Chapter 2 - Rhetorical Analysis

For many people, particularly those in the media, the term “rhetoric” has a largely negative connotation. If you search GoogleNews or a news database for the word “rhetoric,” you’re likely to find journalists using the word to describe a politician’s “empty rhetoric” or characterizing a political speech as “just a bunch of rhetoric.” In this context, the writer means that a politician’s words lack substance, that the purpose of those words is more about manipulation rather than meaning. However, this negative definition, though quite common these days, does not offer a complete understanding of what rhetoric is. Rhetoric is more about clearly expressing substance and meaning than avoiding them.

This chapter will clarify what rhetorical analysis means and will help you identify the elements of rhetorical analysis through explanation and examples.

1.       What is rhetoric?

2.       What is a rhetorical situation?

3.       What is rhetorical analysis?

3.1. Rhetorical Analysis Questions

3.2. Ethos

3.3. Pathos

3.4. Logos

4.       Striking A Balance

1. What is rhetoric?

Simply defined, rhetoric is the study and practice of effective communication. Rhetoric is both a “study and practice” because you can examine the strategies others use to attempt to communicate (rhetorical analysis) and use those strategies yourself in your attempts to communicate.

As a reader and listener, understanding the strategies others use to attempt to communicate with you can help you evaluate the strength of their arguments. As a writer or speaker, knowing about the wide variety of strategies you can use to communicate will allow you to select the best approach when trying to persuade someone.

Exercise: You Already Use Rhetoric

Write for 5-10 minutes about a time you tried convincing someone to do something. The time you think of could be something simple (e.g., trying to convince your friend to loan you $5) or something more complicated (e.g., trying to convince your parent to vote for a particular presidential candidate). As you write, consider the following questions:

• Who did you try to convince to do something?
• What course of action were you hoping to get them to take?
• What made you want to get them to undertake that course of action?
• How, through what means, did you attempt to reach them?
• What did you do or say in your attempt to convince them to take that course of action?
• Were you successful? Why or why not?

2. What is a rhetorical situation?

Essentially, a rhetorical situation is the context of a situation in which someone is trying to get someone else to think, feel, or do something in particular. A rhetorical situation comprises a handful of key elements, which should be identified before attempting to analyze and evaluate the quality and effectiveness of a piece of rhetoric or before attempting to craft your argument.

In what follows, we outline the main elements of a rhetorical situation and offer an example situation.

