song rhetorical analysis essay

A Rhetorical Analysis of U2's 'Sunday Bloody Sunday'

A Sample Critical Essay

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In this critical essay composed in 2000, student Mike Rios offers a rhetorical analysis of the song "Sunday Bloody Sunday" by the Irish rock band U2. The song is the opening track of the group's third studio album, War (1983). The lyrics to "Sunday Bloody Sunday" can be found on U2's official website . Read the essay below.

A Rhetorical Analysis of "Sunday Bloody Sunday"

"The Rhetoric of U2's 'Sunday Bloody Sunday'"

By Mike Rios

U2 have always produced rhetorically powerful songs. From the spiritually driven "I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For" to the blatantly sexual "If You Wear That Velvet Dress," audiences have been persuaded to examine their religious doubts as well as to give in to their emotions. Never a band content in sticking to one style, their music has evolved and taken many forms. Their more recent songs show a level of complexity so far unsurpassed in music, drawing heavily on the ambiguity of paradox in songs like "So Cruel" while evoking sensory overload with the aid of the list structure in "Numb." But one of the most powerful songs dates back to their early years, when their style was Senecan-like , seemingly simpler and more direct. "Sunday Bloody Sunday" stands out as one of U2’s finest songs. Its rhetoric is successful because of its simplicity, not despite it.

Written in part as a response to the events of January 30, 1972 when the Paratroop Regiment of the British Army killed 14 people and wounded another 14 during a civil rights demonstration in Derry, Ireland, "Sunday Bloody Sunday" takes hold of the listener instantly. It is a song speaking against not only the British Army, but the Irish Republican Army as well. Bloody Sunday, as it has come to be known, was only one act in a cycle of violence claiming many innocent lives. The Irish Republican Army was certainly contributing to the bloodshed. The song begins with Larry Mullen, Jr. beating his drums in a martial rhythm that connotes visions of soldiers, of tanks, of guns. Although not original, it is a successful use of musical irony , enveloping a song of protest in the sounds usually associated with those it is protesting against. The same can be said of its use in the cadence-like foundations of "Seconds" and "Bullet the Blue Sky." Having grabbed hold of the listener’s attention, The Edge and Adam Clayton join in with lead and bass guitars respectively. The riff is as close to concrete as sound can get. It is massive, almost solid. Then again, it has to be. U2 is endeavoring upon a subject and theme wide in scope. The message carries a great deal of significance. They must connect with every ear, every mind, every heart. The pounding beat and the heavy riff transport the listener to the scene of the killings, appealing to pathos . A violin glides in and out to add a softer, delicate touch. Caught in the musical attack, it reaches out to the listener, letting him or her know that the song’s grip will not strangle, but the firm hold must be kept nonetheless.

Before any words are sung, an ethical appeal has taken shape. The persona in this song is Bono himself. The audience knows he and the rest of the band are Irish and that, although not personally familiar with the event that gives the song its title, they have seen other acts of violence while growing up. Knowing the band’s nationality, the audience trusts them as they sing about the struggle in their homeland.

Bono’s first line makes use of aporia . "I can’t believe the news today," he sings. His words are the same words spoken by those who have learned of yet another attack in the name of a great cause. They express the confusion such violence leaves in its aftermath. The murdered and the wounded are not the only victims. Society suffers as some individuals continue to try and comprehend while others take arms and join in the so-called revolution, continuing the vicious cycle.

Epizeuxis is common in songs. It helps to make songs memorable. In "Sunday Bloody Sunday," epizeuxis is a necessity. It is necessary because the message against violence must be drilled into the audience. With this end in mind, epizeuxis is modified to diacope throughout the song. It is found in three different instances. The first is the erotesis "How long, How long must we sing this song? How long?" In asking this question, Bono not only replaces the pronoun I with we (which serves to draw the members of the audience closer to him and to themselves), he also implies the answer. The instinctive reply is that we should not have to sing this song any longer. In fact, we should not have to sing this song at all. But the second time he asks the question, we are not so sure of the answer. It ceases to be erotesis and functions as epimone , again for emphasis. Furthermore, it is somewhat akin to ploce , in that its essential meaning changes.

Before repeating the "How long?" question, Bono uses enargia to vividly recreate violence. The images of "broken bottles under children’s feet [and] bodies strewn across a dead end street" appeal to pathos in an effort to disturb the listeners. They are not disturbing because they are too horrible to imagine; they are disturbing because they do not have to be imagined. These images appear too often on television, in newspapers. These images are real.

But Bono cautions against acting solely based on the pathos of a situation. To keep his pathetic appeal from working too well, Bono sings that he "won’t heed the battle call." A metaphor for refusing the temptation to avenge the dead or hurt, this phrase conveys the strength needed in doing so. He employs antirrhesis to support his statement. If he allows himself to be seduced into becoming a rebel for the sake of revenge, his back will be put "against the wall." He will have no further choices in life. Once he picks up a gun he will have to use it. It is also an appeal to logos , weighing the consequences of his actions beforehand. When he repeats "How long?" the audience realizes that it has become a real question. People are still being killed. People are still killing. It is a fact made all too clear on November 8, 1987. As a crowd gathered at Enniskillen town in Fermanagh, Ireland, to observe Remembrance Day, a bomb placed by the IRA was detonated killing 13 people. This sparked the now infamous dehortatio during a performance of "Sunday Bloody Sunday" that same evening. "Fuck the revolution," Bono declared, reflecting his anger and the anger of his fellow Irishmen at another senseless act of violence.

The second diacope is "tonight we can be as one. Tonight, tonight." Utilizing hysteron proteron to emphasize "tonight" and therefore the immediacy of the situation, U2 offers a solution, a way in which peace can be restored. Clearly an appeal to pathos, it evokes the emotional comfort gained by human contact. The paradox is easily dismissed by the hopefulness resonating in the words. Bono tells us it is possible to become one, to unite. And we believe him--we need to believe him.

The third diacope is also the major epimone in the song. "Sunday, bloody Sunday" is, after all, the central image . The use of diacope differs in this phrase. By placing bloody within the two Sundays , U2 demonstrates how significant this day is. To many, thinking of the date will forever be linked with remembering the brutality inflicted on that date. Surrounding bloody with Sunday , U2 forces the audience to experience, at least in some way, the link. In doing so, they provide a manner by which the audience can further unite.

U2 employs various other figures to persuade their audience. In the erotesis , "there’s many lost, but tell me who has won?" U2 extends the battle metaphor. There is an example of paronomasia in lost . In relation to the battle metaphor, which is now the struggle to unite, lost refers to the losers, those who have fallen victim to the violence by either partaking in it or experiencing it. Lost also refers to those who do not know whether to refrain or take part in the violence, and do not know which path to follow. Paronomasia is used earlier in "dead end street." Here dead means physically the final portion of the street. It also means lifeless, like the bodies strewn across it. The two sides of these words express the two sides of the Irish struggle. On one hand there is the idealistic cause for freedom and independence. On the other there is the result of trying to attain these goals through terrorism: bloodshed.

The battle metaphor continues when Bono sings "the trenches dug within our hearts." Appealing to emotion again, he compares souls with battlefields. The paronomasia of "torn apart’ in the next line supports the metaphor by illustrating the casualties (both those physically torn and hurt by bombs and bullets, and those torn and separated by allegiances to the revolution). The list of victims is displayed as a tricolon to suggest no importance of one over any other. "Mother’s children, brothers, sisters," they are all equally cherished. They are all also equally vulnerable, likely to fall victim to the often random attacks.

Finally, the last stanza contains a variety of rhetorical devices. Like the paradoxical solution suggested in the opening stanza, the paradox of fact being fiction and television reality is not difficult to accept. To this day there remains controversy over the shootings that occurred more than twenty-five years ago. And with both major protagonists in the violence distorting the truth for their own sake, fact is certainly capable of being manipulated into fiction. The terrible images of lines 5 and 6 support the television paradox. This phrase and the antithesis "we eat and drink while tomorrow they die" add to the sense of perplexity and urgency. There is also a trace of irony in enjoying basic human elements while the next day someone else dies. It causes the listener to ask him or herself, who are they? It causes him or her to wonder if it could be a neighbor, or a friend, or a family member that dies next. Many probably think of those who have died as statistics, numbers in a growing list of murdered. The juxtaposition of we and they confronts the tendency to distance oneself from unknown victims. It asks that they be considered as people, not numbers. Another opportunity for unification is thus presented. Besides uniting with each other, we must also unite with the memories of those slain.

As the song heads towards the closing diacope, one last metaphor is employed. "To claim the victory Jesus won," sings Bono. The words immediately connote the blood sacrifice particular to so many cultures. The listener hears "victory," but also remembers that Jesus had to die in order to achieve it. This makes an appeal to pathos, stirring religious emotions. Bono wants the listener to know that it is not an easy journey he is pleading for them to embark on. It is difficult, but well worth the price. The final metaphor also appeals to ethos by linking their struggle to that of Jesus, and therefore making it morally right.

"Sunday Bloody Sunday" remains as powerful today as it was when U2 first performed it. The irony of its longevity is that it is still relevant. U2 would no doubt rather they did not have to sing it anymore. As it stands, they will probably have to continue singing it.

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“Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen Analysis Essay (Critical Writing)

Interpretation.

Bohemian Rhapsody is a song created by the band Queen that is a composite of six different unique parts. The song was first released on radio in October 1975, with its first live performance on November 14 at a concert in Liverpool. The song quickly spread to radio, first in the UK and then in the US, topping the famous top charts such as Billboard.

