How to Write Rhetorical Analysis? – Detailed Guide

Rhetorical analysis writing

Rhetorical analysis writing is usually oriented towards an analysis of a literary work, such as a book, film, newspaper article, etc., which is particularly designed so as the writer can convey and idea towards its consumers. More particularly, a rhetorical analysis seeks to determine how did the author/creator of this piece of work tried to communicate his message, in what context, what are the main ideas that he pointed out, and how effective did he do it, among others. However, rhetorical analysis writing is not as easy as it seems because in order to start writing your piece, you should already know what the conclusion of the paper is, and how will it impact your own readers. Because of this, most writers of rhetorical analysis are daunted by the possibility that they might have misinterpreted the works/message of the author, thus making their work wrong even on the get-go. Thus, being aware of how difficult writing a rhetorical analysis is, included below are some tips for perfect writing. In other way student always may use services of writing companies like essayzoo.org.

Preparations

The main difference of a rhetorical analysis as compared to other types of works is that it proceeds using the SOAPStone template.

In writing a rhetorical analysis, it is not unusual for any writer to find some significant differences as compared to writing other pieces of literature. One of these differences include using the template SOAPStone during the process. Basically, the acronym SOAPStone answers the question “how to write a rhetorical analysis” by guiding you on how to write your piece. SOAPStone refers to Speaker, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, Subject, and Tone. This is a critical note that should be taken into consideration when writing a rhetorical analysis since this template prompts the readers to conduct further analysis in writing your conclusion. Aside from this, this template also provides a rhetorical analysis draft for you to know which aspects of the work should research be directed. The first one, Speaker, refers to the writer’s demographics and other basic information which could have a huge impact in his work. It is very important to note who your speaker/creator is as early as your introduction for a rhetorical analysis since your work would mainly revolve around his/hers. The next topic, occasion, provides the background information as to how, when, where, and why the work was written by the writer. In other words, this the part where you focus on looking at factors that might have affected why a work tried to convey that type message as compared to others. Then, we go on to assessing the Audience. As could be implied from this, the audience are the intended consumers of this piece of work (e.g. the questions; Is this show for kids or for adults?). The next two topics are Purpose and Subject. Both of these are also important aspects of writing your rhetorical analysis because they show why the author/creator wrote this work of art in the first place. And, lastly, the Tone. This aspect refers to how the writer delivered his/her message and how effective was it in achieving its goals.

Analysis structure

After doing research and trying to answer each and every topic in the template SOAPStone, the next step is writing an outline for a rhetorical essay. One must take note, that rhetorical analysis outlining is very important because it provides the writer an essay way of checking if every point that he/she is trying to make is already discussed within the paper itself. This is also very useful, because it could prevent you from getting lost in the middle of finishing your paper. Included below is an example of a rhetorical essay outline about the topic “The effectiveness of disseminating pro-environmental campaigns using the Television show Born to be Wild”.

“The effectiveness of disseminating pro-environmental campaigns using the Television show Born to be wild”

Introduction

1. The SOAPS of the show
   
2. Significance of the study
   
3. Thesis statement
   

Body

1. Paragraph 1 – what are the factors that contribute to the consumer’s acceptance of such ideologies?
   
2. Paragraph 2 – supporting ideas/case studies to my claim
   

Conclusion

1. Summary
   
2. Recommendations
   

    

As one can see from the example above, writing an outline for a rhetorical essay requires that your statements revolve around the SOAPStone template, while being fully supported by the body of the paper. However, contrary to what most would think, the SOAPStone template is mostly being used in the analysis introduction. Writing a rhetorical analysis? Check out the notes below.

Tips concerning introduction writing

1. Always make sure that all of your SOAPStone ideas/facts are indicated in your rhetorical essay introduction
   
2. Make sure that your SOAPStone analysis would have a prior thesis statement supporting it
   
3. Only mention your SOAPS analysis a little during your analysis introduction. Do not expound as early as the introductory part
   
4. State the significance and the aims of your analysis
   
5. Give them a concise but detailed idea of the piece of work that you are providing a critique of
   

As one can see in the analysis outline provided above, writing rhetorical essay requires you to write a rhetorical thesis. A thesis for a rhetorical analysis, is mainly a part one of the most important part of your essay, because it seeks to provide a concise and summarized analysis of what you think about the piece of work (e.g. the work is effective at conveying the negative emotions that it tries to get convey). Here are some tips on writing your rhetorical essay analysis thesis.

Tips in writing your rhetorical essay analysis thesis

1. Summarize what your opinions are in at least a single sentence (thesis statement)
   
2. Your rhetorical analysis thesis should be based on a logical and scientific guess rather based from your prior knowledge with the subject matter
   
3. Use more descriptive words such as “effective” or “ineffective”, rather than, “cool” or “nah” in specifying your thesis statement in order to avoid seeming that you are avoiding “value judgments”
   
4. Your thesis statements should help in narrowing your point rather than making it more general
   
5. You can also start by stating directly what kind of persuasive medium/technique did the writers used
   

Lastly, after writing your thesis statement, a strong body of paragraphs should follow it in order to support your claim or your analysis. Always remember that this part is as important as knowing how to conclude a rhetorical analysis, because of the fact that even if the points of the readers are not concise during this point, these ideas would then build up and provide strong support for your father. Here are some tips in writing the body of your rhetorical essay.

Tips for writing your rhetorical essay body

1. Keep the number your words per paragraph to at least 150-300 words paragraph
   
2. Follow your ideas in a chronological order (early-middle-end) and build your argument based from it
   
3. Utilize and use efficiently the transition words such as; none, and, therefore, etc. Doing this would surely make the edges between your paragraphs smoother and much easier to understand
   

After all this, an analysis should then conclude at one point and then compile all the ideas to make sure that your readers would know that your main point are. Check out these notes in writing an excellent rhetorical essay.

Tips in writing a Rhetorical Essay Conclusion

1. Your topic/main argument should fully and concisely be supported by the points stated in the body of your paper
   
2. Compare the main points that you have discussed with the outline that you’ve prepared right before writing the essay. This would help you see everything’s been covered.
   
3. Carefully search for any contradicting ideas in your own analysis body and revise it if the need comes to be.
   
4. Make sure that a ‘recommendation’ is also included
   
5. Make sure of all the sources that you’ve used and cite properly
   

Finalizing analysis

Lastly, after finishing your own essay thesis, it would still be best to review and proofread your own work to check if there are any grammatical errors and other mistakes that should be changed as early as after you finish writing. Thus, as a final reminder, it would always be best if you place focus on devising strategies to make quicker revisions, if needed.