"Rhetoric is the function of adjusting ideas to people and of people to ideas."
- Donald C. Bryant (contemporary rhetorician) Quote 1
- Donald C. Bryant (contemporary rhetorician) Quote 1
According to Inventing Arguments, rhetoric is the the art of finding the best available means of persuasion for a given audience. A rhetorical analysis means evaluating how the author of an argument uses the rhetorical appeals to create an affective case and persuade his or her audience. This means, dissecting the argument to analyze the logos, ethos, pathos, kairos, and contraints within the piece. If done correctly, the use of these rhetorical appeals allows an argument to be persuasive, relevant, and engaging.
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The goal of a rhetorical analysis is to determine how effective the author is in using the three rhetorical appeals to deliver his or her argument. The image above labels the three rhetorical appeals: ethos, logos and pathos. Ethos is how the writer establishes credibility and can be classified as either intrinsic or extrinsic (go to ethos page for explanation . Logos is how the author appeals to the audience's sense of reason. Pathos is how the writer identifies with the audience's values or beliefs and appeals to their emotions (Inventing Arguments).
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Apart from the three rhetorical appeals, there are many other aspects of an argument that one must identify when preforming a rhetorical analysis of a piece of work. First, you must use stasis theory, action, definition, value, cause and effect, and jurisdiction, to determine the exigency and audience for the argument. Second, is deciding who the intended audience of the work is. When this is determined, it is clear to establish what the values of the audience are and if the author shapes his or her argument to meet them Last, you must examine if the evidence used in support of the main claims meets the "STAR" criteria. The "STAR" criteria is:
Along with this, analyze the constraints of the argument, which are stabilizing factors that inhibit certain effects of the argument from occurring, usually pertaining to the argument’s audience (Inventing Arguments). |