RHETORICAL ANALYSIS THIS IS HOW WE DO. . . .

Use of language to achieve a purpose WHAT IS RHETORIC? Use of language to achieve a purpose

THINking rhetorically WRITER – “USER” purpose audience message W T R READER – “RECEIVER” understanding connection perception TEXT – “VEHICLE” say? mean? matter?

YOUr “JOB” in writing rhetorical analysis TO DECONSTRUCT THE TEXT IN QUESTION AND EXPLAIN TO YOUR READER HOW THE AUTHOR HAS DONE WHATEVER HE/SHE DID & IF IT WAS EFFECTIVE OR HOW IT WAS EFFECTIVE IN ACHIEVING PURPOSE.

READ LIKE A WRITER APPEALS CONTEXTUAL UNDERSTANDING Tools At Your disposal READ LIKE A WRITER APPEALS CONTEXTUAL UNDERSTANDING

READ LIKE A WRITER USE TECHNIQUES YOU KNOW TO NOTICE THINGS ABOUT THE TEXT ITSELF – the word choice, conventions, organization, analogies, imagery, choices the writer makes.

Appeals + KAIROS LOGOS - EVIDENCE Be right ETHOS - CREDIBILITY Be decent ETHOS - CREDIBILITY Be charming PATHOS - EMOTION

CONTEXT So what is context? The interrelated background conditions and details surrounding the author, the reader, and the text itself. It includes prior knowledge of and influences on both the reader and the writer. (Like “the Force” it surrounds us and binds us together . . .)

Literary analysis vs. rhetorical analysis Text only (and its context) Find a message/point Find evidence & support your claim Go beyond the text Consider the author & the HOW LIT. ANALYSIS RHET. ANALYSIS

THE ASSIGNMENT: Choose a text for analysis – be sure to know who WROTE it/should be the artist (or one of them if in a group) Rap/hip-hop song or other music that is word-filled and text-rich Listen to it – LOTS of times – *watch the video if you want Print out the lyrics – get really familiar with them Be sure to pick a text that “says something” – something meaningful NOT just something obscene Consider what it MEANS Consider HOW the author uses RHETORIC to achieve a purpose (what is that purpose?) – to do something. Use the TOOLS at your disposal to deconstruct the writing to better explain its existence – its reason for being WRITE IT UP

Other items to note: Write in present tense (as you do about lit. – it happens anew each time) You will need to use MLA citation to cite quotes you use from the text itself You will have to include quotes See MLA review handout Keep song citation simple – by artist/author in-text and according to the format on Purdue OWL for works cited - *YES, you’ll need a works cited page You will need to provide the lyrics to the song you choose (in addition to your paper) NO, it doesn’t count as a page of your paper. You can copy and paste, be sure to put the title and author at the top Optionally, you might provide a link to the video version of the song (if there is one) *We might include these in blogposts later this semester if time allows