1. Rhetorical Analysis Review
Elements
Appeals
Devices

2. Rhetoric Definition: The art of speaking, writing and communicating
effectively.
Purpose:
Rhetoric is a tool writers and speakers use in order to
influence the judgment or feelings of the readers and
listeners.

3. Review of Rhetorical Elements

4. S - Speaker Who is the writer/speaker/author?
What are his credentials/ background / authority?
What is his stance (position)?
Curious?
Opinioned?
Passionate?
Indifferent?
Something else?

5. O – Occasion Circumstances that created the need for the text When?
Where?
What caused the writing to happen?
What’s the broader issue, the big picture?
The immediate situation?
Atmosphere
Attitudes
Current events
Cultural beliefs
Geographic location

6. A - Audience Who is the intended audience?
Are you a member of that group?
If not, you should plan to look up unfamiliar terms/concepts

7. P - Purpose WHY does the text exist? What is the writer’s goal?
What does he want to achieve?
Entertain?
Inform?
Persuade?
Describe
What does he want you to think or to do now?

8. What is the text about? S - Subject Specific / general?
Current / timeless?

9. T - Tone Attitude of the speaker/author
Helps to determine what the author means
Methods the speaker might use
Diction (choice of words)
Syntax (sentence construction)
Imagery
Metaphors
Similes
Figurative language

10. G - Genre What is the medium/genre the text is written in? Speech?
Essay?
Letter?
Book – fiction/nonfiction?
Web?
Ad?
Publisher / Sponsor?
Date of publication?
Reputable?
Credible?

11. Rhetorical Appeals - Let’s Review
logos

12. Using the appeals to persuade
Video link

13. Can some advertisements have more than one appeal?
Yes! The more appeals used in an ad the more likely the consumer is to connect with it. For the purposes of this lesson, select the predominant appeal used in each ad.

14. Ethos, Pathos, or Logos?

15. Ethos, Pathos, or Logos?

16. Ethos, Pathos, or Logos?

17. Ethos, Pathos, or Logos?

18. Ethos, Pathos, or Logos?

19. Rhetorical Devices

20. Allusion
Literary, historical, religious, or mythological REFERENCE to something well-known by many.
Ex: “…yourselves from those narrow prejudices which you have imbibed with respect to them and as Job proposed to his friends, ‘put yourself in their souls stead,’…”
Job- who suffers a great deal but remains faithful; from an OT character whose faith in God was tested by Satan; though he lost his family and belongings, he remained patient and faithful

21. Connotation Denotation
IMPLIED, underlying meaning of a word
DICTIONARY DEFINITION of a word

22. Diction
WORD CHOICE
High level, low level, emotional, vehement, etc.

23. Hyperbole
EXTREME EXAGGERATION
Look, there’s an allusion too!

24. Imagery
SENSORY DETAIL to evoke feeling or emotion or to describe; the 5 senses
Ex: “Her cheeks were rosy and so was my love – bursting with fragrance and softness.”

25. Irony AN IMPLIED DIFFERENCE
VERBAL: Difference between what is said and what is meant
SITUATIONAL: Difference between what you are led to expect and what actually happens
DRAMATIC: Difference between what one character knows and what the audience knows (We know something the character does not know.)
Clarification: If I say, “Gee, I really wish it would snow,” and it starts snowing immediately, that is apropos (too perfect). It is NOT ironic. (There is no DIFFERENCE between what I wanted and what happened.)

26. Metaphor Comparison without using LIKE or AS
Direct: A sea of troubles OR
Indirect: His depression was vast, swelled by troubles that perpetually crested and fell.

27. He is as pretty as your mom.
Simile
comparison using LIKE or AS
He is as pretty as your mom.

28. Symbolism Ex: Golden Arches represent McDonald’s
person, place, or thing that REPRESENTS something
Ex: Golden Arches represent McDonald’s
2ND PERIOD STOPPED HERE.

29. Syntax The way words and sentences are arranged
Sentences can be short and choppy or long and flowing. Pay close attention to the punctuation. 29

30. It all fits together – and overlaps!

31. Speaker/ Ethos Purpose Audience/ Pathos Subject/ Logos Occasion/
context
Occasion/
context
Purpose
Audience/
Pathos
Subject/
Logos
Occasion/
context