Bohemian Rhapsody is a unique product of the music industry that combines several genres to showcase a new era in rock. The queen combines bohemianism with romantic individualism and rhapsody, the ideals of modern art. The song begins with a cappella, and vocal parts become the main force, after which the tempo constantly changes, reflecting the performers’ oscillation between past and present reality (Queen 00.00-00.49). It then moves into a ballad with alternating harmony and vocal parts and finally into a guitar solo and modulation setting (Queen 00.49-02.37). Then, there is a change of tempo, and the song transforms into an opera with references to the main lyrical characters of the Bohemian period. The song ends with a hard rock and a bright ritardando to relieve tension and fatigue from the frequent tonal changes. I find this piece to be the most ingenious and magnificent of all the songs in existence because it reflects the personal nature of the experience and the art of combining different styles and the clash of musical genres.

The meaning of the composition is the necessity of experiencing one’s crisis, which results from the burden of tragic experiences and endless experiences. The music was written this way to prove the rippling nature of problems that never end but still need to be resolved (Queen 03.00-03.50). The emotional text reflects the music, echoing its tragedy and dynamics, transcending simple rhymes and superficial personal lyrics.

Bohemian Rhapsody is genuinely one of the pinnacles of art because it strikes listeners with a deep emotional component combined with the uniqueness of the music. Instead of a measured and understandable tempo, the listener is swept into a maelstrom of styles, including unfamiliar ones like opera and hard rock, to get into the lyrics. These combinations are striking because they directly demonstrate the talent that has evolved from the performers’ tenacity, experiences, and inner struggle. The genius and mastery of the work lie in the ability to show this and let the listener understand.

Queen. Bohemian Rhapsody. A Night at the Opera [Music Album]. EMI, 1975.

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IvyPanda. (2024, February 16). "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen Analysis. https://ivypanda.com/essays/bohemian-rhapsody-by-queen-analysis/

""Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen Analysis." IvyPanda , 16 Feb. 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/bohemian-rhapsody-by-queen-analysis/.

IvyPanda . (2024) '"Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen Analysis'. 16 February.

IvyPanda . 2024. ""Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen Analysis." February 16, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/bohemian-rhapsody-by-queen-analysis/.

1. IvyPanda . ""Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen Analysis." February 16, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/bohemian-rhapsody-by-queen-analysis/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . ""Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen Analysis." February 16, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/bohemian-rhapsody-by-queen-analysis/.

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Essay Samples on Song Analysis

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ENG 280: College Writing II (Wilson)

• Writing Professional Letters
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Mind Mapping Your Song

Researching Your Song

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Introduction to the Letter Assignment

From your assignment (consult your full assignment sheet):

"Just like poems and paintings, songs are works of art that offer interesting insights into the way people think and live. Choose a song that you believe contributes to our understanding of culture—history, politics, social problems, language, beliefs. Write an essay of 4 pages or more (plus Works Cited) that offers your own original analysis of the song and explains its cultural significance. Note that your analysis must be original, with your own ideas and own words."

"Research: Although your interpretation of the song should form the central focus of the paper, include the song itself as a source and at least four additional outside sources that show relevant facts about the subject of the song. To avoid unintentional plagiarism, you must draw clear distinctions between what you are saying and what the research is saying."

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How to Write a Rhetorical Analysis: 6 Steps and an Outline for Your Next Essay

by Kaelyn Barron | 6 comments

Students are often given the assignment of writing a rhetorical analysis, in which they must analyze how a speaker makes an argument, and evaluate whether or not they do so effectively.

However, this practice is useful not only for students, but for all of us who want to evaluate everyday arguments—whether they’re made by advertisers, politicians, or our friends—and learn to think more critically on our own.

What Is a Rhetorical Analysis?

A rhetorical analysis is an essay that examines and evaluates a text (or sometimes other types of media, such as video) based on its rhetoric . Rather than focusing on what the actual message is, a rhetorical analysis looks at how that message is created and delivered.

In writing your rhetorical analysis, you’ll examine the author or creator’s goals, techniques, and appeals to their audience (which you’ll summarize in your essay’s thesis).

How to Write a Rhetorical Analysis

Follow these 6 steps to write a rhetorical analysis that’s clear and insightful.

1. Identify the 4 elements of rhetoric.

Start your analysis by taking note of the following rhetorical elements:

Audience : Who is the piece intended for? Depending on the medium being used, the audience might consist of readers, spectators, listeners, or viewers. What might you infer about this audience and their backgrounds (age group, political preferences, etc.)?

Purpose : What is the speaker’s purpose? What is the outcome that they wish or intend to incite? What are they trying to convince their audience of?

Medium : How is the message being delivered? Through writing, video, images, audio, or some other medium?

Context : Consider the time, place, and social climate of when the material was originally produced. What else was going on during that time?

2. Describe the rhetorical appeals.

Identify and describe the rhetorical appeals used by the speaker, as well as other devices, such as tone , syntax , imagery , etc.

The 3 main rhetorical appeals, established by Aristotle, are ethos , pathos , and logos . They describe how the speaker appeals to an audience’s ethics, emotions, and logic, respectively. This can be done in a number of ways, including imagery, anecdotes, examples, or specific data.

3. Analyze.

Next, it’s time to analyze how and why the speaker uses those devices to appeal to their audience.

As noted above, there are many ways for a speaker to use these devices and appeals. Analyze which methods they chose, how they applied them, and why you think they chose them.

4. Evaluate.

Finally, evaluate the author’s success in using these techniques to reach their goals. Do you think they were effective? Why or why not?

If you don’t think they were effective, what effect do you think they will have instead on the audience? Your evaluation is important because it will become your main argument, or thesis.

5. State your thesis.

Now that you’ve completed your analysis of the material, try to summarize it into one clear, concise thesis statement that will form the foundation of your essay.

Your thesis statement should summarize: 1) the argument or purpose of the speaker; 2) the methods the speaker uses; and 3) the effectiveness of those methods.

For example: In [Title of the Work], the author convincingly argues in favor of education reform by using specific data, compelling anecdotes, and her experience as a teacher.

6. Organize your ideas and evidence.

Next, using your thesis statement as a foundation, organize your ideas and evidence into a coherent outline.

For example, you might organize your body paragraphs into 3 categories: one paragraph for each of the rhetorical appeals (ethos, pathos, and logos), with specific examples of how the speaker makes those appeals.

How Do You Write a Rhetorical Analysis Introduction?

The introduction to your rhetorical analysis essay doesn’t need to be too lengthy or detailed. However, there are a few things you should introduce before jumping into your analysis.

You should start with some contextual information, so your reader can understand what kind of material you’ll be analyzing. Be sure to reference the title, the writer/speaker, and any other relevant details about the work (this can include the year it was published, or background information about what was going on at that time).

Then, you should state your thesis, which will explain what you’ll be arguing in your essay. From there, you can transition into the main body of your analysis.

Rhetorical Analysis Outline

The following outline is an example of how you could structure your rhetorical analysis. To make planning your essay easier, you can simply copy and paste this outline and fill it in with your thesis and supporting examples.

• Describe the 4 elements of rhetoric (audience, purpose, medium, and context), and identify the speaker
• State your thesis
• Describe how the speaker makes an appeal to ethos (the audience’s sense of ethical responsibility)
• Use specific examples, referring to word choice, tone, anecdotes, and other devices
• Describe how the speaker makes an appeal to pathos (the audience’s emotions)
• Describe how the speaker makes an appeal to logos (logic)
• Rephrase your thesis
• Leave your audience with a call to action, or something to think about (this could be a question, or a parting thought

How Many Words Should a Rhetorical Analysis Be?

There’s no strict rule for how many words your rhetorical analysis should be, although you might be given specific guidelines by your instructor.

In general, however, these essays aren’t very long, ranging anywhere from 500–1,000 words. The important thing is that your analysis is complete and you adequately support your thesis.

Analyzing Rhetoric

Analyzing rhetoric is one way to evaluate the work of other writers and creators, and it can also show you new strategies for making your own arguments more effectively.

Next time you read an article or listen to a speech, don’t just pay attention to what the author or speaker says, but how they say it. This is an important step in critical thinking that will help you to draw your own conclusions and evaluate different forms of media more critically.

Did you find this post helpful? Let us know in the comments below!

If you enjoyed this post, then you might also like:

• How to Write a Literary Analysis: 6 Tips for the Perfect Essay
• How to Write a Reflection Paper in 5 Steps (plus Template and Sample Essay)
• What Is Rhetoric? Definitions and Examples to Make Your Writing More Effective
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As a blog writer for TCK Publishing, Kaelyn loves crafting fun and helpful content for writers, readers, and creative minds alike. She has a degree in International Affairs with a minor in Italian Studies, but her true passion has always been writing. Working remotely allows her to do even more of the things she loves, like traveling, cooking, and spending time with her family.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! This was so helpful, and I have been anxious about this paper I must write. I just could not figure out how to get started or which way I should put it in order. Your guidelines and suggestions have really eased my mind. If I did not say it before, THANK YOU!

I have taken a few years of English and comp classes, but this article helped me more than any of those! Breaking it down helped me immensely. Thank you!!

Ms. Barron, thank you so much for your post, which is clearly written, comprehensive, and succinct. I am a teacher, and I thought that I would introduce students to rhetorical analysis by asking them (actually we will write together) to write a rhetorical analysis of the Pledge of Allegiance. Your post provides an EXCELLENT overview of the process and (different) parts. We will just write a one-page-paragraph, to begin. Thank you, again.

Thank you Ronald, I am so happy to hear that you found the post helpful for your class! :)

Kaelyn, thank you for your post. I am given a book to write the Rhetorical analysis. I hope your guidelines will serve the purpose. God bless you. Prayers.

