Rhetorical Analysis Assignment
FORMAT: Minimum 1,200 words, double-spaced, 1” margins; put your name, my name, the class, assignment number, and date in the upper left corner of the first page;
number pages in the upper right corner; have a title. Cite source in MLA style. Save document as Word or PDF files only.
Compose a focused analysis of a single pattern of rhetoric you notice in this essay (https://aeon.co/essays/there-is-no-shame-worse-than-poor-teeth-in-a-rich-world.)
Look at very small rhetorical details, and reason backward from that concrete language (or image detail) to find the deeper implications. Each writer is not only
asking us to accept certain things as true, but they are asking us to understand, judge, react to, relate to, and feel about those things in particular ways.
Use glossary of rhetorical terms. Choose one or two key rhetorical features to focus on, such as the writer’s appeals to ethos, pathos, or logos; the kairos in which
the essay was written; its exigence; the ways in which the writer invites us to identify with or differentiate ourselves from the people they write about; etc.
Focus on HOW these writings and images communicate implicit and explicit messages. This is about much more than summarizing content, or even summarizing rhetorical
techniques. By analyzing rhetorical techniques, we can see how the author guides our interpretation of their content. You might ask questions like: How does this
author characterize himself/herself? How does he/she characterize others? How does he/she invite us to sympathize, empathize, or judge? Why is it significant that this
essay was created in a particular time, place, and circumstance? What does this text respond to? To what purpose are these arguments being used? What kinds of
attitudes and ideas does the author invite us to adopt as we look at their subject?
