and the list goes on for a full paragraph. We remember these lines, because it is such a powerful and effective rhetorical strategy

10. Concluding Paragraph: Reference your thesis and provide a summary of strategies used by the author. Do not start you concluding paragraph with “In conclusion.” This will cause my head to explode and the universe will spin out of control. Your conclusion should include the following: an allusion to the pattern used in the introductory paragraph, a restatement of the thesis statement, using some of the original language or language that "echoes" the original language. (The restatement, however, must not be a duplicate thesis statement.) a summary of the three main points from the body of the paper. a final statement that gives the reader signals that the discussion has come to an end. (This final statement may be a "call to action" in a persuasive paper.)

11. Example: Concluding Paragraph - 1"Thick darkness," "thread of the spider," and "vulture eye" are three images that Poe used in "The Tell-Tale Heart" to stimulate a reader's senses. 2Poe wanted the reader to see and feel real life. 3He used concrete imagery rather than vague abstract words to describe settings and people. 4If Edgar Allan Poe was one of Stephen King's teachers, then readers of King owe a debt of gratitude to that nineteenth-century creator of horror stories. (see how the numbers correlate with what you should include. Source: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/five_par.htm

12. Other Stylistic Requirements • Mention the author’s name at least three times in a five paragraph essay, making sure that it is always connected with an active verb. Example: Hawthorne emphasizes, amplifies, accentuates, asserts, demonstrates, indicates, etc. These are all verbs which provide an alternative to the word “show.” Avoid using the word show, or my head will explode and the universe will spin out of control. Use the author’s full name in the first paragraph and last name only in subsequent references. When you are not using the author’s last name – just say the author. • Keep analysis is present tense. Instead of saying “the author asserted,” say, “the author asserts.” • Avoid starting sentences with This or That. • Capitalize all proper nouns. • If you do not understand how to use a word in context – do not use it! • Write your analysis in 3rd Person, avoiding the personal pronouns I, me, or my. • Find another phrase to use in place of “the author says,” and use the author states sparingly. • Try to make relevant connections with the author’s assertions through textual evidence, or written works, current event or other real world examples. Avoid using movie comparisons or sports analogies in your analysis.

13. Link to quiz: http://www.wiziq.com/online-tests/31623-tutorial-quiz Have a great Fair Day!