Rhetorical Analysis Rubric

MLA Formatting (Citations, Font, Spacing, Margins, etc.) 15 points for correct formatting.

Organization (Structure and Focus) 15 points for an essay that is focused appropriately on
evaluation and critique of the speaker’s use of rhetoric.

Style (Writing Quality) 15 points for well-written essays that have few or no sentence-level
issues to distract from mature, clear, thoughtful writing.

Support (Summary, Quotation, Paraphrase, Citation) 20 points for considered, plentiful, and
correctly parenthetically cited support of claims made about the quality of the speaker’s use of
language.

Rhetorical Situation (Author, Audience, Purpose, Topic, Context/Culture, Genre) 20 points for
an essay that fully develops a discussion of all required facets of rhetorical situation.

Rhetorical Appeals (Ethos, Logos, Pathos) 15 points for essays that carefully evaluate the
speaker’s use of appeals, and also consider the success or failure of such choices.