Rhetorical Analysis

A Rhetorical Analysis Essay is a type of essay that takes a piece of rhetoric (such as a speech given by someone else or an article written by someone else) and conducts an analysis of that other person’s speech or article.  The goal of the Rhetorical Analysis Essay is to determine if the speech or article written by someone else is effective at accomplishing its purpose. 

For this assignment, each student will write an essay that is a rhetorical analysis of the following speech:

Video: “Misinformation: The New Public Health Crisis” by Emerson Brooking at TEDxNYU  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTjecXxscIU

You will likely need to watch this speech several times while you are writing this essay.

Keep in mind that you must first determine what you believe the purpose of the speech is before you can evaluate whether or not the speech was successful in achieving its purpose.  Not all speeches have the same purpose. Most speeches will make some type of argument, but they may do so for different purposes. What does it seem like Emerson Brooking is trying to accomplish by giving this speech?

A writer, or speaker accomplishes his or her purpose by relying on arguments from the Rhetorical Triangle: 1. ethos (an appeal to the writer’s credibility, fairness, and willingness to consider the viewpoint of others), 2. pathos (an appeal to the reader’s emotions and values) and 3. logos (an appeal to evidence, logic, and reasoning).  Consequently, you must evaluate how well these appeals are used in order to understand a speech’s effectiveness.

The required length for this Rhetorical Analysis Essay assignment is approximately 750 words (about 2-3 pages).

You must place your thesis statement for your Rhetorical Analysis Essay at the end of your first paragraph and that thesis statement must state your claim about the overall effectiveness of the speech.

Your Rhetorical Analysis Essay must follow strong 5-paragraph organization.

It must have an introductory paragraph that ends with a thesis statement.
It must also have at least three body paragraphs, each setting forth a distinct point which supports the thesis using strong topic sentences.
It must end with a concluding paragraph which restates the thesis and reviews the supporting points.
Finally, it must have a Works Cited page, using 9thedition MLA listing a citation for the speech you watched.

This is an academic essay, not a personal essay. Do not use first person (“I,” “me,” “my, “we,” or “us”) except in a speech quotation. Do not include your personal views about the topic or about what impact it has had on you personally. The Rhetorical Analysis Essay should be about the speech that was given and how well the speaker used rhetorical techniques, such as ethos, pathos, and logos, to establish his main point. The essay must use examples from the speech itself as evidence with accurate and exact quotations, followed by in-text references to the time (since there are no pages).

Other Important Requirements are as follows:

Content

The essay must evidence good brainstorming and depth of thought.  Your thesis statement must be clear and effective. Your writing must be engaging and makes good use of examples and details. The essay must demonstrate knowledge of the concept of rhetorical analysis. You must discuss:

the SITUATION to which the speaker was responding,
the PURPOSE he was trying to achieve,
the AUDIENCE the speaker believed he was speaking to,
the MAIN CLAIMS of the speech (and important supporting points),
and the EVIDENCE which proved those claims.

Your analysis also must include an analysis with examples of the speech’s

ETHOS  (an appeal to the writer’s credibility, fairness, and willingness to consider the viewpoint of others),

PATHOS (an appeal to the reader’s emotions and values), and
LOGOS (an appeal to evidence, logic, and reasoning).

If you don’t understand those terms or how to use them to analyze the speech, review the readings assigned for Weeks 1 and 2 or contact me directly via email for assistance. Do not ignore the requirement that you specifically discuss these concepts in your rhetorical analysis essay. 

Organization

The introductory paragraph should begin with a “grabber” and end with a thesis statement. The main points of your argument should not be placed in the introduction (except in a list thesis). The body paragraphs must use good topic sentences that express main ideas, and have unity and cohesion. Transitions should be used for good flow. The essay must end with a properly structured concluding paragraph. One of the best ways to organize this particular essay is to have a separate body paragraph for your analysis of ethos, a separate body paragraph for you analysis of pathos, and a separate body paragraph for your analysis of logos.

MLA & Source Use

The essay should use quotes from the speech and should include proper in-text source references and a Works Cited page listing the speech as a source, using MLA style. You may not use any other outside sources for this essay and should not engage in independent research. Do not use artificial intelligence (AI) such as ChatGPT, or any other AI software program, to help you in any way with this assignment. That would be cheating. If you do it, I will catch you and you will get a zero. The paper must use both an MLA heading and MLA header.

Expression

The sentences must respect sentence boundaries. The essay must be free from errors such as run-ons (fused and comma splice types) and fragments. Sentences must use parallel structure and constructions must make meaning clear. Proper word choices must be made. You should use a high/medium style with no first person except in quotations, no contractions, no slang, no abbreviations, and no excessive informality