I hope you found the post helpful for writing your rhetorical analysis! :)

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Home > Office of Student Research > 2020 Spring Student Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry > 2020 > HONORSCOLLEGE > 3

Cormier Honors College for Citizen Scholars

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ENGL 400: A Rhetorical Analysis of the Song, "We Are The World": A Call to Change -- Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (And a Potential Rhetorical Framework for COVID-19 Relief Efforts)

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Cammy Toddy , Longwood University Follow

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Description

On the night of January 28, 1985, the charity single song, “We Are The World,” written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, was produced in A&M Studios in Los Angeles. At the recording studio, there was a sign that said, “Check your egos at the door,” which acted as a visual reminder for why these artists were there. This idea was put in place by producer Quincy Jones, who knew he had one night to bring over 40 of the country’s biggest stars together for a cause much bigger than themselves. A rhetorical analysis of “We Are The World” reveals the effectiveness of using Aristotle’s three rhetorical appeals: ethos, pathos, and logos to persuade listeners that global issues are personal issues that everyone should be inclined to respond to. Using the credibility (ethos) of popular recording artists was more likely to make a wider audience willing to listen to the true meaning of “We Are The World”. The words used in the song lyrics were specifically chosen to elicit an emotional response (pathos), serving most literally as a call to action. “We Are The World” proved to have an overwhelming effect on the audience, evident in the data from records sold and money raised. Although the song included a few logical fallacies, “We Are The World,” still carries significant integrity from the mass of artists coming together to promote a much greater cause, providing a potential rhetorical framework for contemporary global causes--such as the COVID-19 relief efforts today.

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What Is a Rhetorical Analysis and How to Write a Great One

Helly Douglas

Do you have to write a rhetorical analysis essay? Fear not! We’re here to explain exactly what rhetorical analysis means, how you should structure your essay, and give you some essential “dos and don’ts.”

What is a Rhetorical Analysis Essay?

How do you write a rhetorical analysis, what are the three rhetorical strategies, what are the five rhetorical situations, how to plan a rhetorical analysis essay, creating a rhetorical analysis essay, examples of great rhetorical analysis essays, final thoughts.

A rhetorical analysis essay studies how writers and speakers have used words to influence their audience. Think less about the words the author has used and more about the techniques they employ, their goals, and the effect this has on the audience.

In your analysis essay, you break a piece of text (including cartoons, adverts, and speeches) into sections and explain how each part works to persuade, inform, or entertain. You’ll explore the effectiveness of the techniques used, how the argument has been constructed, and give examples from the text.

A strong rhetorical analysis evaluates a text rather than just describes the techniques used. You don’t include whether you personally agree or disagree with the argument.

Structure a rhetorical analysis in the same way as most other types of academic essays . You’ll have an introduction to present your thesis, a main body where you analyze the text, which then leads to a conclusion.

Think about how the writer (also known as a rhetor) considers the situation that frames their communication:

• Topic: the overall purpose of the rhetoric
• Audience: this includes primary, secondary, and tertiary audiences
• Purpose: there are often more than one to consider
• Context and culture: the wider situation within which the rhetoric is placed

Back in the 4th century BC, Aristotle was talking about how language can be used as a means of persuasion. He described three principal forms —Ethos, Logos, and Pathos—often referred to as the Rhetorical Triangle . These persuasive techniques are still used today.

Rhetorical Strategy 1: Ethos

Are you more likely to buy a car from an established company that’s been an important part of your community for 50 years, or someone new who just started their business?

Reputation matters. Ethos explores how the character, disposition, and fundamental values of the author create appeal, along with their expertise and knowledge in the subject area.

Aristotle breaks ethos down into three further categories:

• Phronesis: skills and practical wisdom
• Arete: virtue
• Eunoia: goodwill towards the audience

Ethos-driven speeches and text rely on the reputation of the author. In your analysis, you can look at how the writer establishes ethos through both direct and indirect means.

Rhetorical Strategy 2: Pathos

Pathos-driven rhetoric hooks into our emotions. You’ll often see it used in advertisements, particularly by charities wanting you to donate money towards an appeal.

Common use of pathos includes:

• Vivid description so the reader can imagine themselves in the situation
• Personal stories to create feelings of empathy
• Emotional vocabulary that evokes a response

By using pathos to make the audience feel a particular emotion, the author can persuade them that the argument they’re making is compelling.

Rhetorical Strategy 3: Logos

Logos uses logic or reason. It’s commonly used in academic writing when arguments are created using evidence and reasoning rather than an emotional response. It’s constructed in a step-by-step approach that builds methodically to create a powerful effect upon the reader.

Rhetoric can use any one of these three techniques, but effective arguments often appeal to all three elements.

The rhetorical situation explains the circumstances behind and around a piece of rhetoric. It helps you think about why a text exists, its purpose, and how it’s carried out.

The rhetorical situations are:

• 1) Purpose: Why is this being written? (It could be trying to inform, persuade, instruct, or entertain.)
• 2) Audience: Which groups or individuals will read and take action (or have done so in the past)?
• 3) Genre: What type of writing is this?
• 4) Stance: What is the tone of the text? What position are they taking?
• 5) Media/Visuals: What means of communication are used?

Understanding and analyzing the rhetorical situation is essential for building a strong essay. Also think about any rhetoric restraints on the text, such as beliefs, attitudes, and traditions that could affect the author's decisions.

Before leaping into your essay, it’s worth taking time to explore the text at a deeper level and considering the rhetorical situations we looked at before. Throw away your assumptions and use these simple questions to help you unpick how and why the text is having an effect on the audience.

1: What is the Rhetorical Situation?

• Why is there a need or opportunity for persuasion?
• How do words and references help you identify the time and location?
• What are the rhetoric restraints?
• What historical occasions would lead to this text being created?

2: Who is the Author?

• How do they position themselves as an expert worth listening to?
• What is their ethos?
• Do they have a reputation that gives them authority?
• What is their intention?
• What values or customs do they have?

3: Who is it Written For?

• Who is the intended audience?
• How is this appealing to this particular audience?
• Who are the possible secondary and tertiary audiences?

4: What is the Central Idea?

• Can you summarize the key point of this rhetoric?
• What arguments are used?
• How has it developed a line of reasoning?

5: How is it Structured?

• What structure is used?
• How is the content arranged within the structure?

6: What Form is Used?

• Does this follow a specific literary genre?
• What type of style and tone is used, and why is this?
• Does the form used complement the content?
• What effect could this form have on the audience?

7: Is the Rhetoric Effective?

• Does the content fulfil the author’s intentions?
• Does the message effectively fit the audience, location, and time period?

Once you’ve fully explored the text, you’ll have a better understanding of the impact it’s having on the audience and feel more confident about writing your essay outline.

A great essay starts with an interesting topic. Choose carefully so you’re personally invested in the subject and familiar with it rather than just following trending topics. There are lots of great ideas on this blog post by My Perfect Words if you need some inspiration. Take some time to do background research to ensure your topic offers good analysis opportunities.

Remember to check the information given to you by your professor so you follow their preferred style guidelines. This outline example gives you a general idea of a format to follow, but there will likely be specific requests about layout and content in your course handbook. It’s always worth asking your institution if you’re unsure.

Make notes for each section of your essay before you write. This makes it easy for you to write a well-structured text that flows naturally to a conclusion. You will develop each note into a paragraph. Look at this example by College Essay for useful ideas about the structure.

1: Introduction

This is a short, informative section that shows you understand the purpose of the text. It tempts the reader to find out more by mentioning what will come in the main body of your essay.

• Name the author of the text and the title of their work followed by the date in parentheses
• Use a verb to describe what the author does, e.g. “implies,” “asserts,” or “claims”
• Briefly summarize the text in your own words
• Mention the persuasive techniques used by the rhetor and its effect

Create a thesis statement to come at the end of your introduction.

After your introduction, move on to your critical analysis. This is the principal part of your essay.

• Explain the methods used by the author to inform, entertain, and/or persuade the audience using Aristotle's rhetorical triangle
• Use quotations to prove the statements you make
• Explain why the writer used this approach and how successful it is
• Consider how it makes the audience feel and react

Make each strategy a new paragraph rather than cramming them together, and always use proper citations. Check back to your course handbook if you’re unsure which citation style is preferred.

3: Conclusion

Your conclusion should summarize the points you’ve made in the main body of your essay. While you will draw the points together, this is not the place to introduce new information you’ve not previously mentioned.

Use your last sentence to share a powerful concluding statement that talks about the impact the text has on the audience(s) and wider society. How have its strategies helped to shape history?

Before You Submit

Poor spelling and grammatical errors ruin a great essay. Use ProWritingAid to check through your finished essay before you submit. It will pick up all the minor errors you’ve missed and help you give your essay a final polish. Look at this useful ProWritingAid webinar for further ideas to help you significantly improve your essays. Sign up for a free trial today and start editing your essays!

You’ll find countless examples of rhetorical analysis online, but they range widely in quality. Your institution may have example essays they can share with you to show you exactly what they’re looking for.

The following links should give you a good starting point if you’re looking for ideas:

Pearson Canada has a range of good examples. Look at how embedded quotations are used to prove the points being made. The end questions help you unpick how successful each essay is.

Excelsior College has an excellent sample essay complete with useful comments highlighting the techniques used.

Brighton Online has a selection of interesting essays to look at. In this specific example, consider how wider reading has deepened the exploration of the text.

Writing a rhetorical analysis essay can seem daunting, but spending significant time deeply analyzing the text before you write will make it far more achievable and result in a better-quality essay overall.

It can take some time to write a good essay. Aim to complete it well before the deadline so you don’t feel rushed. Use ProWritingAid’s comprehensive checks to find any errors and make changes to improve readability. Then you’ll be ready to submit your finished essay, knowing it’s as good as you can possibly make it.

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Helly Douglas is a UK writer and teacher, specialising in education, children, and parenting. She loves making the complex seem simple through blogs, articles, and curriculum content. You can check out her work at hellydouglas.com or connect on Twitter @hellydouglas. When she’s not writing, you will find her in a classroom, being a mum or battling against the wilderness of her garden—the garden is winning!

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How to Write a Rhetorical Analysis Essay–Examples & Template

What is a Rhetorical Analysis Essay?

A rhetorical analysis essay is, as the name suggests, an analysis of someone else’s writing (or speech, or advert, or even cartoon) and how they use not only words but also rhetorical techniques to influence their audience in a certain way. A rhetorical analysis is less interested in what the author is saying and more in how they present it, what effect this has on their readers, whether they achieve their goals, and what approach they use to get there. 

