Rhetorical Analysis Outline : Rhetorical Analysis Essay Outline

Rhetorical Analysis Outline (With Sample Rhetorical Analysis)

We will begin by saying what rhetorical analysis is NOT because many students end up writing the wrong thing when asked to write a rhetorical analysis.

A rhetorical analysis is NOT a summary of a literary work or scholarly article.

You are, instead, required to apply your critical reading skills in order to "break down” a text with the aim of articulating HOW the author writes, rather than WHAT they actually wrote.

To do this, you will need to analyze the rhetoric strategies (logos, ethos, pathos) the author uses to achieve his or her goal or purpose of writing their piece. Keep in mind that writers of different disciplines often use varying writing strategies in order to achieve their goals, such as to persuade, entertain or inform. So, a scientific article will be analyzed differently from a humanities text.

A rhetorical analysis should explore the writer’s goals, the techniques (or tools) used, examples of those techniques, and the effectiveness of those techniques.

When writing a rhetorical analysis, you are NOT saying whether or not you agree with the argument, but whether the approach used is successful.

Steps for Writing a Rhetorical Analysis

Step 1: Read the Text

The first step in writing a rhetorical analysis is to understand the text, its main arguments, and the thesis statement. You should also note the rhetoric features that the author uses.

Some of the questions that can help you with your analysis include:

• What is the thesis or overall argument that the author presents?
• What did the author choose to study and why?
• What is the writer’s purpose? Is it to inform, to persuade, or to criticize?
• Who is the author’s intended audience?
• How does the writer arrange his or her ideas? Chronologically?
• How does the writer use diction? (Word choice, arrangement, accuracy, is it formal, informal? Technical versus slang?)
• Does the writer use dialogue? Quotations? Why or what effect does it have?
• Are important terms repeated?
• What is the sentence structure of text? Are there fragments, run-ons? Is it declarative, imperative, and exclamatory? What effect does this have?
• Does the writer use punctuation to create an effect? Italics, underlining, parentheses?
• Which marks does the writer use, and when?
• Which rhetorical appeals does the author use? Whether logos, pathos, or ethos.

Step 2: Prepare an Outline for Your Rhetorical Analysis

Rhetorical Analysis Outline

1.0 Introduction

The introduction can be one or two paragraphs. Some of the things you can do in the introduction include:

• Summarizing the text: Write the name of the author and something about them to establish their credibility & authority. You should also state the genre, and title of work, and a phrase containing the major assertion (thesis statement) of the work.
• Writing about the Text’s Guiding Thesis: A statement of the author’s apparent purpose.
• Telling your readers who  the author is: e.g. Scholar, professor, and author, specializing in gender studies
• Telling your readers why the author has the right to write the subject: e.g. personal experience, field expert, etc.
• Telling your readers what the author’s motivation is
• A description of the intended audience and the relationship the author establishes with the audience

2.0 Body Paragraph #1:

• Topic sentence/transition: begin with a transition and topic sentence that reflects the first topic in the thesis
• Use quotes from the text to illustrate how the author uses appeals to ethos. When analyzing ethos, you are analyzing whether the rhetor is perceived by the audience as credible (or not).
• Analysis: explain how the quotes show the effective use of ethos, as noted in the thesis

3.0 Body Paragraph #2:

• Topic sentence/transition: Transition and topic sentence about the second point from the thesis
• Use quotes from the text that illustrates appeals to logos. Logos analyses whether the rhetor attempts to persuade the audience by the use of arguments that they will perceive as logical. Some of the strategies of making logical arguments that you can discuss include the use of analogy, cause, and effect, using testimony and authority, using definition, and syllogism.
• Analysis: more sentences that explain how the quotes show the effective use of logos, as noted in the thesis

4.0 Last Body Paragraph:

• Topic sentence/transition: Transition and topic sentence about the third point from the thesis
• Use quotes from the text to illustrate how the author appeals to pathos. When analyzing the use of pathos, check whether the author attempts to persuade the audience by making them feel certain emotions.
• Analysis: Analysis that explains how the quotes show the effective use of pathos, as noted in the thesis

5.0 Other Body Paragraphs

• Topic sentence/transition: Transition and topic sentence about next point from thesis
• Quotes illustrate how the author uses ethos, pathos, or logos in their text
• Analysis: explains how the quote supports the thesis

6.0 Conclusion

• Restatement of the thesis that digs deeper into the overall intended meaning of the text than the one in the introductory paragraph
• Reflection on examples and main ideas in body paragraphs, the significance of these strategies, AND how they are linked to your thesis.
• State if these were effective in conveying the claim/thesis/purpose.
• Closing thought - closing out the main purpose of the text being analyzed.

7.0 References

Check the style guide to know the appropriate referencing style to use. All the resources that you quoted in the text should be included in the references list. The text that you are analyzing should also be included in the references. IN most cases, this is the only reference.

View a sample rhetoric analysis here