• Read Actively and Annotate
  As you read the passage, underline key phrases, note rhetorical devices, and jot down the author’s purpose and strategies.

• Identify the Author’s Purpose
  Ask yourself: What is the author trying to achieve? Their purpose will guide the strategies they use.

• Focus on Key Rhetorical Choices
  Look for appeals (ethos, pathos, logos), tone shifts, diction, syntax, imagery, or figurative language. Identify how these choices impact the audience.

Appeals and Persuasion

• • Ethos (Credibility): Where does the author establish authority or trust?

  • Pathos (Emotion): Where does the author evoke feelings in the audience?

  • Logos (Logic): Where does the author use facts, statistics, or logical reasoning?

Rhetorical choices (all 4-20 are rhetorical choices, too!)

• • Metaphor: Comparing two unlike things to suggest similarity, specifically without "like" or "as."

  • Simile: Using "like" or "as" to compare two things.

  • Personification: Giving human traits to non-human things.

  • Hyperbole: Deliberate exaggeration for emphasis.

  • Allusion: A brief, indirect reference to a person, place, event, or work of art. 

  • Anecdote: A personal story or experience. 

Word Choice and Language

• • Diction: Specific word choices (e.g., formal, colloquial, technical).

  • Connotation: The emotional or cultural associations of words.

  • Repetition: Repeating words, phrases, or ideas for emphasis.

  • Alliteration: Repeating initial consonant sounds for effect.

Sentence Structure

• • Parallelism: Repeating a grammatical structure for rhythm or emphasis.

  • Juxtaposition: Placing contrasting ideas or people side by side.

  • Rhetorical Questions: Asking questions not meant to be answered.

  • Anaphora: Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of sentences.

Tone and Style

• • Tone: The author’s attitude (e.g., sarcastic, optimistic, somber).

  • Imagery: Vivid descriptions appealing to the senses (taste, hearing, touch, sight, and smell.)

  • Irony: A statement where the intended meaning or outcome is different from, or opposite to, what is expected. 

Looking into an author’s intentions is crucial in rhetorical analysis because it provides the foundation for understanding why and how the author crafts their message. Here’s why it’s important:

Connects Choices to Goals

• Every rhetorical choice an author makes—whether it’s using emotional appeals, logical arguments, or stylistic devices—serves their intention. Without understanding the intention, it’s harder to explain the effect of these choices.

Frames Audience Interaction

• The author’s intention often aligns with their audience. By considering who the text is for, we can better analyze how the author tailors language and strategies to resonate with that audience.

Grounds the Analysis

• Instead of general observations, analyzing the author’s intention provides a specific lens for evaluating the text. For example, in a speech, an author trying to inspire unity will use different techniques than one aiming to provoke outrage.

Understanding the author’s intention is like having the blueprint to a rhetorical “building.” It helps us see not just what’s being said, but why it’s being said—and how every element contributes to the overall message. 

• Organize Your Essay Logically
  Start with a clear thesis that explains how the author uses rhetorical strategies to achieve their purpose. Use body paragraphs to analyze one or two strategies per paragraph.

• Analyze, Don’t Summarize
  Go beyond stating what the author did. Explain the effect of the rhetorical choice on the audience and how it connects to the author’s purpose.

• Use Precise Language
  Avoid vague terms like "uses rhetoric" or "proves their point." Instead, be specific: "The author employs an anecdote to evoke empathy from the audience."

Score: 1-1-0

Thesis (0-1 point): 1/1

The response offers a vague but defensible thesis in the first two sentences: "Rita Dove uses a few rhetorical devices during this poem to showcase on how she became and how she wants us the reader to succeed in life as well. She uses the devices tone and ethos to really help hook the audience in."

Evidence and Commentary (0-4 points): 1/4 

The evidence that the response offers consists mostly of general description and is disconnected from the thesis' argument. For example, although the response metnions tone as a rhetorical choice, it does not describe Dove's tone or explain how she establishes it. The most specific references to Dove's rhetorical choices do not function to develop the analysis. 

Sophistication (0-1 point): 0/1

Because it makes only generalized references to Dove's speech, the response is unable to explain the significance or relevance of Dove's rhetorical choices in terms of a broader context or identify the purpose of complexities in the speech. Its style is neither vivid nor persuasive. 

Score: 1-4-0

Thesis (0-1 point): 1/1

The entire paragraph 1 functions as the defensible thesis: "In her speech, Dove, a renowned poet, employs anecdote, and diction in order to advise college graduates on the key values, such as intellectual curiosity, effort, and bravery that she deems necessary for navigating the world."

Evidence and Commentary (0-4 points): 4/4 

The response provides specific evidence to support all claims in a line of reasoning. For example, in paragraph 2 the response explains how "ambiguous diction" operates in Dove's presentation of wishes that initially appear to be "ill-omens" but in fact describe useful values.

The response supports its interpretation of the passage using specific rhetorical choices from Dove's speech, noting that "Dove employs her message of the importance and efficiency of her values through anecdotes" and elaborating that these anecdotes illustrate the real-life application of the values Dove wishes for students.

The response focuses on the importance of specific words and details such as "hunger," "hard work," and "uncertainty" to build an argument about the rhetorical choices Dove makes to convey her message.

Sophistication (0-1 point): 0/1

Although it consistently identifies and explains rhetorical choices, the response does not display a particularly complex understanding of the rhetorical situation. It acknowledges the relationship of the speaker with the audience but does so in a generalized way, focusing on how Dove's choices "inspire" listeners or lend her argument "credibility." Although the response demonstrates effective control of language, it does not demonstrate a consistently persuasive or vivid style.

Score: 1-3-0

Thesis (0-1 point): 1/1

The thesis is defensible: "The purpose of the speech was to give Dove a chance to state her wishes for her graduating class. In order to convey her message, Dove makes an appeal to her audience's emotions, states some of her own personal experiences, and says short sentences specifically stating her wishes."

Evidence and Commentary (0-4 points): 3/4 

The response analyzes the ways in which Dove establishes and uses a "personal" address to the graduating students. It develops a line of reasoning about this personal focus using specific words and phrases from the passage to build its argument. The commentary, however, fails to integrate some evidence into the analysis of Dove's speech. For instance, although the response mentions the specific reference to the fairy godmother, it misunderstands Dove's use of this figure, making the unsupported claim that she wants students to understand "she will be there whenever they need her, just like a 'fairy godmother.'"

Sophistication (0-1 point): 0/1

The response does not demonstrate a nuanced understanding of the rhetorical situation, limiting the discussion to Dove's rhetorical choices and her need to maintain the audience's attention.

Score: X-Y-Z

Thesis (0-1 point): /1

Evidence and Commentary (0-4 points): /4 

Sophistication (0-1 point): /1