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How to write a rhetorical analysis

Rhetorical criticism (which is the same as rhetorical analysis) involves analyzing a text (e.g. an article, book, film, speech) in order to discover its positive and negative attributes. If you're asked to carry about rhetorical criticism of a text, you're being asked to look at the ways in which the text affects the audience - does it, for example, inform, entertain, instruct, arouse, stir, anger, depress or amuse them? And if so, how is this achieved? In other words, how do symbols (including the written word) act on people?

A famous example of a rousing speech is Julius Caesar's 'Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears'.

A rhetorical analysis of this speech would look at things like:

- sentence construction. How does the 'Friends, Romans, Countrymen' part work, both in terms of what he's saying and how he's saying it? Is he trying to unite the crowd? Is he trying to encourage nationalist feelings? Also, what about the progression from two one-syllable words to a three-syllable word, how does that add to the feeling of momentum in the sentence?

- appeal to the masses. Caesar was Emperor of Rome, so he was far removed from being a regular citizen of Rome. In this speech, is he trying to remind his audience that everyone in Rome, from the lowest serf to the most famous senator, is at heart a Roman, and that they are all therefore friends and countrymen?

- an attempt to be humble. As Emperor, Caesar could command the audience to listen to him, but instead he asks them to 'lend' him their ears. Is he trying to come across as a friendly leader? From just this line, do you think he's planning to instruct his audience, or to try to persuade them?

Of course, Caesar was actually trying to stir up the Roman people so that they would stand united against their common foes. He was also trying to position himself as a benevolent but strong leader, as a man who understood the common people. He was simultaneously trying to persuade them to fight, and also remind them what they were fighting for. As history shows, this speech has been deemed to have been extremely successful.

Top 10 questions to ask when critically analyzing a text

1. What is the subject? Is it controversial? Does it have strong social / cultural associations?

2. What is the main point? What is the writer trying to say? Is he or she trying to persuade me to agree?

3. What kind of appeal is the writer making? Logical? Emotional?

4. How does the writer want me to react? Laugh? Get angry? Get motivated?

5. How does the writer develop his or her ideas? Narrative? Description? Comparison?

6. What is the sentence structure like? If the writer uses fragments or run-ons, why does he / she do this?

7. Does the writer use quotes or references? If so, why? If not, why not? Where are the quotes from?

8. What type of language does the writer use? Formal? Technical? Slang?

9. Does the writer use punctuation to make a point? Is his or her use of punctuation unusual?

10. What is the social / political / cultural context of the text? Does this provide a subtext?

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