Rhetorical Analysis: “I Had a Dream” & “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Common Mistakes

Rhetorical Analysis A rhetorical analysis requires you to apply your critical reading skills in order to “break down” a text. In essence, you break off the “parts” from the “whole” of the piece you’re analyzing. The goal of a rhetorical analysis is to articulate HOW the author writes, rather than WHAT they actually wrote. To do this, you will analyze the strategies the author uses to achieve his or her goal or purpose of writing their piece.

Common Mistakes: Intro Lacking a clear, definitive purpose in the introduction. In a rhetorical analysis, you’re breaking down the way an author is arguing something. You need to show the reader that you understand what that purpose is by stating it clearly in the introduction. Understanding the context of the document. Make sure you clearly understand what you’re writing about. On the exam, this means reading the italics before the document. Don’t make assumptions and don’t guess about the historical context.

Common Mistakes: Purpose/Tone In your thesis, at the end of your introduction, you have two options: Discuss tone first, purpose second. Discuss purpose first, tone second. King establishes his justifications for protesting in an assertive, yet patient tone. King uses an assertive, yet patient tone to establish his justifications for protesting.

Common Mistakes: Analysis Summarizing the quote rather than analyzing the strategies. When you give the quote, you’re essentially “breaking off” a piece of the document to analyze. Don’t restate what the quote says! Rather, explain how & why this “piece” helps the author’s purpose and argument. Be specific! Vaguely stating “King hoped to accomplish his task” does not help the reader. What task? What is he trying to do? How does he do it?