16.1: Rhetorical Analysis--Readings

15.1.1 What’s rhetorical analysis?

The act of conducting a rhetorical analysis on a text is fairly different from the work you’ve done with other texts as you compose other academic essays. Rhetorical analysis is analyzing the rhetorical moves made in a text and deciding if they are effective in persuading their intended audience. When we rhetorically analyze a text, we are not primarily concerned with what is stated, but rather how it is stated. This differs from what we do most of the time in college writing. In college writing, we typically write about the topics, themes, arguments, and evidence in a text—we don’t concern ourselves with how the information is presented. We provide quotes or paraphrases from the text because we believe they do a “good” or “bad” job of arguing the point, and therefore they directly or indirectly support our argument. In rhetorical analysis, we seek to determine if and how a text is rhetorically effective. Something that is rhetorically effective simply achieves its purpose—rhetorical analysis does not make a claim about whether or not the argument of the text is right or wrong.

Consider the following examples that illustrate how a rhetorical analysis of a text differs from our “regular” academic use of a text:

Source Text

“The Goose Diet Trend: To Honk or Not To Honk” The Fake Magazine, July 2023, by Dr. Michael Gosling

The Goose Diet, commonly known as “honking” on social media, is a growing trend in which teens and adults eat nothing but grass clippings in an effort to lose weight and, reportedly get “goose juiced”—meaning they take on the fearless aggression of a nesting Canadian goose. However, from my 10 1-month studies on the impact of grass clippings on adult human diets, and as a biologist, dietician, and medical doctor, I can definitively say that grass clippings are not a viable alternative to the standard adult diet and in fact present serious health hazards if consumed exclusively. In the study, American adults aged 24-50 ate up to 10lbs of grass clippings per day, until satiated. They ate nothing else but were free to drink as much water as desired. Overall, 90% of participants lost 20% of their body weight or more and were severely malnourished. 71% of that 80% had B vitamin and amino acid deficiencies that caused severe symptoms (psychosis, agitation, malaise, explosions) and acute disease. Further, all participants (100%) complained of extreme anxiety and depression resulting from the horror of eating grass clippings for every single meal and snack. 90% of participants reported spells of uncontrollable crying at each mealtime. I implore the public to not eat grass clippings exclusively or primarily—your health is at risk if you do. At most, grass clippings should be an occasional snack accompanied by your preferred proteins and fruits.

 

How you would typically interact with the source in an academic writing assignment:

 

•      Ex 1: Despite the claims made by the TikTok influencers noted above, eating only grass clippings is actually quite dangerous to your health: “Overall, 90% of participants lost 20% of their body weight or more and were severely malnourished. 71% of that 80% had B vitamin and amino acid deficiencies that caused severe symptoms and acute disease” (Gosling). Clearly, this trend is not only not worth it, it’s creating a health problem.

•      Ex 2: While perhaps only being safe and tolerable for a small minority of people, the Goose Diet really does work: In a set of studies conducted by famed Dr. Micheal Gosling, “90% of participants lost 20% of their body weight“ in a single month. This is substantially more weight loss than conventional means, or even other restrictive diets.

What we do in a rhetorical analysis:

Dr. Gosling effectively argues his point mostly by using logos. He uses the results of his studies to convince the reader that the Goose Diet is in fact dangerous. He states, “Overall, 90% of participants lost 20% of their body weight or more and were severely malnourished. 71% of that 80% had B vitamin and amino acid deficiencies that caused severe symptoms (psychosis, agitation, malaise, explosions) and acute disease.” From these metrics, the reasonable reader would likely conclude that the benefits of the diet do not outweigh the detrimental aspects of it. The author’s scant use of ethos does also help—since the reader understands him to be an expert in diet and human health, they are inclined to believe him, and they don’t need much more than that.  Gosling also peppers in pathos, using words like “extreme” and “horror” to subtly emphasize his reading of the results and further convince the reader of his argument.

Notice that rhetorical analysis isn’t about whether or not the author’s argument is true or even valid—it’s about how the author made the argument to their intended audience.

In rhetorical analysis, we are very concerned with how the argument is presented by the author/creator to their audience. To properly rhetorically analyze a text, we first need to understand the Rhetorical Situation, as discussed in the previous chapter. Let’s review a few items.

