Rhetorical Analysis

What does each letter in the acronym SPACECAT mean?

• Speaker

  Purpose

  Analysis

  Context

  Exigence

  Characters

  Appeals

  Theme

• Speaker

  Purpose

  Audience

  Context

  Exigence

  Choices

  Appeals

  Tone

• Speaker

  Purpose

  Appeals

  Choices

  Evidence

  Context

  Audience

  Tone

Besides tone, you should also attempt to look for shifts in...

• perspective

• syntactic choices

• analogies

• pronoun usage

• personal narratives

The author doesn't "use diction," she

• invites the audience to question a commonly supported theory with assertive language in.........

• utilizes words that are assertive in orders to make the audience disagree with the commonly supported theory

Here is an excerpt from Audre Lorde's essay "The Master's Tool's Will Never Dismantle the Master's House"

Those of us who stand outside the circle of [society's] definition of acceptable women; those of us who have been forged in the crucibles of difference -- those of us who are poor,... who are Black, who are older -- know that survival is not an academic skill. It is learning how to take our differences and make them strengths. For the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house. They may allow us temporarily to beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change. And this fact is only threatening to those women who still define the master's house as their only source of support.

Which rhetorical choice is evident in this excerpt?

• analogy

• shift in tone

• call to action

• appeal to ethics

True of False: When referencing a speech, essay, or letter for my rhetorical analysis essay, it is alright to exclude direct quotes as long as I provide clear summaries.

• True

• False

Which of the following may support a clear line of reasoning?

• Chunking my analysis into 3 parts: beginning, middle, and end

• Chunking my analysis into 3 parts: end, middle, and beginning

• Jumping around and focusing on whatever stands out to me in the moment

True or False: It's a good idea to start my analysis out by addressing the author's call to action.

• False: Most calls to action are emphasized at the end of a speech, essay, or letter.

• True: If it's a strong rhetorical choice to analyze, it doesn't matter.

True or False: I should not consider the text's argument elements as rhetorical choices because rhetorical analysis are different sections of the AP test.

• True: If I write about argumentation in the rhetorical analysis section, the reader will think I misunderstood the prompt.

• False: Many pieces of rhetoric also contain argumentative elements such as claims, counterarguments, and calls to action.

Why are students often told not to write a rhetorical analysis essay that contains one body paragraph on ethos and one body paragraph on pathos.

• The essay may appear too simplistic and potentially repetitive.

• Both of these appeals may comprise a single body paragraph, giving the writer the opportunity to explore other choices in the other 1-2 body paragraphs.

• Student's are not advised against writing like this.

Which question(s) should you ask yourself when analyzing diction?

• How would you describe or classify the word choice?

• What tone do these words create?

• Which specific words stand out, and why are they relevant for the occasion?

• Are these words working in connection with another choice?