• Exigence—The pressing or urgent need that inspires a person to communicate.
  • Example: Back at home, you had a group of friends who all loved to play board games, like Settlers of Catan, Wingspan, and Pandemic. Here at Berea College, you haven’t met folks who like board games as much as you. There’s your exigence—you need a student organization for board game players.
• Purpose—The goal a person has when communicating.
  • Example: After recognizing the pressing need for a student group dedicated to board games, your purpose becomes persuading the College to approve a new student club.
• Rhetor—The person communicating and working toward their purpose. Depending on the rhetorical situation, a rhetor could be a writer, speaker, artist, filmmaker, advertiser, and so on.
  • Example: You, Berea College board game lover, are the rhetor.
• Audience—The person who is receiving the communication. Depending on the rhetorical situation, an audience may be a reader, listener, viewer, and so on.
  • Example: Since the Student Government Association & Student Life approve new student clubs and organizations, those groups will need to be the audience for your argument about starting a board game club.
• Message—The content of the communication.
  • Example message: Berea College should have a board game club.
  • Rhetorical Appeals—Methods of persuasion to help a rhetor communicate effectively.
    • Ethos—How a piece of rhetoric works to establish the rhetor’s credibility. To appeal to ethos, a rhetor must demonstrate goodwill toward the audience and a clear sense of right and wrong.
      • Example: You communicate respectfully to the Student Government Association & Student Life, and you fill out forms carefully and submit them on time.
    • Logos—The good reasons in support of the message. Think of these good reasons as the “because clauses” that follow the statement of an argument.
      • Example: Berea College should have a board game club because it would create community among students, because it is a relatively affordable club to start and maintain, and because board games teach collaboration and strategic thinking.
    • Pathos—How a piece of rhetoric inspires an emotional response in an audience.
      • Example pathos: You try to make the Student Government Association and Student Life feel bad for you and other board game students by describing how you had to knock on every door in your residence hall to find someone to play a board game with. Or you could try to make your readers feel excited about your idea by including photographs of a student group enjoying board games together on the library patio.
  • Medium—How a rhetor gets a message to an audience. Depending on the rhetorical situation, the medium may be a speech, a letter, an essay, a video, a podcast, an email, and so on.
    • Example: You give a brief presentation at a Student Government Association meeting.
• Context
  • Setting
    • Time—When a rhetor delivers their message.
      • Example: Since the Student Government Association meets at 7 pm on the third Thursday of the month, that is when you will deliver your brief speech. (Note: we’ve made up this meeting schedule for our example—if you want to get involved, start by emailing Student Government to learn more about their actual meetings!)
    • Place—Where a rhetor delivers their message.
      • Example: The Student Government Association meetings occur in a large meeting room in the Alumni Building, so that will be the location of your speech.
  • Constraints—The obstacles a rhetor must overcome or adapt to reach their audience.
    • Example: Each speaker from the campus community is only granted 3 minutes to present to the Student Government Association.
    • Genre—The format and style expected of a given piece of communication. In certain rhetorical situations, the genre may have strict expectations (a job application, for example); in others, there may be loose expectations (a short story, for example).
      • Example: In this specific case, the genre of a town hall-like speech may come with certain expectations, like sticking to the time limit and thanking the listeners for their time.
  • Resources—The assets a rhetor can marshal to help them reach their audience.
    • Example: You have taken L&I 1 at Berea College, so you have excellent rhetoric, writing, and speaking skills!

As may be becoming clear, a rhetor has many choices to make in a rhetorical situation. Who a rhetor should target their message to, for example, isn’t always obvious—should you speak to the Student Government Association, or should you first try to persuade a few classmates to support your idea so that you can present a “united front” at the Student Government Association meeting? Additionally, one part of a rhetorical situation can affect others. For example, if you only have 3 minutes (a constraint), you may not be able to present all three of the good points you identified as the logos for your argument. If you can only present two good reasons, which should you choose?

Exercise: Your Rhetorical Situation

Return to the situation that you wrote about in the previous exercise. Try to identify the elements of the rhetorical situation (exigence, audience, message, etc.) from that situation you experienced. If you could go back in time and change some aspect of what you did, what would you change? For example, maybe you’d present a different good reason in support of your argument. Or perhaps you’d reach out to your audience through text instead of face-to-face conversation?

3. What is a rhetorical analysis?

Rhetorical analysis means scrutinizing how and evaluating how effectively a rhetor communicates their message or argument to an audience. Taking the time to analyze the rhetoric of your readings can help you judge whether you should be persuaded by what the rhetor suggests. Moreover, analyzing a text’s rhetoric can give you ideas that you might want to “steal” for your own writing. For example, suppose when analyzing Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” you find yourself particularly impressed by King’s use of the genre of an open letter to reach multiple audiences at once. In that case, you may decide to write an open letter to your own community.

3.1 Rhetorical Analysis Questions

All the elements of the rhetorical situation can be turned into questions to help you pick apart the complexities of a piece of rhetoric.