 

Review: What is rhetoric?

Rhetoric is persuasive communication, or the art of persuasive speaking, writing, or otherwise communicating through a text. The persuasion that rhetoric refers to is usually understood as intentional, e.g. the creator of a text must have the intention to persuade in order for it to be rhetorically analyzed. However, many rhetoricians (people who study rhetoric and/or carefully craft their own text based on the rules of rhetoric) argue that every communication is rhetoric because we are always trying to persuade someone of something.

The term “rhetoric” is often pejoratively used to refer to language or texts that are clever or cunning, but lacking substance, or in reference to a text that is artfully done but with scarce, poor-quality, or false content. For instance, someone might say “all his rhetoric is a waste of time” regarding a politician’s floral descriptions and promises he couldn’t possibly fulfill in his role. In this way, rhetoric is sometimes used to indicate trickery or deception. These are colloquial understandings of rhetoric: the studying and employing of rhetorical principles from the Aristotelian method that we’re using, is actually a pursuit of truth. By considering the audience’s characteristics, experiences, needs, and desires and then tailoring the messaging of the content to that, rhetoric seeks to convey the content—the truthful content—in ways that the audience is able and/or willing to consume. Rhetoric is misused when, in considering the audience, it seeks to manipulate the truth or the will of the audience.

In short, rhetoric refers to how something is said, written, or otherwise conveyed, rather than what is said.

What’s a text?

Anything that can be “read,” i.e., consumed and interpreted. A book, an article, a YouTube video, a TikTok, a presidential campaign poster, and a syllabus are all examples of texts.

 

The Rhetorical Situation Worksheet

Name of Text
Author(s)/creator(s)
Year of publication and publisher/publication
Topic(s)
Main argument/ thesis statement
Describe relevant elements of the author’s identity, experience/education, and reputation.
Context of the text (what relevant events were happening in the locality and world when the text was created?)
Who’s the intended audience? What do you know about them?
Who’s the audience? How do they differ from the intended audience?
What is the author’s purpose? What do they hope to accomplish in creating the text?

 

15.1.2 Logos, Pathos, and Ethos

Once we understand the rhetorical situation, we can then move on to understanding the rhetorical appeals/modes of persuasion: logos, pathos, and ethos.

Mode of persuasion	What it is	How it works	Benefits of using it	Drawbacks of using it	Ways to use it
Ethos	Ethical appeal based on reputation	Persuading your audience by convincing them that you are credible, reliable, and authoritative on the matter at hand. The other appeals are somewhat or entirely dependent on this one.	Prove that you are credible enough to discuss and argue on your topic	Ethos may have an adverse effect, i.e. the reputation of the author/speaker may make the audience less likely to believe them.	-cite other credible author’s work in your own -discuss your degrees, positions, and experiences
Pathos	Emotional appeal	Persuading your audience by appealing to their emotions, i.e. making them feel something (fear, empathy, pity, etc.)	People, in general, are persuaded by their feelings	If used too much for your audience, it can undermine your credibility.	-pepper in emotionally charged words -effective when used lightly and at the beginning and end of a text
Logos	Logical appeal	Persuading your audience by using logic and reason. This is often accomplished by using facts and statistics.	People are also fairly logically and see statistics as reliable	Excessive logos without some pathos/ethos can decrease the importance or urgency of your argument.	-Should be the most prominent appeal in writing. -Use primarily in the body of your essays/writings -Rely on stats and facts from reliable sources

 

Ethos refers to the author’s ethical appeal based on the reliability and character of the author. Authors use ethos by stating their degrees, education/training, experience, honors, and career positions, and by correctly and accurately citing other well-respected sources. Pathos refers to the author’s emotional appeal. When authors use pathos, they attempt to evoke emotion in their audience, with the intent to persuade them. Pathos appeals are very common in general conversation, advertising, and virtually any time a request is made. Logos refers to the author’s use of logic in the text. This is an employment of their own logic and rationality, and it is their encouragement of the readers’ logic. Citing and presenting statistics and other numerical data, and data in general, are all examples of logos use.  

Note that simply attempting to use any of these modes does not equal success. It’s possible and likely to use these modes and fail at persuading the audience. The success of any mode is dictated by whether or not the audience is persuaded.