English 1010 Rhetorical Analysis Paper



English 1010 Rhetorical Analysis Paper

Eliza Griswold, a reporter and a poet, will be a keynote speaker at our Writing and Social Justice conference this spring. She reports on religion, conflict and human rights.

To determine what makes her a successful reporter, you should read a couple of her articles and choose one to rhetorically analyze. Two articles are provided here, part one of five daily articles from the online magazine Slate and an article from the print magazine The Atlantic Monthly.

Following are questions to help you analyze the source. Use the answers to these questions to help you write your rhetorical analysis.

Directions: Write responses to the following questions and mark your source to identify passages you can refer to or briefly quote.

Rhetorical context:

1. What is the ongoing public conversation that this source takes up? What else, if anything, has been or is now being said or written about this issue?

2. What historical information, if any, do we need to understand the source?

3. How/where does the source refer to or respond to other texts, debates, or events”

4. What is the relevance and timeliness of the issue (relevance and timeliness is also know as the rhetorical appeal to KAIROS)? For example, is it a current event, a global concern, a national concern, a local concern, a personal one?

5. Who is the writer and what is the writer’s purpose for writing? What does the writer want readers to know, do, think, or believe?

6. Who is the intended audience of the source? Why do you say so? Where was the source published?

7. What is the genre of this source? What are the features of this genre?

Rhetorical appeals:

ETHOS (the character, credibility or authority of the writer)

8. How does the writer present herself? As being knowledgeable, having good judgment, being reliable, trustworthy or credible? Something else? Identify several short passages or phrases that help you form this opinion.

9. How does the writer show that she understands the complexity of the issue? By demonstrating that she understands the variety of viewpoints that readers may bring – or may not be able to bring – to the issue? How else? Give examples.

PATHOS

10. How does the writer appeal to readers’ needs, values, emotions, or shared beliefs? Identify (quote) places in the source where she does so.

LOGOS (the logic of the argument)

11. Does the author provide logical assertions and solid reasons for those assertions? Give examples

12. Does the writer provide convincing evidence to support these assertions or line of reasoning? What kind of evidence? For example does the author use expert testimony from others? Are these others credible? Or does the author use convincing facts, statistics or examples? Identify several instances of effective use of evidence in your source.

13. Does the writer address or ignore opposing arguments?

Given your answers to these questions, how effective do you think Griswold’s article is for her audience? What rhetorical strategies or appeals has the writer used most effectively to make an impact on her readers?

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