• Who is the rhetor of this text? How can you tell? What evidence in the text allows you to conclude who the rhetor is?
• What pressing concern was the text written in response to? How can you tell what the exigence is?
• What is the rhetor’s purpose in composing this piece of rhetoric? What are they hoping to achieve? How can you tell? Are they trying to teach their audience? Entertain them? Convince them to undertake some particular course of action? Something else?
• Who is the audience for this piece of rhetoric? Or is it possible the rhetor has multiple audiences in mind? How can you tell who the rhetor imagines as a reader or listener for this essay or speech? What features of the text (and context) allow you to draw conclusions about who the audience is? For example, does the rhetor use highly formal, academic language? Or a more simplistic style? What might that tell you about who the rhetor imagines as their audience?
• When was this text published or presented? Is there any evidence in the text that what was happening at the time (culturally, politically, globally, etc.) influenced the text? If yes, what?
• Where was this text published or presented? What other kinds of texts are typically published and presented there?
• What are some of the likely constraints the rhetor faced when entering this rhetorical situation? Is this kind of text associated with certain genre expectations? If so, what are they?
• What are some likely resources the rhetor could draw upon in this situation?
• What is the message/argument of this text? What seems to be its overall point or points?
• How does the rhetor their ethos in their text? Is the rhetor credible? How can you tell? What clues are there within—or outside of?—the text that helps you gauge whether this rhetor is trustworthy, has goodwill toward their audience, and demonstrates good moral sense?
• What is the logos of this text? What good reasons does the writer present in support of their main point? Which reasons do you find the most persuasive? Which are the least convincing? In what order does the rhetor present their good reasons?
• How does the writer appeal to pathos in their text? How do they try to get their audience to feel something about their argument?
• Through what medium did the rhetor communicate their message? What are the benefits of their selected medium? How would communicating through a different medium potentially change how the rhetor made their argument?

Because the rhetorical appeals—ethos, logos, pathos—are often what readers focus on when performing rhetorical analysis, we will offer additional detail below about how to examine those particular elements of a rhetorical situation.

3.2 The Appeal to Ethos

Literally translated, ethos means “character.” In this case, it refers to the character of the rhetor, or more specifically, their credibility. A writer needs to establish credibility so the audience will trust them and thus be more willing to engage with their argument. If a writer fails to establish a sufficient ethical appeal, then the audience will not take the writer’s argument seriously.

For example, if someone writes an article that gets published in an academic journal, in a reputable newspaper or magazine, or on a credible website, those places of publication already imply a certain level of credibility. If the article is about a scientific issue and the writer is a scientist or has certain academic or professional credentials that relate to the article’s subject, that also will lend credibility to the writer. Finally, if that writer shows that they are knowledgeable about the subject by providing clear explanations of points and by presenting information honestly and straightforwardly, that also helps to establish a writer’s credibility.

When evaluating a writer’s ethical appeal, ask the following questions:

• Does the writer come across as reliable?
  • Viewpoint is logically consistent throughout the text
  • Does not use hyperbolic (exaggerated) language
  • Has an even, objective tone (not malicious but also not gushing or sycophantic)
  • Does not come across as subversive or manipulative
• Does the writer come across as authoritative and knowledgeable?
  • Explains concepts and ideas thoroughly
  • Addresses any counter-arguments and successfully rebuts them
  • Uses a sufficient amount of relevant sources
  • Shows an understanding of the sources used
• What kind of credentials or experience does the writer have?
  • Look at byline or biographical info
  • Identify any personal or professional experience mentioned in the text
  • Has been published in reputable venues

Recognizing a Manipulative Appeal to Ethos:

In a perfect world, everyone would tell the truth, and we could depend upon the credibility of speakers and authors. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. You would expect news reporters to be accurate and tell news stories based on the facts; however, Janet Cooke, Stephen Glass, Jayson Blair, and Brian Williams all lost their jobs for plagiarizing or fabricating part of their news stories. Janet Cooke’s Pulitzer Prize was revoked after it was discovered that she made up “Jimmy,” an eight-year-old heroin addict (Prince, 2010). Brian Williams was fired as anchor of the NBC Nightly News for exaggerating his role in the Iraq War.

Figure 0.2, Brian Williams at the 2011 Time 100 gala by David Shankbone courtesy Wikimedia, CC-BY 3.0

Others have become infamous for claiming academic degrees they didn’t earn, like in the case of Marilee Jones. At the time of discovery, she was Dean of Admissions at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). After 28 years of employment, it was determined that she never graduated from college (Lewin, 2007).