Its structure is similar to that of most essays: An Introduction presents your thesis, a Body analyzes the text you have chosen, breaks it down into sections and explains how arguments have been constructed and how each part persuades, informs, or entertains the reader, and a Conclusion section sums up your evaluation. 

Note that your personal opinion on the matter is not relevant for your analysis and that you don’t state anywhere in your essay whether you agree or disagree with the stance the author takes.

In the following, we will define the key rhetorical concepts you need to write a good rhetorical analysis and give you some practical tips on where to start.

Key Rhetorical Concepts

Your goal when writing a rhetorical analysis is to think about and then carefully describe how the author has designed their text so that it has the intended effect on their audience. To do that, you need to consider a number of key rhetorical strategies: Rhetorical appeals (“Ethos”, “Logos”, and “Pathos”), context, as well as claims, supports, and warrants.

Ethos, Logos, and Pathos were introduced by Aristotle, way back in the 4th century BC, as the main ways in which language can be used to persuade an audience. They still represent the basis of any rhetorical analysis and are often referred to as the “rhetorical triangle”. 

These and other rhetorical techniques can all be combined to create the intended effect, and your job as the one analyzing a text is to break the writer’s arguments down and identify the concepts they are based on.

Rhetorical Appeals

Rhetorical appeal #1: ethos.

Ethos refers to the reputation or authority of the writer regarding the topic of their essay or speech and to how they use this to appeal to their audience. Just like we are more likely to buy a product from a brand or vendor we have confidence in than one we don’t know or have reason to distrust, Ethos-driven texts or speeches rely on the reputation of the author to persuade the reader or listener. When you analyze an essay, you should therefore look at how the writer establishes Ethos through rhetorical devices.

Does the author present themselves as an authority on their subject? If so, how? 

Do they highlight how impeccable their own behavior is to make a moral argument? 

Do they present themselves as an expert by listing their qualifications or experience to convince the reader of their opinion on something?

Rhetorical appeal #2: Pathos

The purpose of Pathos-driven rhetoric is to appeal to the reader’s emotions. A common example of pathos as a rhetorical means is adverts by charities that try to make you donate money to a “good cause”. To evoke the intended emotions in the reader, an author may use passionate language, tell personal stories, and employ vivid imagery so that the reader can imagine themselves in a certain situation and feel empathy with or anger towards others.

Rhetorical appeal #3: Logos

Logos, the “logical” appeal, uses reason to persuade. Reason and logic, supported by data, evidence, clearly defined methodology, and well-constructed arguments, are what most academic writing is based on. Emotions, those of the researcher/writer as well as those of the reader, should stay out of such academic texts, as should anyone’s reputation, beliefs, or personal opinions. 

Text and Context

To analyze a piece of writing, a speech, an advertisement, or even a satirical drawing, you need to look beyond the piece of communication and take the context in which it was created and/or published into account. 

Who is the person who wrote the text/drew the cartoon/designed the ad..? What audience are they trying to reach? Where was the piece published and what was happening there around that time? 

A political speech, for example, can be powerful even when read decades later, but the historical context surrounding it is an important aspect of the effect it was intended to have. 

Claims, Supports, and Warrants

To make any kind of argument, a writer needs to put forward specific claims, support them with data or evidence or even a moral or emotional appeal, and connect the dots logically so that the reader can follow along and agree with the points made.

The connections between statements, so-called “warrants”, follow logical reasoning but are not always clearly stated—the author simply assumes the reader understands the underlying logic, whether they present it “explicitly” or “implicitly”. Implicit warrants are commonly used in advertisements where seemingly happy people use certain products, wear certain clothes, accessories, or perfumes, or live certain lifestyles – with the connotation that, first, the product/perfume/lifestyle is what makes that person happy and, second, the reader wants to be as happy as the person in the ad. Some warrants are never clearly stated, and your job when writing a rhetorical analysis essay is therefore to identify them and bring them to light, to evaluate their validity, their effect on the reader, and the use of such means by the writer/creator. 

What are the Five Rhetorical Situations?

A “rhetorical situation” refers to the circumstance behind a text or other piece of communication that arises from a given context. It explains why a rhetorical piece was created, what its purpose is, and how it was constructed to achieve its aims.

Rhetorical situations can be classified into the following five categories:

Asking such questions when you analyze a text will help you identify all the aspects that play a role in the effect it has on its audience, and will allow you to evaluate whether it achieved its aims or where it may have failed to do so.

Rhetorical Analysis Essay Outline

Analyzing someone else’s work can seem like a big task, but as with every assignment or writing endeavor, you can break it down into smaller, well-defined steps that give you a practical structure to follow. 

To give you an example of how the different parts of your text may look when it’s finished, we will provide you with some excerpts from this rhetorical analysis essay example (which even includes helpful comments) published on the Online Writing Lab website of Excelsior University in Albany, NY. The text that this essay analyzes is this article on why one should or shouldn’t buy an Ipad. If you want more examples so that you can build your own rhetorical analysis template, have a look at this essay on Nabokov’s Lolita and the one provided here about the “Shitty First Drafts” chapter of Anne Lamott’s writing instruction book “Bird by Bird”.

Analyzing the Text

When writing a rhetorical analysis, you don’t choose the concepts or key points you think are relevant or want to address. Rather, you carefully read the text several times asking yourself questions like those listed in the last section on rhetorical situations to identify how the text “works” and how it was written to achieve that effect.

Start with focusing on the author : What do you think was their purpose for writing the text? Do they make one principal claim and then elaborate on that? Or do they discuss different topics? 

Then look at what audience they are talking to: Do they want to make a group of people take some action? Vote for someone? Donate money to a good cause? Who are these people? Is the text reaching this specific audience? Why or why not?

What tone is the author using to address their audience? Are they trying to evoke sympathy? Stir up anger? Are they writing from a personal perspective? Are they painting themselves as an authority on the topic? Are they using academic or informal language?

How does the author support their claims ? What kind of evidence are they presenting? Are they providing explicit or implicit warrants? Are these warrants valid or problematic? Is the provided evidence convincing?  

Asking yourself such questions will help you identify what rhetorical devices a text uses and how well they are put together to achieve a certain aim. Remember, your own opinion and whether you agree with the author are not the point of a rhetorical analysis essay – your task is simply to take the text apart and evaluate it.

If you are still confused about how to write a rhetorical analysis essay, just follow the steps outlined below to write the different parts of your rhetorical analysis: As every other essay, it consists of an Introduction , a Body (the actual analysis), and a Conclusion .

Rhetorical Analysis Introduction

The Introduction section briefly presents the topic of the essay you are analyzing, the author, their main claims, a short summary of the work by you, and your thesis statement . 

Tell the reader what the text you are going to analyze represents (e.g., historically) or why it is relevant (e.g., because it has become some kind of reference for how something is done). Describe what the author claims, asserts, or implies and what techniques they use to make their argument and persuade their audience. Finish off with your thesis statement that prepares the reader for what you are going to present in the next section – do you think that the author’s assumptions/claims/arguments were presented in a logical/appealing/powerful way and reached their audience as intended?

Have a look at an excerpt from the sample essay linked above to see what a rhetorical analysis introduction can look like. See how it introduces the author and article , the context in which it originally appeared , the main claims the author makes , and how this first paragraph ends in a clear thesis statement that the essay will then elaborate on in the following Body section:

Cory Doctorow ’s article on BoingBoing is an older review of the iPad , one of Apple’s most famous products. At the time of this article, however, the iPad was simply the latest Apple product to hit the market and was not yet so popular. Doctorow’s entire career has been entrenched in and around technology. He got his start as a CD-ROM programmer and is now a successful blogger and author. He is currently the co-editor of the BoingBoing blog on which this article was posted. One of his main points in this article comes from Doctorow’s passionate advocacy of free digital media sharing. He argues that the iPad is just another way for established technology companies to control our technological freedom and creativity . In “ Why I Won’t Buy an iPad (and Think You Shouldn’t, Either) ” published on Boing Boing in April of 2010, Cory Doctorow successfully uses his experience with technology, facts about the company Apple, and appeals to consumer needs to convince potential iPad buyers that Apple and its products, specifically the iPad, limit the digital rights of those who use them by controlling and mainstreaming the content that can be used and created on the device . 

Doing the Rhetorical Analysis

The main part of your analysis is the Body , where you dissect the text in detail. Explain what methods the author uses to inform, entertain, and/or persuade the audience. Use Aristotle’s rhetorical triangle and the other key concepts we introduced above. Use quotations from the essay to demonstrate what you mean. Work out why the writer used a certain approach and evaluate (and again, demonstrate using the text itself) how successful they were. Evaluate the effect of each rhetorical technique you identify on the audience and judge whether the effect is in line with the author’s intentions.

To make it easy for the reader to follow your thought process, divide this part of your essay into paragraphs that each focus on one strategy or one concept , and make sure they are all necessary and contribute to the development of your argument(s).

One paragraph of this section of your essay could, for example, look like this:

One example of Doctorow’s position is his comparison of Apple’s iStore to Wal-Mart. This is an appeal to the consumer’s logic—or an appeal to logos. Doctorow wants the reader to take his comparison and consider how an all-powerful corporation like the iStore will affect them. An iPad will only allow for apps and programs purchased through the iStore to be run on it; therefore, a customer must not only purchase an iPad but also any programs he or she wishes to use. Customers cannot create their own programs or modify the hardware in any way. 

As you can see, the author of this sample essay identifies and then explains to the reader how Doctorow uses the concept of Logos to appeal to his readers – not just by pointing out that he does it but by dissecting how it is done.

