Understanding a Rhetorical Analysis Essay

A rhetorical analysis essay may sound complex but the idea is simple. What is needed in this type of essay is the ability to study how speakers and writers apply words to create an influence on their audience. Doing a rhetorical analysis is to break down non-fiction works into sections and then explaining how thesections […]

A rhetorical analysis essay may sound complex but the idea is simple. What is needed in this type of essay is the ability to study how speakers and writers apply words to create an influence on their audience. Doing a rhetorical analysis is to break down non-fiction works into sections and then explaining how thesections are merged to form a certain desired effect. In most cases, these words are used to inform, persuade or entertain the audience.

Conducting rhetorical analysis can also be done on a visual argument of an advertisement, image, an oral performance, speech, or cartoon. In your rhetorical analysis essay, you will be expected to look at the goals and objectives of the writer, the techniques applied and examples used, and how effectively they have been used to convey the desired message.

In a rhetorical analysis essay, you don’t say whether you agree with the argument and neither do you disagree with the same. Your work is to discuss how the writer of the work has presented their argument and if they have succeeded in their presentation.  This is very important to remember during your essay writing preparations. It is not a question of whether you agree or not. It is about whether you believe that the writer passed their information articulately using the tools and techniques applied.

Tips to write a rhetorical analysis essay

Now that you know what a rhetorical essay is, you can now proceed to write one. Here are important tips that can be useful in the course of your writing. Remember to do the following:

  • Read and understand the written work. The only way to do a thorough rhetorical analysis is by understanding the main work. Most importantly, do the following:
  • Identify the speaker. Who is speaking? Sometimes, it may be a main character in the work and not the author of the piece. 
  • What’s the context/occasion? Get to know the occasion surrounding the writing.
  • Target audience?  What audience is the information targeted? It is very good to know the people being addressed.
  • The subject of discussion. Understand the main message of the work. 
  • Purpose served. What was the reason behind the communication being made? 
  • Tone used. How has communication been made in the writing? Do you think the audience got it?
  • Identify the techniques and tools used. After going through the written piece of work, pick vital tools and techniques used in the work and study them.  
  • Assess the effectiveness of the writing. The effectiveness of the writing or visual content can be analyzed using the tools applied. Look through your own eyes and share your thoughts on whether you believe effective communication was made.

Final Thoughts 

A rhetorical analysis essay is a great opportunity to digest written or visual works and present genuine opinions about them. You don’t need to agree or disagree with the content. The point is to assess the presentation and tell how effective it was as presented by the speaker, who is not necessarily the author but at times is the main character.

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