1. The Rhetorical Square
An Introduction

2. What is Rhetoric?
Rhetoric is the art and study of effective speaking and writing.
How can we judge effectiveness? What is our criteria?

3. The Rhetorical Square
The Rhetorical Square is a graphic organizer that helps students analyze and evaluate a piece of writing.
Purpose
Persona
Audience
Content

4. The Rhetorical Square
Effectiveness is the result of a writer achieving his purpose.
Everything a writer does should help him accomplish his purpose.

5. Purpose/Message
The KEY Question: What does the writer hope to accomplish through his writing?
Purpose is expressed through an infinitive verb. Some examples include:
To persuade…. readers that the law is unfair.
To inform…. readers that the zoo is an attraction worth attending.
To critique…. the judge for his involvement with the law.
To entertain….. readers through humor and irony.
To illustrate….the stresses of college.
To recreate….. the experience of a positive first date.

6. Purpose
Often, a writer may have multiple purposes, but there is usually a main purpose.
Some helpful questions to ask yourself:
What does the writer want me to do?
What does the writer want me to believe?
What does the writer want me to know?
How does the writer want me to feel? Why?

7. Audience Audience—Who the writer is addressing/targeting .
If a writer wants to achieve his purpose, he must understand his intended audience.
Some good things to know about your audience:
Age
Background
Education
Experiences
Interests
Values

8. Persona
Persona—the voice, the mask or personality that a writer presents to his audience.
A writer should adopt a mask to help him connect with this audience and ultimately achieve his purpose.
There must be a connection, a trust, before
the audience will believe or listen.
This trust/connection may come from
Shared values
Credibility
Citing Authorities
Using humor
Word Choice
And More!

9. Persona Some helpful questions to ask about persona:
How would I describe the writer?
What values does the writer seem to hold?
What makes me believe or trust this writer?
When you analyze persona, consider values:
Freedom
Education
Fairness
Equality
The list goes on and on…
and personality descriptions:
Educated
Experienced
Professional
Compassionate
Humble
Authoritative
The list goes on and on….

10. Content
Content is what the writer includes in his writing. This is a HUGE category and can include:
Figurative Language
Examples
Diction
Method of organization (compare and contrast, narrative, expository)
Genre (editorial, speech, letter, essay, etc.)
Point of view
And much more!!

11. It All Adds Up! If a writer wants to achieve his purpose, he must:
Understand his audience
Adopt a persona that gains the respect and trust of the audience
Include content that will portray this type of persona
Include content that contributes to his purpose