Rhetorical Analysis Conclusion

The conclusion section of your analysis should restate your main arguments and emphasize once more whether you think the author achieved their goal. Note that this is not the place to introduce new information—only rely on the points you have discussed in the body of your essay. End with a statement that sums up the impact the text has on its audience and maybe society as a whole:

Overall, Doctorow makes a good argument about why there are potentially many better things to drop a great deal of money on instead of the iPad. He gives some valuable information and facts that consumers should take into consideration before going out to purchase the new device. He clearly uses rhetorical tools to help make his case, and, overall, he is effective as a writer, even if, ultimately, he was ineffective in convincing the world not to buy an iPad . 

Frequently Asked Questions about Rhetorical Analysis Essays 

What is a rhetorical analysis essay.

A rhetorical analysis dissects a text or another piece of communication to work out and explain how it impacts its audience, how successfully it achieves its aims, and what rhetorical devices it uses to do that. 

While argumentative essays usually take a stance on a certain topic and argue for it, a rhetorical analysis identifies how someone else constructs their arguments and supports their claims.

What is the correct rhetorical analysis essay format?

Like most other essays, a rhetorical analysis contains an Introduction that presents the thesis statement, a Body that analyzes the piece of communication, explains how arguments have been constructed, and illustrates how each part persuades, informs, or entertains the reader, and a Conclusion section that summarizes the results of the analysis. 

What is the “rhetorical triangle”?

The rhetorical triangle was introduced by Aristotle as the main ways in which language can be used to persuade an audience: Logos appeals to the audience’s reason, Ethos to the writer’s status or authority, and Pathos to the reader’s emotions. Logos, Ethos, and Pathos can all be combined to create the intended effect, and your job as the one analyzing a text is to break the writer’s arguments down and identify what specific concepts each is based on.

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Song Analysis Essay

In this first major essay of the semester, you will analyze the kairos and rhetorical situation (speaker, occasion, audience, and presuppositions) of a song. Put simply, your task is to tell a story about how the song came about and what it might have meant to listeners at that time. Among other things, you might want to discuss the careers of the artist and songwriter, the state of the country music industry, and relevant world events. To help you brainstorm, I recommend that you browse the Wikipedia entries on the artist, the year in country music, and the year in world events.

The paper must be 1250-1500 words long include 4+ sources and a list of Works Cited in MLA format. Since the paper will be published on the class website (under the “Music” tab), it should discuss rhetorical concepts using the same audience-friendly language that you have been practicing in your blog posts.

Before continuing, please download the rubric .

Guidelines & Suggestions

Selecting a Song: Choose any country song that has not already been analyzed by students in previous semesters. (Note that I have altered these guidelines and that your paper will cover different ground than the earlier song analyses did.)

Format: Since they’re appearing side by side on the class website, all papers will follow the same format . Among other things, this includes embedding a video at the top of the page and printing a song analysis table at the bottom of the page.

• Song Analysis Table: Note that this part of the assignment is due before the rough draft. We will discuss it in class in greater detail, but you will follow the directions that appear in Jocelyn Neal’s Country Music textbook.

Structure: Start with an introduction that catches the reader’s interest and includes a thesis statement that stakes a clear claim about the song’s place in the artist’s career, country music, and/or the world at the time of its release. (It’s okay to cover only one or two of these pieces, if you have enough to say about them.) In the next paragraphs, summarize the sound and content of the song and develop your remarks on its kairos and rhetorical situation. Conclude with an introduction that ties everything together.

Sources: Use 4+ sources to defend your analysis. The best sources will shed light on the song’s rhetorical situation and/or indicate how the song’s intended audience responded to it. Clearly indicate the details that you borrow from sources by using quotation marks (for direct quotes), hyperlinks (for digital sources), and parenthetical references (for digital and print sources).

• Consider using user comments as a source.

Works Cited: Include a list of Works Cited in MLA format at the bottom of the essay. See the Easy Writer textbook for the details on MLA format.

Submission: Submit your rough draft to Canvas. Post your final draft to the class website as a “Page” ( not a “Post”) under the “Music” tab.

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Analyzing a Song – So Simple Every Student Can Do It

December 13, 2022 //  by  Lindsay Ann //   2 Comments

Sharing is caring!

English teachers, teaching your students how to analyze song lyrics needs to be a “go-to” strategy, a step toward deeper analysis of more complex texts .

Whether you’re teaching poetry, persuasive essays, or some other writing unit, analyzing song lyrics will give your students an opportunity to look at the different ways that language can be used to capture emotions and tell stories .

This close reading process will also help improve their vocabulary and grammar skills while they are having fun!

Here are some tips on how to teach students to analyze song lyrics so that they can gain valuable writing knowledge through a familiar medium they love!

Analysis of Song Lyrics

Taylor Swift makes analyzing song lyrics in the classroom easy peasy. Like her or not, you can count on her to write songs that tell a story, are layered in deep meaning, and littered with Easter eggs that are fun to try and collect (even for the non-Swifties). 

Taylor Swift’s “ Anti Hero” is a fun student-friendly song to bring into the classroom to practice analysis skills.

With callbacks to songs on other albums in lines like “I have this thing where I get older but just never wiser,” you can challenge students to analyze the development of a theme across multiple texts (helloooo higher level DOK and those really tricky to meet standards!).

Lyrics like “I’m the problem; it’s me” coupled with the title setup an opportunity to teach the concept of anti-hero (I especially like the idea of teaching about anti-heroes after teaching about the hero’s journey) and challenging students to analyze how Swift herself could be seen as this archetype by analyzing other songs and conducting online research.

“Anti Hero” also has what appear to be two references to pop culture ( 30 Rock and Knives Out ) that had even the swiftest of Swifties stumped online. These references are an accessible way to introduce the idea of allegory. 

Taylor has really teed up the song analysis practice in English classrooms to be endless with so many rabbit holes to go down at every turn! 

Song Meaning “Hallelujah”

Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” has a deep meaning making it a popular choice for teaching song analysis.  The meaning of Hallelujah is about someone who was deeply in love and is mourning the guilt of the loss of that love .

The song can teach students how to analyze lyrics by pointing out that even though it doesn’t say so explicitly, this is a song about a break-up .

They can also learn other aspects of reading literature, like examining tone and form. Analyzing song lyrics enables students to apply what they’ve learned as they read other texts or songs.

After reading a poem or listening to a song’s lyrics, students should be able to answer questions like: 

• Who is speaking? 
• How do you know? 
• What do you think the speaker’s feelings are?
•  What does this tell you about their personality? 
• Do these feelings make sense for the situation?

Good Songs to Analyze

When choosing good songs to analyze remember these three things:

• Choose a song that tells a story
• A song with a deep meaning or theme that challenges students’ inferential thinking skills works best
• Pick songs that students will know and be excited to listen to (that means that while “We Didn’t Start the Fire” is technically a great song for analysis, it might not be the most engaging for your students)

Here are some songs for teaching song analysis that will not only help you teach important analysis skills but also engage and delight your students:

• “ Pray for Me ” by the Weeknd ft. Kendrick Lamar
• “ Thunder ” by Imagine Dragons 
• “ Bohemian Rhapsody ” by Queen (this one is suitable for older students)
• “ Born This Way ” by Lady Gaga
• “ Getting Older ” by Billie Eilish 
• “ Drivers License ” by Olivia Rodrigo 
• “ This is America ” by Childish Gambino/Donald Glover
• “ Matilda ” by Harry Styles
• “ Victoria’s Secret ” by Jax (does have some profanity – I’ve linked the “clean” version)
• “ Vacation ” by The Dirty Heads (does say “shit”)

How to Analyze a Song

Teaching students how to analyze a song is similar to teaching poetry or literary analysis, but using songs disguises the learning as a fun activity making it really engaging and accessible for all learners.

Start by having students listen to their song twice .

• Instruct them to listen through for the first time just for enjoyment and to follow along with the printed lyrics (or digital if you have a way for students to access the lyrics online).
• Then have them listen a second time but this time have them highlight and circle words and phrases that they think are important and interesting. 

Challenge students to consider the following questions during their second time listening and to annotate the lyrics as they go:

• Who’s telling the story? What’s their perspective? How do they feel? What’s making them feel that way?
• What’s the mood of the song? Do the lyrics or the music contribute more to the mood?
• What figurative language do you notice in the lyrics? Why might the songwriter have chosen to include that figurative language?
• What could the songwriter be saying about human nature or society through their lyrics? How could you write a theme statement about these lyrics?

Once you’ve gotten your students started with the analysis process, make sure to involve your students. Ask them what they notice and use their insights to build discussion. Have them write a summary of the song or write a detailed analysis or work on a more creative, visual response.

Song & Poem Analysis Paired Text Lesson Plans

Make close reading, textual analysis and literary analysis of songs (and poems)  less intimidating  with these detailed, CCSS-aligned  close reading song analysis lesson plans for paired texts . Integrated close reading, text-based writing, speaking, listening, and inquiry skills, make these lessons both  engaging and worthwhile.

To help you save prep time, I’ve put together some awesome lessons for you HERE , including:

• Carrie Underwood’s song “Cry Pretty” & Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ song “Growing Up”
• William Ernest Henley’s poem “Invictus” & Imagine Dragons’ song “Whatever it Takes”
• Maya Angelou’s poem “Still I Rise” and Tupac’s song “Still I Rise”
• Stephen Dobyns’ poem “Loud Music” and Incubus’ song “Dig”
• “Anti-Hero” by Taylor Swift
• “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” by Green Day and “Brick by Boring Brick” by Paramore
• “Hotel California” by the Eagles and “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin
• Protest Songs
• “Mad World” by Tears for Fears and “A Million Dreams” sung by Pink / The Greatest Showman

Wrapping Up

When students analyze songs, they think about its overall impact.

What makes this song great, and why do you like it? What is it about this song that makes it stand out?

Thinking through these ideas with easily-accessible texts makes transferring their skills and knowledge to literature (ya know, the kind with the capital L ) easier.

They’ll have practice analyzing craft moves like figurative language and allegory, but they’ll also have practice with those more complex reading strategies like making inferences and connections .

Have a song you think would be perfect to analyze in the classroom? I’d love to hear about it! Drop me a comment below to share! 

