Rhetorical Analysis

From DigitalRhetoricCollaborative

Rhetorical Analysis "is the investigation and evaluation of rhetorical acts and artifacts"^[1] in order to determine how the artifact, or text, works and how well it achieves its purpose. This can be done by examining why the text was created and what purpose it is supposed to achieve and how the text’s design and structure advances or diminishes that purpose.

Analyzing a text using rhetoric is viewing the text as a form of communication from the author of the text to the audience.^[2] In rhetorical analysis, one does not view the text as something purely aesthetic, but rather as a text that has a specific purpose to accomplish.

Contents 1 Rhetoric 2 Purpose 3 Design 4 See also 5 References

Rhetoric

"Rhetoric means the use of symbols to influence thought and action". Rhetoric is communication and it isn’t just made up of written or spoken words. Symbols can also be a form of rhetoric, and they can take on a variety of forms. Everything from speeches, to plays, to music, and even clothing can all be forms of rhetoric. ^[3]

One criterion that must be met to determine if something is rhetoric is whether or not it was man made. Any naturally occurring thing such as deserts, mountains, or storms are not man made and cannot be rhetoric, so they are not appropriate for rhetorical study.^[4]

Purpose

The purpose(s) of a text is the reason for its existence. The purpose of rhetoric is Persuasion.^[5] . Rhetoric persuades its audience by the way in which the author uses rhetorical artifacts and symbols to compose a text. The text that is created from this should effectively persuade an audience toward change, but "if a text does not induce change, then it isn’t rhetorically successful". ^[6]

Why was the text created? Who is the intended audience for this text? What were the intentions of the author? These are questions that should be asked when analyzing a text, because they can help to determine the text’s purpose. Determining who the author is, the audience, the context, and the genre of the text can all help to answer these questions and thus find out the text’s purpose.

Design

The design of a text can determine whether or not a text achieves its purpose. In their book Writer/Designer Kristin Arola, Jennifer Sheppard, and Cheryl Ball write about five design concepts that should be focused on when analyzing a digital text, specifically a website: emphasis, contrast, organization, alignment, and proximity. ^[7] They describe what these concepts are and how they are used in a text.

• Emphasis is when certain elements of a text such as a word, group of words, or an image are stressed over other elements in order to give them more importance. Examining what elements are emphasized in a text can reveal the primary subjects of the text and what the author wants their audience to focus on the most.^[8]
• Contrast is when an author combines elements together in such a way that makes one or a group of elements more distinct than the others in a text. Contrast and Emphasis are closely related, in that looking at the contrast between elements can usually indicate what elements have the most emphasis.^[9]
• Organization refers to the way elements are arranged in the finished text. Examining how an author organized a text can, like examining contrasting elements, show what the author wants to emphasize. ^[10]
• Alignment is how things line up. When a text uses alignment effectively it can guide the movement of the reader’s eyes across the text. This allows the reader to easily navigate the text thus making it more likely the text will accomplish its purpose.^[11]
• Proximity refers to how close elements are to each other in a text. The distance between elements can define their relationship to one another in the eyes of the audience, so it is important for the author to consider the amount of space between elements and which elements should be grouped together when creating a text.^[12]

See also

• Rhetorical criticism

References

1. ↑ Foss Sonja K., Rhetorical Criticism: Exploration and Practice, (Illinois: Waveland Press, 1989), 5.
2. ↑ Foss Sonja K., Rhetorical Criticism: Exploration and Practice, (Illinois: Waveland Press, 1989), 4.
3. ↑ Foss Sonja K., Rhetorical Criticism: Exploration and Practice, (Illinois: Waveland Press, 1989), 4.
4. ↑ Foss Sonja K., Rhetorical Criticism: Exploration and Practice, (Illinois: Waveland Press, 1989), 4.
5. ↑ Foss Sonja K., Rhetorical Criticism: Exploration and Practice, (Illinois: Waveland Press, 1989), 4.
6. ↑ Arola, Kristin L., Sheppard, Jennifer, Ball, Cheryl E., Writer/Designer, (New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014), 21.
7. ↑ Arola, Kristin L., Sheppard, Jennifer, Ball, Cheryl E., Writer/Designer, (New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014), 31-37.
8. ↑ Arola, Kristin L., Sheppard, Jennifer, Ball, Cheryl E., Writer/Designer, (New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014), 31-32.
9. ↑ Arola, Kristin L., Sheppard, Jennifer, Ball, Cheryl E., Writer/Designer, (New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014), 33.
10. ↑ Arola, Kristin L., Sheppard, Jennifer, Ball, Cheryl E., Writer/Designer, (New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014), 34.
11. ↑ Arola, Kristin L., Sheppard, Jennifer, Ball, Cheryl E., Writer/Designer, (New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014), 35.
12. ↑ Arola, Kristin L., Sheppard, Jennifer, Ball, Cheryl E., Writer/Designer, (New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014), 36-37.