Beyond lying about their credentials, authors may employ a number of tricks or fallacies to lure you to their point of view. Some of the more common techniques are described in the next chapter. When you recognize these fallacies, you should question the speaker’s credibility and the argument’s legitimacy. If you use these when making your arguments, be aware that they may undermine or destroy your credibility.

Exercise: Analyzing Ethos

Choose an article from the links provided below. Preview your chosen text, then read through it, paying special attention to how the writer tries to establish an ethical appeal. Once you have finished reading, use the bullet points above to analyze the effectiveness of the writer’s appeal to ethos.

“Charging the parents in Michigan shooting sends a powerful message” by Kara Alaimo

“Love Letters: Mail and phone calls may be archaic, but they have lessons for us on how to be better communicators” by Melissa Kirch

“The Character-Building Tool Kit” by David Brooks

3.3 The Appeal to Pathos

Literally translated, pathos means “suffering.” In rhetoric, it refers to emotion, or more specifically, the writer’s appeal to the audience’s emotions. When a writer establishes an effective pathetic appeal, she makes the audience care about what she is saying. If the audience does not care about the message, they will not engage with the argument.

For example, consider this: A writer is crafting a speech for a politician who is running for office, and in it, the writer raises a point about Social Security benefits. To make the audience feel more emotionally connected to what the politician says, the writer inserts a story about Mary, an 80-year-old widow who relies on her Social Security benefits to supplement her income. While visiting Mary the other day, sitting at her kitchen table and eating a piece of her delicious homemade apple pie, the writer recounts how the politician held Mary’s delicate hand and promised that her benefits would be safe if he were elected. Ideally, the writer wants the audience to feel sympathy or compassion for Mary because then they will feel more open to considering the politician’s views on Social Security (and maybe even other issues).

When evaluating a writer’s pathetic appeal, ask the following questions:

Does the writer try to engage or connect with the audience by making the subject matter relatable somehow?

• Does the writer have an interesting writing style?
• Does the writer use humor at any point?
• Does the writer use narration, such as storytelling or anecdotes, to add interest or to help humanize a certain issue within the text?
• Does the writer use descriptive or attention-grabbing details?
• Are there hypothetical examples that help the audience to imagine themselves in specific scenarios?
•  Does the writer use other examples in the text that might emotionally appeal to the audience?
• Are there any visual appeals to pathos, such as photographs or illustrations?

Recognizing a Manipulative Appeal to Pathos:

Up to a certain point, an appeal to pathos can be a legitimate part of an argument. For example, a writer or speaker may begin with an anecdote showing the effect of a law on an individual. This anecdote is a way to gain an audience’s attention for an argument in which evidence and reason are used to present a case for why the law should or should not be repealed or amended. In such a context, engaging the audience’s emotions, values, or beliefs is a legitimate and effective tool that strengthens the argument.

An appropriate appeal to pathos is different than trying to unfairly play upon the audience’s feelings and emotions through fallacious, misleading, or excessively emotional appeals. Such a manipulative use of pathos may alienate the audience or cause them to “tune out.” An example would be the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) commercials featuring the song “In the Arms on an Angel” and footage of abused animals. Even Sarah McLachlan, the singer and spokesperson featured in the commercials, admits that she changes the channel because they are too depressing (Brekke, 2014).

Even if an appeal to pathos is not overly manipulative, such an appeal should complement rather than replace reason and evidence-based argument. In addition to using pathos, the author must establish her credibility (ethos) and supply reasons and evidence (logos) in support of her position. An author who essentially replaces logos and ethos with pathos alone does not present a strong argument.

Exercise: Analyzing Pathos

In the movie Braveheart, the Scottish military leader, William Wallace, played by Mel Gibson, gives a speech to his troops just before they get ready to go into battle against the English army of King Edward I.

