Rhetorical Analysis Essay Notes

Next week, we’ll be writing our first of many rhetorical analysis essays. We have already begun laying the foundation for this through some of our close reads, and we’re going to start looking now at the actual prompts themselves and what we should be doing with them.

Each rhetorical analysis essay will ask you to do essentially the same thing: to analyze an author or speaker’s use of language, including rhetorical and stylistic elements, and how that language is used to achieve a variety of purposes. What each prompt will ask you to do with this analysis is going to take different forms; as a result, IT IS CRUCIAL THAT YOU READ THE PROMPT BEFORE READING THE PASSAGE. It will give your reading and annotations focus and purpose.

We are going to practice breaking down rhetorical analysis prompts today. Working a prompt is important for several reasons:

  • The prompt will put the passage in context.
  • The prompt may contain additional useful information for your analysis that isn’t contained in the passage itself.
  • Analyzing the prompt itself will help you better understand your task.
  • You will understand what is expected of you and it can give your reading more focus.
  • Being attentive to the prompt will help you understand all facets of the task and help you stick to the topic.

There are three steps we’re going to follow in breaking down a prompt. I’ve laid out the steps below, and then we’ll practice on several prompts afterwards.

  1. Identify the TAAG – Title, Author, Audience, Genre
  1. Identify useful background information
  2. Are there any informational details in the prompt that can give you further insight into the passage?
  3. Is the occasion of the speech/writing given? This can give you a clue to the author’s purpose.
  4. If the occasion isn’t given, is there at least a date? Placing the passage into historical context can give you an idea of some of the circumstances surrounding the passage.
  5. Are there any biographical details of the speaker given, particularly if the speaker isn’t well known? These details can help establish the author’s credibility or his/her relationship to the audience.
  6. Are there any details given about the audience, either implicitly or explicitly?
  1. Most importantly though, you need to look for the “Big Question-Little Question”
  2. Each prompt contains a “Big Question” and a “Little Question.” Understanding both parts of the prompt is crucial to writing a thorough essay that sticks to the task.
  3. Big Question (Abstract Task)- deals with the thematic, authorial purpose portion of the prompt
  4. Example prompt: Analyze the strategies Richard Marquart uses to characterize the upper Midwest (from the 2010 Form B exam).
  5. The Big Question is “What characterization does Marquart give the upper Midwest?”
  6. Little Question (Concrete Task) - deals with the ways the author achieves that purpose. Often, the prompt will give you suggestions for rhetorical strategies and devices to consider. Keeping those in mind will make you more attentive to those details in the passage.
  7. Example prompt: Analyze the strategies Marquart uses to characterize the upper Midwest.
  8. The Little Question is “What strategies does Marquart use to create this characterization?”

Prompt Breakdown Practice

Directions:For the following four prompts, walk through each step that was detailed above.

From the 2011 Form B Exam:

The letter below was written by Samuel Johnson in response to a woman who had asked him to obtain the archbishop of Canterbury’s patronage to have her son sent to the university. Read the letter carefully. Then write an essay in which you analyze how Johnson crafts his denial of the woman’s request.

From the 2013 Exam:

The passage below is from Last Child in the Woods (2008) by Richard Louv. Read the passage carefully. Then, in a well-developed essay, analyze the rhetorical strategies Louv uses to develop his argument about the separation between people and nature. Support your analysis with specific references to the text.

From the 2014 Exam:

In the following letter, Abigail Adams (1744–1818) writes to her son John Quincy Adams, who is traveling abroad with his father, John Adams, a United States diplomat and later the country’s second president. Read the letter carefully. Then, in a well-developed essay, analyze the rhetorical strategies Adams uses to advise her son. Support your analysis with specific references to the text.