Getting Started
This topic explores one of the most fundamental questions in rhetorical analysis: "So what?" You will learn to move beyond simply identifying a writer's techniques and instead explain the impact those techniques are designed to have on a specific audience. This skill is crucial for writing effective analysis because it connects a writer's specific choices to their overall purpose, solving the common problem of analysis that only lists devices without explaining their significance.
What You Should Be Able to Do
Explain how a writer's specific word choices, sentence structures, and use of evidence contribute to their goal.
Describe the intended emotional, logical, or ethical impact of a passage on its target audience.
Connect a writer's individual rhetorical choices to the broader purpose of the text as a whole.
Analyze how a text is engineered to make an audience think, feel, or act in a particular way.
Key Moves and Effects
The Writer's Purpose and Intended Effect
Every text is written for a reason. A purpose is the writer's goal—what they hope to accomplish. This could be to persuade, to inform, to criticize, to inspire, or to entertain. To achieve this purpose, the writer must influence the audience.
The effect is the result a writer aims to produce in their audience. It's the change in thinking, feeling, or understanding that the writer hopes to cause. Think of it as a cause-and-effect relationship: the writer's choice is the cause, and the audience's reaction is the intended effect. The sum of these small effects is what allows the writer to achieve their overall purpose. For example, a writer's purpose might be to persuade a town council to build a new park. The intended effects of their speech might be to make the council members feel a sense of civic duty, see the economic benefits, and trust the writer's judgment.
Identifying Rhetorical Choices
A rhetorical choice is any deliberate decision a writer makes to achieve their purpose. These are not accidental. They include everything from a single powerful word to the overall structure of the argument. When you analyze a text, you are essentially reverse-engineering these choices to understand how they work.
Common categories of choices include:
Diction: The specific words the writer selects.
Syntax: The arrangement of words into sentences.
Figurative Language: The use of non-literal comparisons like metaphors and similes.
Appeals: The ways a writer targets the audience's sense of logic (logos), emotion (pathos), or ethics and credibility (ethos).
Connecting Choices to Effects
The most important analytical move is explaining the connection between a choice and its effect on the intended audience—the specific group of people the writer is addressing. It is not enough to say, "The writer uses a metaphor." You must explain what that metaphor causes the audience to think or feel.
Follow this analytical chain:
Identify the Choice: State the specific rhetorical choice the writer makes. (e.g., "The author uses stark, industrial imagery...")
Describe the Immediate Impact: Explain the direct result of that choice. (...which creates a feeling of coldness and impersonality...")
Connect to the Purpose: Explain how this impact helps the writer achieve their larger goal. (...in order to persuade the audience that the proposed factory will be a blight on the community's natural landscape.")
Sentence Frame for Analysis:
By using [specific rhetorical choice], the writer prompts the audience to [think/feel/believe X], which ultimately serves the purpose of [writer's overall goal].
Data and Organization Tools
A Device-Effect Matrix can help you organize your thoughts as you read, moving you from simple identification to meaningful analysis. By filling out each column, you practice building the chain of reasoning necessary for strong commentary.
| Rhetorical Choice | Example from Text (Invented) | Intended Effect on Audience | How it Serves the Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Repetition of "we" | "We must act now. We must invest in our future. We must protect our children." | Creates a sense of shared responsibility and unity. Makes the audience feel like part of a collective movement. | Unites the audience with the speaker, making them more receptive to the call to action. |
| Anecdote | "I remember a time when this river was so clean you could see the stones at the bottom..." | Evokes nostalgia and a sense of loss. Creates an emotional connection to the issue by making it personal and relatable. | Persuades the audience that the problem is not abstract but a tangible loss of something valuable. |
| Statistical Evidence | "A recent study shows that 90% of local businesses support this initiative." | Appeals to the audience's logic (logos). Builds credibility by grounding the argument in objective fact. | Makes the writer's position seem well-researched and difficult to refute, increasing the chances of agreement. |
| Juxtaposition | Placing images of a vibrant, thriving park next to descriptions of a vacant, trash-filled lot. | Creates a stark contrast that highlights the benefits of the proposed change and the ugliness of the status quo. | Motivates the audience by making the positive choice seem obvious and the negative alternative undesirable. |
Device and Evidence Bank
Here are several common rhetorical choices writers make to create specific effects.
Diction: A writer's specific word choice. Charged or connotative words are chosen to evoke a particular feeling or association in the reader.
Tone: The writer's attitude toward the subject or audience. A writer might adopt a sarcastic, sincere, or critical tone to influence how the audience perceives the message.
Syntax: The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences. A writer might use short, punchy sentences to create a sense of urgency or long, complex sentences to convey thoughtful consideration.
Figurative Language: Language that uses words or expressions with a meaning that is different from the literal interpretation. Metaphors, similes, and personification can make abstract ideas more concrete and relatable for an audience.
Allusion: A brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing, or idea of historical, cultural, literary, or political significance. It can create a shortcut to a shared understanding or feeling with the audience.
Rhetorical Question: A question asked not for the answer, but to create a dramatic effect or to make a point. It encourages the audience to reflect on an issue and arrive at a predetermined conclusion.
Appeals to Ethos, Pathos, and Logos: These are the foundational methods of persuasion. Writers appeal to ethos (credibility/ethics), pathos (emotion), and logos (logic) to make their arguments more compelling to an audience.
Skill Snapshots
Here are three examples of connecting a rhetorical strategy to its intended effect on an audience.
Strategy: Using scientific jargon and citing expert credentials when addressing a panel of scientists.
Effect: This choice appeals to logos and ethos, establishing the writer's credibility and demonstrating respect for the audience's expertise. It makes the audience more likely to trust the writer's conclusions.
Strategy: Beginning a speech with a personal, emotional story about overcoming hardship.
Effect: This choice appeals to pathos, creating an immediate emotional bond with the audience. It makes the audience feel empathy and see the writer as a relatable human being, not just a distant authority figure.
Strategy: Employing parallel structure in a concluding paragraph, such as "We will fight for our rights; we will stand for justice; we will work for a better future."
Effect: The repetitive grammatical structure creates a powerful rhythm that makes the message more memorable and inspiring. It builds a sense of momentum and leaves the audience feeling motivated and unified.
Common Misconceptions and Clarifications
Misconception: The effect of a text is simply what it is about.
Clarification: The effect is not the topic, but what the writer wants the audience to do, feel, or think about that topic. Focus on the impact, not just the content.
Misconception: If I name the rhetorical device, I have analyzed it.
Clarification: Naming a device (e.g., "The author uses a metaphor") is only the first step. The analysis is in explaining how that metaphor shapes the audience's understanding or feelings to advance the writer's purpose.
Misconception: The effect is whatever I personally feel when reading.
Clarification: While your personal reaction is a starting point, your analysis must focus on the effect on the intended audience at the time the text was written. Consider their historical context, beliefs, and values.
Misconception: Saying a choice "gets the reader's attention" or "emphasizes a point" is sufficient analysis.
Clarification: These phrases are too vague. You must specify what point is being emphasized and why it is important for the audience to focus on it. What is the result of getting their attention?
Summary
Understanding how to describe effects on an intended audience is the key to unlocking rhetorical analysis. Writers do not make choices in a vacuum; every word, sentence, and image is selected to produce a calculated impact. Your task is to deconstruct this process by identifying a writer's specific rhetorical choices and, most importantly, explaining the chain of events that connects that choice to an intended emotional or logical response in the audience. By focusing on the "how" and "why" behind a text's construction, you can articulate a clear and convincing analysis of how it achieves its ultimate purpose.