Step 1: When watching the movie clip, try to gauge the general emotional atmosphere. Do the men seem calm or nervous? Confident or skeptical? Are they eager to go into battle, or are they ready to retreat?  

Step 2: Consider these questions:

• What issues does Wallace address?
• Who is his audience?
• How does the audience view the issues at hand?

Step 3: Next, analyze Wallace’s use of pathos in his speech.

How does he try to connect with his audience emotionally?  Since this is a speech that appeals to the audience in person, consider his overall look and what he says.

• How would you describe his manner or attitude?
• How would you describe his tone?
• Identify examples of language that appeal to pathos: words, phrases, imagery, collective pronouns (we, us, our).
• How do all of these factors help him establish a pathetic appeal?

Step 4: Once you’ve identified the various ways that Wallace tries to establish his appeal to pathos, the final step is to evaluate the effectiveness of that appeal.

• Do you think he has successfully established a pathetic appeal?  Why or why not?
• What does he do well in establishing pathos?
• What could he improve, or what could he do differently to make his pathetic appeal even stronger?

3.4 The Appeal to Logos

Literally translated, logos means “word.”  In rhetoric, it refers to information, or more specifically, the writer’s appeal to logic and reason. A successful logical appeal provides organized information as well as evidence to support the overall argument. If a writer fails to establish a logical appeal, then the argument will lack in both sense and substance.

For example, refer to the previous example of the politician’s speech writer to understand the importance of having a solid logical appeal. What if the writer had only included the story about 80-year-old Mary without providing any statistics, data, or concrete plans for how the politician proposed to protect Social Security benefits? Without any factual evidence for the proposed plan, the audience would not have been as likely to accept his proposal, and rightly so.

When evaluating a writer’s logical appeal, ask the following questions:

Does the writer organize his information clearly?

• Ideas are connected by transition words and phrases
• Ideas have a clear and purposeful order

Does the writer provide evidence to back up his claims?

• Specific examples
• Relevant source material

Does the writer use sources and data to support his claims rather than base the argument purely on emotion?

• Does the writer use concrete facts and figures, statistics, dates/times, specific names/titles, graphs/charts/tables?
• Are the sources that the writer uses credible?
• Where do the sources come from? (Who wrote/published them?)
• When were the sources published?
• Are the sources well-known, respected, and/or peer-reviewed (if applicable) publications?

Recognizing a Manipulative Appeal to Logos:

Pay particular attention to numbers, statistics, findings, and quotes used to support an argument. Be critical of the source and do your own investigation of the facts. Remember: what initially looks like a fact may not actually be one. Maybe you’ve heard or read that half of all marriages in America will end in divorce. It is so often discussed that we assume it must be true. Careful research will show that the original marriage study was flawed, and divorce rates in America have steadily declined since 1985 (Peck, 1993). If there is no scientific evidence, why do we continue to believe it? Part of the reason might be that it supports the common worry of the dissolution of the American family.

Fallacies that misuse appeals to logos or attempt to manipulate the logic of an argument are discussed in the next chapter.

Exercise: Analyzing Logos

Hot takes on A.I. are everywhere. Some argue that A.I. is the future and contend that colleges and universities must embrace teaching students how to use A.I. if they want graduates to keep up. Others worry that introducing A.I. into the college classroom will encourage students to avoid learning and thinking for themselves. While proponents on each side of this issue have solid reasons to support their claims, you will read about a writer who argues that A.I. isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Your aim in this rhetorical exercise is not to figure out where you stand on this issue; rather, your aim is to evaluate how effectively the writer establishes a logical appeal to support her position, whether you agree with her or not.

“The Tech Fantasy That Powers A.I. is Running on Fumes” by Tressie McMillan Cottom

Step 1: Before reading the article, take a minute to preview the text, which is a critical reading skill explained in the previous chapter.

Step 2: Once you have a general idea of the article, read through it and pay attention to how the author organizes information and uses evidence, annotating or marking these instances when you see them.

