Analyzing a Text Rhetorically

Definition of a “Text”
 A set of symbols that communicates or
means something. A text can be read and
interpreted.
 From the Latin root, texere, meaning “to
weave”
Significant Texts in our Lives – Can be
Analyzed
 Religious texts  Historical documents
 Political texts  Academic articles
 Legal texts  Memories
 News articles  Speeches
 Advertisements
 Films
 Songs
 Books
 Poetry
 Photography
 Video games
 Personal experiences  Performances
 Dreams  Bodies
 Clothes
 Textual Analysis
What does the term “analysis” mean to you?
 Analysis
 Breaking something down into its essential parts
to understand how and why those parts work
together to accomplish something (what + how
and why)
 Versus “summary” (what)

 Importance of structure
 Looking at the relationships between the parts
 Challenging binary oppositions
Step 1: Breaking down into essential parts
Step 2: Determining how parts work together
Step 3: Determining what is accomplished when parts work
together
Analysis Involves Interpretation
 Analyze: To break something down into
its essential parts to determine how those
parts work together to accomplish
something.

We can all see the same parts of the same text working
together in the same way, yet we each see it accomplishing
something different.

Or perhaps we all see a text accomplishing the same thing,

but see it doing so in different ways.
There are no “wrong” or “right”
interpretations of a text.

It’s a duck! It’s a bunny!

But there are supported and unsupported

interpretations (quotations).
It’s a tractor!
 Rhetoric
What does the term “rhetoric” mean to you?
 Defining “Rhetoric”
 The language – both written and visual –
that speakers and writers use to
communicate or persuade.

 The study of that language, human

interaction, and communication.
 Analyzing a Text Rhetorically
 Breaking down a text into its essential
parts to understand how those parts work
together to accomplish something

 Rhetorical analysis involves looking at the

context, or the rhetorical situation, in
which the communication takes place.
Parts of a Rhetorical Situation
 Reading Rhetorically
 Reading like a writer – reading the text as a
series of choices.

 Understanding how the author(s) constructed

the text and why the author(s) made certain
choices about the text.

 Understanding context as well as content.

 Questions for Rhetorical Analysis
 Who is the author/speaker?
 What is the purpose of writing? What is
the occasion that gives rise to the writing?
 Who is the intended audience?
 What is the main argument?
 What does the nature of the communication
reveal about the culture(s) that produced
it?
Let’s Practice!
 “Schools of Thought” or Theories
 Formalists (symbols)
 Gender theorists (gender, sexuality)
 Marxist theorists (social class)
 Race-based theorists (race)
 New Historicism (history)
 Post-colonial theorists (nationality, empire)
 Psychoanalytical theorists (unconscious)
 Disability theorists (disability)
 Happiness theorists (happiness)
 Rhetoricians (rhetorical situations, language)
 Different “Schools of Thought”
or Theories
 Importance of close reading, quoting, and
explaining your interpretation of the quotes
 Ex. “We hold these truths to be self-
evident, that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable Rights, that among
these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of
Happiness” (Declaration).