Hey, if you loved this post, you’ll want to download a  FREE copy of my guide to streamlined grading .

I know how hard it is to do all the things as an English teacher, so I’m excited to share some of my best strategies for reducing the grading overwhelm. 

About Lindsay Ann

Lindsay has been teaching high school English in the burbs of Chicago for 19 years. She is passionate about helping English teachers find balance in their lives and teaching practice through practical feedback strategies and student-led learning strategies. She also geeks out about literary analysis, inquiry-based learning, and classroom technology integration. When Lindsay is not teaching, she enjoys playing with her two kids, running, and getting lost in a good book.

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• Arts and Culture

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How to write a rhetorical analysis on a song.

Writing a rhetorical analysis of a song can be tricky, particularly if you are not sure what genre the song belongs to or how to identify important themes within the lyrics. While there is no hard and fast rule for determining which songs belong to which genres, looking at the components of the music and the lyrics can help determine that.

The term “rhyme” does not necessarily refer to poetic rhymes like “tiger tiger” but rather regular rhyming patterns such as ABAB, IBII, etc. There are many types of rhymes, and most songs use a mix of them. The same word can be considered a different type of rhyme depending on its position in the line!

This article will go into detail about some easy ways to identify important themes in a song and how to organize your ideas when writing your rhetorical analysis. At the end, we will apply our skills to review an example song.

Look for the different arguments used in the poem

A rhetorical analysis of a song is more than just knowing what parts are about love or death. It means looking at how the writer uses language to tell their story, and determining the argument they use for each section.

The first line of a song often contains a metaphor or analogy. A metaphor compares one thing with another example of that thing. For instance, the first line of a song could be “You make me feel like I’m the only person in the world” – this sets up a metaphoric comparison between you as a person and the whole universe!

A good way to recognize a metaphor is if the word it corresponds to is not clearly defined before the lyrics - so look out for that when you listen to songs. The music can sometimes provide clues, too! For instance, if the notes rise then fall, that is a metaphor for someone or something rising above everything else.

Another type of argument made in poems is called an aphorism, which is a short sentence designed to have powerful meaning. Aphorisms typically start with the words ‘I’ or ‘you know’ and contain a moral message. For instance, an old cliché is that people who say things like “Never trust a man with dark hair” mean nothing because everyone has dark hair.

Look for the different points the author makes

A rhetorical analysis of a song is made up of three main components , which are discussed in more detail below. The first one is how the composer incorporated rhythm into the lyrics of the song.

The second part looks at the melody of the song and what tones or notes it uses. This includes whether the tone is rising, falling, or both.

Then there’s the use of figurative language in the lyrics, as well as the presence or absence of poetry. All of these play an important role in defining the message of the song.

Lastly, you have to consider who the writer of the article was and if their opinion of the song differs from yours.

Look for the different opinions the poem expresses

A good song analysis also looks at how the lyrics relate to each other. You can do this by either highlighting phrases or whole lines and determining what they mean together. These internal links make sense because the audience cannot assume anything about the song without knowing these parts first.

For example, in one of his songs, Taylor Swift named him self-referential with her song “I Should Have Done More”. In it she berated herself for letting someone walk out on her and not doing enough to keep them there. This link makes sense since both parts of the song address the same thing — her failure as a person who let love go.

There is another way that artists use self-reference to convey messages. They use themselves or their experiences as examples of something. For instance, if the song does not clearly state its main message, then looking at the lyrics may tell you more about it.

Analyze the author's use of language

The song lyrics we are going to analyze today were written by Tom Smith, and they go hand in hand with our earlier lesson on how to interpret a poem.

In this case, his songs make use of metaphor and analogy to tell us about different topics and ideas. They also contain vocabulary that he includes or excludes to emphasize certain things .

This is an important part of writing rhetoric because it creates an effect on the reader. Using appropriate rhetorical devices can add power to your arguments and messages.

You have seen some examples already; when writers employ vivid imagery , parallel structures, word play, and/or hyperbole, it helps convey their message more powerfully.

Look at the poem's theme and try to identify the author's purpose

Now that you have determined the song's topic, it is time to determine how the writer of the song addresses this topic. This process will require reading the poem's lyrics and then thinking about the song as a whole.

When writing an analysis of a poem's theme, there are two main things you must consider. First, what part of the poem does the author seem to be emphasizing? And second, what can we learn from the poet's style?

As you read through the poem, note whether the words appeal to you or not, and if they do, why. Are their use appropriate for the subject matter? Is the tone clear and effective?

By using poetry as a form of expression, poets gain new ways to communicate thoughts and feelings. As such, studying the poetic form and language used can help us understand the poet better.

Furthermore, by understanding the poetics (the study of literature and its influence) of a particular genre, we can get more insight into the song. For example, knowing the poetics of a verse letter can tell us something about the writers' emotions and how they conveyed them in the message.

Consider the poem's message

A good song can convey a very strong message, one that you may not even be aware of at first. Some songs talk about love, or life lessons, or motivating phrases. Others are just fun to listen to!

The best songs have something special going for them, though. They're usually well -written, emphasize important keywords , and carry an emotional tone.

When it comes down to it, most songs tell a story. The lyrics develop into a theme, and other parts of the music contribute additional messages .

Using this as your basis, this article will show you how to write a rhetorical analysis of a song. You'll learn some basics like how to identify the genre, what modes and tenses the song uses, and more.

From there, we'll apply all of these concepts to a specific example - "Bitch I'm On Fire" by MØ. After reading our analyses, you'll know exactly why this song is so powerful.

Look at the poem's style

A good song analysis is informed by the lyrics of the song. The lyrics can help you determine the main topic, supporting arguments, and rhetorical strategies used in the song.

The first thing to do when analyzing a new song is to look at the verse-verse structure of the lyrics. Is there an introduction followed by a climax and then a resolution? If so, what does it represent?

The initial part of the song is usually an intro or prelude. This is typically short and has no real rhyme or meter. It sets up the rest of the song and gives you some information about the song before the actual argument takes place .

In the case of “Bathroom Window” by Ariana Grande, the prelude introduces the setting (bathroom) and theme (breakup).

After the introductory line ("I'll make you feel like we never broke up"), the song shifts into the conclusion. Here, she promises to wash your hair if he comes back to her. You can tell that she is trying to win his heart again by the nature of this promise. She wants him to believe that everything will be okay after they break down and have their little talk.

Intermediate students may focus too much on the rhymes and meter of the song, but advanced students should know how to identify key words in a song. Using these key words as tools, you can assess the tone and emphasis of the writer.

Look for examples of each rhetorical element

In writing a literary analysis, there are three main components that make up most academic essays: an introductory paragraph, a body that contains and is supported by either a topic or argument, and a conclusion that restates the initial theme and/or proposition given in the intro paragraph.

The term “rhetoric” comes from the word rhetoric, which means “the art of speaking effectively.” What makes effective speech interesting and persuasive is its use of logical reasoning and imagery to convey your message to others.

Songs can be very engagingly written, so using some of these rhetorical tools seems appropriate . When you do that, you write a song analysis!

Argument: Songs are stories with lyrics and melodies. Looking at it this way, every album has a narrative arc with a beginning, middle, and end.

Like any good story, songs follow a plot that moves forward through events and actions. These events usually involve protagonist -and-antagonist relationships, such as John versus the world, or Mary versus her boyfriends. The climax comes when one character reaches their goal, and then everything shifts towards the ending where the outcome is revealed.

Using this structure as our basis, we can apply literary concepts to music analyses. This article will go into more detail on how to analyze an album as a literary work.

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Home — Essay Samples — Entertainment — Jazz — Analysis Of Billie Holiday’s Song Strange Fruit

Analysis of Billie Holiday’s Song Strange Fruit

• Categories: Billie Holiday Jazz Song Analysis

About this sample

Words: 720 |

Published: Aug 6, 2021

Words: 720 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read

Table of contents

Song analysis essay outline, song analysis essay example, introduction to "strange fruit" by billie holiday.

• Overview of the song's theme and historical context
• Significance of the song in the context of civil rights

Extended Metaphors in the Song

• Comparison between lynching victims and fruit
• The symbolism of trees and fruit in the song

Verse Analysis

• Analyzing the lyrics of each verse
• How Billie Holiday uses metaphors to convey the horrors of lynching
• The importance of "Strange Fruit" as a protest song
• The use of extended metaphors in highlighting the dark imagery of the song

Works Cited:

• Pew Research Centers. (2011). Global Christianity - A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Christian Population. Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. https://www.pewforum.org/2011/12/19/global-christianity-exec/
• Ryrie, C. C. (2006). Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth. Moody Publishers.
• Stott, J. R. W. (1994). The Living Church: Convictions of a Lifelong Pastor. IVP Books.
• The Bible. (n.d.). BibleGateway.com. https://www.biblegateway.com/
• The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). Crossway.
• Vischer, P. (2010). The Gospel According to Paul: Embracing the Good News at the Heart of Paul's Teachings. Thomas Nelson.
• Black, C. C. (2012). The Church: What Is It? Nashville: Gospel Advocate Company.
• Lutzer, E. W. (2018). The Church in Babylon: Heeding the Call to Be a Light in Darkness. Moody Publishers.
• Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (n.d.). Church. In Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/church
• Schreiner, T. R., & Wright, M. J. (Eds.). (2018). Believer's Baptism: Sign of the New Covenant in Christ. B&H Academic.

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Teaching Rhetorical Analysis: Using Film Clips and Songs to Get Started with SPACE CAT

Rhetorical analysis: so much more than commercials and appeals.

Rhetorical analysis can get a stuffy reputation.  Sometimes, we reserve it only for “serious” classes and students and we focus on monumental, world-shaking types of speeches.  While this approach accomplishes a few of our long-term goals for education, it’s not doing enough to reach the masses of students who need these skills .