Step 3: After reviewing your annotations, evaluate the organization of the article as well as the amount and types of evidence that you have identified by answering the following questions:

• Does the information progress logically throughout the article?
  • Does the writer use transitions to link ideas?
  • Do ideas in the article have a clear sense of order, or do they appear scattered and unfocused?
• Was the amount of evidence in the article proportionate to the size of the article?
  • Was there too little of it, just enough, or was there an overload of evidence?
• Was the evidence relevant to the writer’s argument?
• Were the examples clearly explained?
• Were sources cited or clearly referenced?
• Were the sources credible?  How could you tell?

4. Striking a Balance:

The foundations of rhetoric interconnect in such a way that a writer often needs to establish all of the rhetorical appeals to make a compelling argument. If a writer lacks a pathetic appeal and only tries to establish a logical appeal, the audience may be unable to connect emotionally with the writer and overall argument. Likewise, if a writer lacks a logical appeal and tries to rely solely on subjective or emotionally driven examples, the audience will not take the writer seriously. An argument based purely on opinion and emotion cannot hold up without facts and evidence to support it. If a writer lacks either the pathetic or logical appeal, then the writer’s ethical appeal will suffer. Typically, all of the appeals must be sufficiently established for a writer to communicate effectively with his audience unless the rhetorical situation is such that the audience will not value one of the appeals—for example, certain readers may not care if an argument is informed by facts. In that situation, the rhetor will need to ask themselves if they are making an ethical argument and contributing to the public good or potentially using rhetoric to mislead or harm.

For a visual example, watch violinist Joshua Bell show how the rhetorical situation determines the effectiveness of all types of communication, even music.

Exercise: Rhetorical Analysis

Step 1: Read the linked article below and take notes, or print and annotate a copy.

Step 2: Next, using the information and steps outlined in this chapter, identify the rhetorical situation in the text. In particular, focus on identifying the purpose of the article.

Step 3: Then, identify and analyze how the writer tries to establish the rhetorical appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos throughout that text.

Step 4: Finally, evaluate how effectively you think the writer establishes the rhetorical appeals, and defend your evaluation by noting specific examples you’ve annotated.

“This may be the most lead polluted place on Earth. Is there any hope?” by Julie Bourdin

Key Takeaways:

Understanding the Rhetorical Situation:

• Identify the exigence, the pressing or urgent need that inspires a person to communicate.
• Identify the purpose, the goal a person has when communicating.
• Identify the rhetor, the person who is doing the communicating.
• Identify the audience, the person who is listening, reading, or watching the piece of rhetoric.
• Identify the message, the content of the communication.
• Identify the medium, the method of communication.
• Identify the genre, the kind of text with its accompanying conventions or expectations.
• Identify the setting, the time and the place of a piece of rhetoric.
• Identify the constraints, the obstacles a rhetor has working against them.
• Identify the resources, the assets a rhetor has working for them.

Identifying the Rhetorical Appeals:

• Ethos = the writer’s credibility
• Pathos = the writer’s emotional appeal to the audience
• Logos = the writer’s logical appeal to the audience

In sum, effective communication is based on understanding the rhetorical situation and balancing the rhetorical appeals.

CC Licensed Content, Shared Previously

English Composition I , CC-BY 4.0, by Lumen Learning.

English Composition II, CC-BY 4.0, by Lumen Learning

Image Credits

Figure 0.1 “A Balanced Argument”, CC-O, by Virginia Western Community College.

Figure 0.2, “Brian Williams at the 2011 Time 100 Gala”, by David Shankbone, Wikimedia, CC-BY 3.0.

Figure 0.3 “An Unbalanced Argument”, CC-O, by Virginia Western Community College.

References

Brekke, Kira. “Sarah McLachlan: ‘I Change The Channel’ When My ASPCA Commercials Come On.” Huffington Post. 5 May 2014.

Peck, Dennis, L. “The Fifty Percent Divorce Rate: Deconstructing a Myth.” The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare. Vol. 20, no.3, 1993, pp. 135-144.