I hope you’re here reading this because you want to try RA with seventh graders.  You want to introduce rhetorical analysis to your struggling 10th graders.  I hope you’re here because you’re trying to do RA even though you haven’t been deemed worthy and been exclusively anointed as an AP Lang teacher.  I hope you’re an AP Lang teacher here looking to do things with a broader scope and new entryways into conversations about complexity and sophistication. 

Really, I’m glad you’re here .

RHETORICAL ANALYSIS:  THE BASICS

Here’s where we need to start:  the triangle.

Rhetorical analysis is less about appeals and more about the unique connection between three points:  the speaker, the audience, and the message.

When we start RA zeroing in on ethos, pathos, and logos, we are playing a bit of a dangerous game.  Teaching terms can be a comfort zone for teachers (we do this with figurative language , too).  In our field, there are so few direction instruction content types of lessons, that it can feel cozy to snuggle up with a list of terms we understand and deliver them to our students.  Without realizing it, we’ve created a pretty deep hole, jumped in, and forgot to throw down the rope ladder for when we need to get back out.  

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Amanda Cardenas (@mudandinkteaching)

When we start with terminology , we’re sending the message to students that this is the primary focus of analysis:  identification.  We’ve armed them with dozens of terms, so the goal of analysis must be to slap these labels all over a speech and call it annotation.  Then?  It ends.  Students falsely believe that they’ve accomplished the task because they did exactly what you taught them.  They found the rhetorical questions.  They found a simile.  They found an example of ethos.  

And then?  We get really frustrated when they can’t tell us WHY, HOW, or SO WHAT when we probe them deeper about what they’ve identified.

This is my very long way of telling you this:  DON’T start with terms , or, if you do, be ready to pivot quickly!

RHETORICAL ANALYSIS:  WHERE TO BEGIN

START with the rhetorical triangle or a framework that you like (I like SPACE CAT ) and a conversation around the rhetorical situation (SPACE).  By emphasizing the importance of understanding the components of the broader context of the argument, we help students start the probing question why? in the back of their heads as we go deeper and deeper into the argument itself.

One of my favorite pieces to use for practicing the rhetorical situation is looking at Lumiere’s plea to Belle in “Be Our Guest”.  In another blog post , I outline how much there is to the situation -- there is so much to consider in terms of the speaker, the purpose, the audience, the context and the exigence.  In the slide deck for this lesson, we spend a great deal of time listing as many details as possible before even looking at a single lyric.  Why?  Because once we get into the argument, we’re seamlessly moving through true analysis.

Ms. C?   I think I found a simile. What similie is that? Well it says ____________. Hmm.. You’re right.  So why does this particular simile hold weight knowing what we know about who Lumiere is and what he’s trying to achieve in this moment? Wheels turning…

RHETORICAL ANALYSIS:  GETTING INTO THE ARGUMENT

So we’ve got a handle on the rhetorical situation.  That’s a win.  In fact, that might be the entire goal of a unit if you’re just beginning.  If your school is taking their time and truly working on vertical articulation, this is a great skill to introduce at 9th grade and build toward mastery in 10th.  

But let’s say we’re moving on a bit and ready to analyze the argument.  You might have a speech, a commercial, another song, or another type of  fictional scenario, and now we need to look at the techniques used and do the analysis work.

This is where we come back to our analysis framework.  I like using SPACE CAT, so this stage is where I rely on CAT:  choices, appeals, and tone .

Rhetorical choices include just about everything, so it’s up to you to narrow the lane of what each argument is doing well.  A rhetorical choice might be the structure or organization of the argument, an extended metaphor, the use of personification, or even a particularly interesting use of parallel structure.  Appeals are what you think they are:  ethos, pathos, and logos.  And of course, tone is exactly what you think it is, too.

Not all choices, appeals, or potential tone words are important to talk about in every speech, so fully embrace your right to decide ahead of time which choices are on the table for discussion (this is called scaffolding and if you need help with it, I have a training in my Mastering Close Reading Workshop that you might find very helpful!).

Let’s Look at an Example: “Mother knows best”

Here’s a quick example from “Mother Knows Best” in Disney’s Tangled for each of the components in CAT.

Mother Godel opens her song referring to Rapunzel “as fragile as a flower; still a little sapling, just a sprout”.  She’s comparing Rapunzel to an undeveloped, extremely young plant.  

She then uses the refrain “Mother Knows Best” along with other overly-assertive physical behaviors to assert her own ethos and Rapunzel’s lack of life experience.

The song also gives students the chance to look at tone, especially in the verse where Mother Godel tells Rapunzel that she won’t survive as a “sloppy, underdressed, immature, clumsy” and “gettin’ kinda chubby” girl out in the real world.  This demeaning tone further underscores Mother Godel’s authority and increases the fear in Rapunzel about leaving her tower.

RHETORICAL ANALYSIS:  SO WHAT?

Well, we’ve arrived back where we started, friends.  There’s a whole lot of highlighting, lots of phrases and details identified as one thing or another, but here comes the real work:  SO WHAT?

So, Mother Godel uses a demeaning tone toward Rapunzel.  So what?

She compares her to a “sapling” that has just sprouted from the ground.  So what?

Here’s where we send students back to the rhetorical situation.

Support them through their “so what” with questions referring back to SPACE:

Why is this tone effective given what we know about the audience?

How does this metaphor create a sense of fear in Rapunzel?

How does Mother Godel’s use of hyperbole help her achieve her purpose?

Given the context of the situation, why would Mother Godel rely on the emotion of fear in this particular argument?

Once you’ve gotten through the SPACE, the CAT, and now arrived at the analysis part, remember that you can do this a few ways.  Students oftentimes will write a paragraph of analysis, but if you’d prefer, you might have students complete a one-pager or just have a discussion that outlines what students could write about.  It’s okay for some lessons to be heavier on the process than on the result.

SOME FINAL THOUGHTS…

RHETORICAL ANALYSIS: TRUST THE PROCESS

This is the process.  It takes time, practice, and more practice.  But if you are able to confidently lean on a framework that you like, provide the right types of arguments that meet students where they’re at, and stretch their work with rhetoric over multiple years, you’re going to find increasing success.

If you’re looking for more support, I have resources that are ready to help you.  Keep doing the work -- I’m right here behind you every step of the way.

LET’S GO SHOPPING…

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• English 101

Sample Essay on ‘Stressed Out’ Song Rhetorical Analysis

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The song is sung by a duo called the Twenty-One Pilots, which is based in Columbus Ohio. Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun are the members but initially, it was composed of four university classmates but two left in 2011. The fourth Album, which holds the songs under discussion, was their breakthrough, as it made them have two songs in the U.S. top ten charts. Consequently, they have been nominated for several Grammy awards. The name of the group was derived after one of them read the story called ‘All My Sons’ by Miller, which talks about a man who caused the death of 21 pilots during the world war cause he sold to them defective parts for their jets for his profit missions. This name was chosen to remind the group to make a choice between what is right and what is easy (SongFacts ). It would form the basis of their core values of morality in its entirety.

‘Stressed Out’ was written by Tyler, the lead of the group, who states that ‘blurry face’ represents the person that he is as an individual and the things that he is insecure about. The official video is mostly made in his childhood home. He started that as he wrote the song, one of the questions at the back of his mind was how he handles his insecurities. He said that how a person deals with their insecurities and fears can be very harmful, and so he needed to know how to compensate for his own as he wrote the song (SongFacts ).

Text, Context, Subtext, And Intertextuality

Stressed Out Lyrics

I wish I found some better sounds no one’s ever heard, I wish I had a better voice that sang some better words, I wish I found some chords in an order that is new, I wish I didn’t have to rhyme every time I sang,

I was told when I get older all my fears would shrink, But now I’m insecure and I care what people think.

My name’s ‘Blurry face’ and I care what you think. My name’s ‘Blurryface’ and I care what you think.

Wish we could turn back time, to the good ol’ days, When our momma sang us to sleep but now we’re stressed out (oh). Wish we could turn back time (oh), to the good ol’ days (oh), When our momma sang us to sleep but now we’re stressed out.

We’re stressed out.

Sometimes a certain smell will take me back to when I was young, How come I’m never able to identify where it’s coming from, I’d make a candle out of it if I ever found it, Try to sell it, never sell out of it, I’d probably only sell one,

It’d be to my brother, ’cause we have the same nose, Same clothes homegrown a stone’s throw from a creek we used to roam, But it would remind us of when nothing really mattered, Out of student loans and treehouse homes we all would take the latter.

We used to play pretend, give each other different names, We would build a rocket ship and then we’d fly it far away, Used to dream of outer space but now they’re laughing at our face, Saying, “Wake up, you need to make money.” Yo..

Used to play pretend, used to play pretend, bunny We used to play pretend, wake up, you need the money Used to play pretend, used to play pretend, bunny We used to play pretend, wake up, you need the money ( Joseph).

The context of the song is the world where perfection is expected, making people feel insecure on whether they fit or not. The author, who hails from America, believes that they are not as handsome or as good looking as they ought to be, and this largely causes them to feel insecure. It is the world where looks are highly emphasized on, making the writer and other people in his audience quiet uncertain if, they meet the expectations of the others. Similarly, a lot is expected by the public when one presents a piece of art, making the performers or composers adhere to strict rules to fit in the general context. In this regard, the writer of the lyrics says that they wish they had a better voice to sing and that they could rhyme better. It is clear that albeit they sing, they feel that they are not good enough, a factor that may make them not deliver to the audience as correctly as may be expected. Similarly, there seems to be monotony in what is sang as he also wishes that he could find some chords in a new order, implying that people lack innovation in their composition. Similarly, he wishes he did not have to stick to the rhyme that artists often stick to every time he sang.

Further, the context is also the world where people feel safe in their mother’s hands as they grow up since the moms’ canopies offer protection from all attacks. However, upon growing up, they are expected to stand on their own and make a living. Having not the right skills to do that makes them stressed out, as the pressure seems too difficult to decipher and outperform. It also presents a time when the family unit is functional as the song featured several pictures of the parents and their children. There is also financial strain as the official video shows the duo taking some milk complaining that times are hard. The lyrics also show that they are struggling to make ends meet.

The subtext is: I am very stressed up I wish the world would just stop, I wish I could have remained a child forever without ever having to grow up and take responsibility, I so much is there was a way out of this tiring life.

 Intertextuality

The author refers to other songs by referring to rhyme chords used by other musicians that set the pace of what the public expects from musicians. They also refer to their previous music where they used the same stylistic devices to suit these expectations.

Ethos, Pathos, Logos, And Kairos

The writer builds ethos by creating credibility and character in the lyrics and the video. Despite their young age, they show their parents in the official video, which makes the audience from all age groups, connect with them (Ramen). Moreover, the same applies to the lyrics because the songwriter often quotes the credibility of the mother, who was very responsible in bringing him up in a haven. They also show credibility by being honest on their insecurities and their not so sound financial status. This shows they are real and do not try to paint a picture of perfect people to the reader.

Pathos is very prominently used in the song as the author and singers depict their suffering and convey it to the audience. They appeal to empathy throughout the story line where the writer shows that life is not comfortable for him as he suffers lack and struggle. He shows that he has to wake up and try to look for his needs, which he implies that sometimes he does not achieve. Moreover, he says that he feels he is not handsome enough and has a blurry face, making him an insecure person. Moreover, he clearly communicates to the readers that he is stressed out by his situation.

Logos is also evident as the piece appeals to reason. He shows that people must wake up at a certain age and look for money to sustain themselves. At this age, he shows that they can no longer rely on their parents, albeit he wishes that they would stay in their folks’ homes forever. The reason is also depicted by the insecurity that exists in the world, with people fearing that they do not meet the expectations of others.

Kairos shows the appropriate place as the video using the singers’ childhood home as the primary shoot location. This is essential as the lyrics mainly focus on the good old childhood days when the singers were in their mothers’ tender care, and they then had no worries. This is also clearly depicted by the existence of the mothers in the video who look so cool, calm and collected one can see the age difference between the parents and the singers, which further emphasizes on the passage of time.

Works Cited

Joseph Tyler. Twenty-One Pilots Lyrics 

Ramen. Twenty-one pilots: Stressed Out Official Video. Web

SongFacts . Stressed Out By Twenty-One Pilots.2016.

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Rhetorical Analysis Essay

Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example

Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example - Free Samples

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Rhetorical Analysis Essay - A Complete Guide With Examples

Rhetorical Analysis Essay Topics – 120+ Unique Ideas

Crafting an Effective Rhetorical Analysis Essay Outline - Free Samples!

Ethos, Pathos, and Logos - Structure, Usage & Examples

Writing a rhetorical analysis essay for academics can be really demanding for students. This type of paper requires high-level analyzing abilities and professional writing skills to be drafted effectively.

As this essay persuades the audience, it is essential to know how to take a strong stance and develop a thesis. 

This article will find some examples that will help you with your rhetorical analysis essay writing effortlessly. 

• 1. Good Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example
• 2. Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example AP Lang 2023
• 3. Rhetorical Analysis Essay Examples for Students 
• 4. Writing a Visual Rhetorical Analysis Essay with Example 
• 5. Rhetorical Analysis Essay Writing Tips

Good Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example

The step-by-step writing process of a rhetorical analysis essay is far more complicated than ordinary academic essays. This essay type critically analyzes the rhetorical means used to persuade the audience and their efficiency. 

The example provided below is the best rhetorical analysis essay example:

Rhetorical Analysis Essay Sample

In this essay type, the author uses rhetorical approaches such as ethos, pathos, and logos .  These approaches are then studied and analyzed deeply by the essay writers to weigh their effectiveness in delivering the message.

Let’s take a look at the following example to get a better idea;

The outline and structure of a rhetorical analysis essay are important. 

According to the essay outline, the essay is divided into three sections: 

• Introduction
• Ethos 
• Logos 

A rhetorical analysis essay outline is the same as the traditional one. The different parts of the rhetorical analysis essay are written in the following way:

Rhetorical Analysis Introduction Example

The introductory paragraph of a rhetorical analysis essay is written for the following purpose:

• To provide basic background information about the chosen author and the text.
• Identify the target audience of the essay. 

An introduction for a rhetorical essay is drafted by:

• Stating an opening sentence known as the hook statement. This catchy sentence is prepared to grab the audience’s attention to the paper. 
• After the opening sentence, the background information of the author and the original text are provided. 

For example, a rhetorical analysis essay written by Lee Jennings on“The Right Stuff” by David Suzuki. Lee started the essay by providing the introduction in the following way:

Analysis of the Example: 

• Suzuki stresses the importance of high school education. He prepares his readers for a proposal to make that education as valuable as possible.
• A rhetorical analysis can show how successful Suzuki was in using logos, pathos, and ethos. He had a strong ethos because of his reputation. 
• He also used pathos to appeal to parents and educators. However, his use of logos could have been more successful.
• Here Jennings stated the background information about the text and highlighted the rhetorical techniques used and their effectiveness. 

Thesis Statement Example for Rhetorical Analysis Essay 

A thesis statement of a rhetorical analysis essay is the writer’s stance on the original text. It is the argument that a writer holds and proves it using the evidence from the original text. 

A thesis statement for a rhetorical essay is written by analyzing the following elements of the original text:

• Diction - It refers to the author’s choice of words and the tone
• Imagery - The visual descriptive language that the author used in the content. 
• Simile - The comparison of things and ideas

In Jennings's analysis of “The Right Stuff,” the thesis statement was:

Example For Rhetorical Analysis Thesis Statement

Rhetorical Analysis Body Paragraph Example 

In the body paragraphs of your rhetorical analysis essay, you dissect the author's work, analyze their use of rhetorical techniques, and provide evidence to support your analysis. 

Let's look at an example that analyzes the use of ethos in David Suzuki's essay:

Rhetorical Analysis Conclusion Example

All the body paragraphs lead the audience towards the conclusion.

For example, the conclusion of “The Right Stuff” is written in the following way by Jennings:

In the conclusion section, Jennings summarized the major points and restated the thesis statement to prove them. 

Rhetorical Essay Example For The Right Stuff by David Suzuki

Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example AP Lang 2023

Writing a rhetorical analysis for the AP Language and Composition course can be challenging. So drafting it correctly is important to earn good grades. 

To make your essay effective and winning, follow the tips provided by professionals below:

Step #1: Understand the Prompt

Understanding the prompt is the first thing to produce an influential rhetorical paper. It is mandatory for this academic writing to read and understand the prompt to know what the task demands from you. 

Step #2: Stick to the Format

The content for the rhetorical analysis should be appropriately organized and structured. For this purpose, a proper outline is drafted. 

The rhetorical analysis essay outline divides all the information into different sections, such as the introduction, body, and conclusion.  The introduction should explicitly state the background information and the thesis statement. 

All the body paragraphs should start with a topic sentence to convey a claim to the readers. Provide a thorough analysis of these claims in the paragraph to support your topic sentence. 

Step #3: Use Rhetorical Elements to Form an Argument 

Analyze the following things in the text to form an argument for your essay:

• Language (tone and words)
• Organizational structure
• Rhetorical Appeals ( ethos, pathos, and logos) 

Once you have analyzed the rhetorical appeals and other devices like imagery and diction, you can form a strong thesis statement. The thesis statement will be the foundation on which your essay will be standing. 

AP Language Rhetorical Essay Sample

AP Rhetorical Analysis Essay Template

Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example AP Lang

AP Lang Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example

Rhetorical Analysis Essay Examples for Students 

Here are a few more examples to help the students write a rhetorical analysis essay:

Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example Ethos, Pathos, Logos

Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example Outline

Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example College

Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example APA Format

Compare and Contrast Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example

Comparative Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example

How to Start Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example

Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example High School

Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example APA Sample

Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example Of a Song

Florence Kelley Speech Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example

Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example MLA

Writing a Visual Rhetorical Analysis Essay with Example 

The visual rhetorical analysis essay determines how pictures and images communicate messages and persuade the audience. 

Usually, visual rhetorical analysis papers are written for advertisements. This is because they use strong images to convince the audience to behave in a certain way. 

To draft a perfect visual rhetorical analysis essay, follow the tips below:

• Analyze the advertisement deeply and note every minor detail. 
• Notice objects and colors used in the image to gather every detail.
• Determine the importance of the colors and objects and analyze why the advertiser chose the particular picture. 
• See what you feel about the image.
• Consider the objective of the image. Identify the message that the image is portraying. 
• Identify the targeted audience and how they respond to the picture. 

An example is provided below to give students a better idea of the concept. 

Simplicity Breeds Clarity Visual Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example

Rhetorical Analysis Essay Writing Tips

Follow the tips provided below to make your rhetorical writing compelling. 

• Choose an engaging topic for your essay. The rhetorical analysis essay topic should be engaging to grab the reader’s attention.
• Thoroughly read the original text.
• Identify the SOAPSTone. From the text, determine the speaker, occasions, audience, purpose, subject, and tone.
• Develop a thesis statement to state your claim over the text.
• Draft a rhetorical analysis essay outline.
• Write an engaging essay introduction by giving a hook statement and background information. At the end of the introductory paragraph, state the thesis statement.
• The body paragraphs of the rhetorical essay should have a topic sentence. Also, in the paragraph, a thorough analysis should be presented.
• For writing a satisfactory rhetorical essay conclusion, restate the thesis statement and summarize the main points.
• Proofread your essay to check for mistakes in the content. Make your edits before submitting the draft.

Following the tips and the essay's correct writing procedure will guarantee success in your academics. 

We have given you plenty of examples of a rhetorical analysis essay. But if you are still struggling to draft a great rhetorical analysis essay, it is suggested to take a professional’s help.

MyPerfectWords.com can assist you with all your academic assignments. The top essay writer service that we provide is reliable. If you are confused about your writing assignments and have difficulty meeting the deadline, get help from the  legal essay writing service .

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