thesis speech analysis

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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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Speechwriting

8 Purpose and Thesis

Speechwriting Essentials

In this chapter . . .

As discussed in the chapter on Speaking Occasion , speechwriting begins with careful analysis of the speech occasion and its given circumstances, leading to the choice of an appropriate topic. As with essay writing, the early work of speechwriting follows familiar steps: brainstorming, research, pre-writing, thesis, and so on.

This chapter focuses on techniques that are unique to speechwriting. As a spoken form, speeches must be clear  about the purpose and main idea or “takeaway.” Planned redundancy means that you will be repeating these elements several times over during the speech.

Furthermore, finding purpose and thesis are essential whether you’re preparing an outline for extemporaneous delivery or a completely written manuscript for presentation. When you know your topic, your general and specific purpose, and your thesis or central idea, you have all the elements you need to write a speech that is focused, clear, and audience friendly.

Recognizing the General Purpose

Speeches have traditionally been grouped into one of three categories according to their primary purpose: 1) to inform, 2) to persuade, or 3) to inspire, honor, or entertain. These broad goals are commonly known as the  general purpose of a speech . Earlier, you learned about the actor’s tool of intention or objectives. The general purpose is like a super-objective; it defines the broadest goal of a speech. These three purposes are not necessarily exclusive to the others. A speech designed to be persuasive can also be informative and entertaining. However, a speech should have one primary goal. That is its general purpose.

Why is it helpful to talk about speeches in such broad terms? Being perfectly clear about what you want your speech to do or make happen for your audience will keep you focused. You can make a clearer distinction between whether you want your audience to leave your speech knowing more (to inform), or  ready to take action (to persuade), or feeling something (to inspire)

It’s okay to use synonyms for these broad categories. Here are some of them:

• To inform could be to explain, to demonstrate, to describe, to teach.
• To persuade could be to convince, to argue, to motivate, to prove.
• To inspire might be to honor, or entertain, to celebrate, to mourn.

In summary, the first question you must ask yourself when starting to prepare a speech is, “Is the primary purpose of my speech to inform, to persuade, or to inspire?”

Articulating Specific Purpose

A specific purpose statement builds upon your general purpose and makes it specific (as the name suggests). For example, if you have been invited to give a speech about how to do something, your general purpose is “to inform.”  Choosing a topic appropriate to that general purpose, you decide to speak about how to protect a personal from cyberattacks. Now you are on your way to identifying a specific purpose.

A good specific purpose statement has three elements: goal, target audience, and content.

If you think about the above as a kind of recipe, then the first two “ingredients” — your goal and your audience — should be simple. Words describing the target audience should be as specific as possible. Instead of “my peers,” you could say, for example, “students in their senior year at my university.”

The third ingredient in this recipe is content, or what we call the topic of your speech. This is where things get a bit difficult. You want your content to be specific and something that you can express succinctly in a sentence. Here are some common problems that speakers make in defining the content, and the fix:

Now you know the “recipe” for a specific purpose statement. It’s made up of  T o, plus an active W ord, a specific  A udience, and clearly stated  C ontent. Remember this formula: T + W + A + C.

A: for a group of new students

C: the term “plagiarism”

Here are some further examples a good specific purpose statement:

• To explain to a group of first-year students how to join a school organization.
• To persuade the members of the Greek society to take a spring break trip in Daytona Beach.
• To motivate my classmates in English 101 to participate in a study abroad program.
• To convince first-year students that they need at least seven hours of sleep per night to do well in their studies.
• To inspire my Church community about the accomplishments of our pastor.

The General and Specific Purpose Statements are writing tools in the sense that they help you, as a speechwriter, clarify your ideas.

Creating a Thesis Statement

Once you are clear about your general purpose and specific purpose, you can turn your attention to crafting a thesis statement. A thesis is the central idea in an essay or a speech. In speechwriting, the thesis or central idea explains the message of the content. It’s the speech’s “takeaway.” A good thesis statement will also reveal and clarify the ideas or assertions you’ll be addressing in your speech (your main points). Consider this example:

General Purpose: To persuade. Specific Purpose: To motivate my classmates in English 101 to participate in a study abroad program. Thesis: A semester-long study abroad experience produces lifelong benefits by teaching you about another culture, developing your language skills, and enhancing your future career prospects.

The difference between a specific purpose statement and a thesis statement is clear in this example. The thesis provides the takeaway (the lifelong benefits of study abroad). It also points to the assertions that will be addressed in the speech. Like the specific purpose statement, the thesis statement is a writing tool. You’ll incorporate it into your speech, usually as part of the introduction and conclusion.

All good expository, rhetorical, and even narrative writing contains a thesis. Many students and even experienced writers struggle with formulating a thesis. We struggle when we attempt to “come up with something” before doing the necessary research and reflection. A thesis only becomes clear through the thinking and writing process. As you develop your speech content, keep asking yourself: What is important here? If the audience can remember only one thing about this topic, what do I want them to remember?

Example #2: General Purpose: To inform Specific Purpose: To demonstrate to my audience the correct method for cleaning a computer keyboard. Central Idea: Your computer keyboard needs regular cleaning to function well, and you can achieve that in four easy steps.

Example # 3 General Purpose: To Inform Specific Purpose: To describe how makeup is done for the TV show The Walking Dead . Central Idea: The wildly popular zombie show The Walking Dead achieves incredibly scary and believable makeup effects, and in the next few minutes I will tell you who does it, what they use, and how they do it.

Notice in the examples above that neither the specific purpose nor the central idea ever exceeds one sentence. If your central idea consists of more than one sentence, then you are probably including too much information.

Problems to Avoid

The first problem many students have in writing their specific purpose statement has already been mentioned: specific purpose statements sometimes try to cover far too much and are too broad. For example:

“To explain to my classmates the history of ballet.”

Aside from the fact that this subject may be difficult for everyone in your audience to relate to, it’s enough for a three-hour lecture, maybe even a whole course. You’ll probably find that your first attempt at a specific purpose statement will need refining. These examples are much more specific and much more manageable given the limited amount of time you’ll have.

• To explain to my classmates how ballet came to be performed and studied in the U.S.
• To explain to my classmates the difference between Russian and French ballet.
• To explain to my classmates how ballet originated as an art form in the Renaissance.
• To explain to my classmates the origin of the ballet dancers’ clothing.

The second problem happens when the “communication verb” in the specific purpose does not match the content; for example, persuasive content is paired with “to inform” or “to explain.” Can you find the errors in the following purpose statements?

• To inform my audience why capital punishment is unconstitutional. (This is persuasive. It can’t be informative since it’s taking a side)
• To persuade my audience about the three types of individual retirement accounts. (Even though the purpose statement says “persuade,” it isn’t persuading the audience of anything. It is informative.)
• To inform my classmates that Universal Studios is a better theme park than Six Flags over Georgia. (This is clearly an opinion; hence it is a persuasive speech and not merely informative)

The third problem exists when the content part of the specific purpose statement has two parts. One specific purpose is enough. These examples cover two different topics.

• To explain to my audience how to swing a golf club and choose the best golf shoes.
• To persuade my classmates to be involved in the Special Olympics and vote to fund better classes for the intellectually disabled.

To fix this problem of combined or hybrid purposes, you’ll need to select one of the topics in these examples and speak on that one alone.

The fourth problem with both specific purpose and central idea statements is related to formatting. There are some general guidelines that need to be followed in terms of how you write out these elements of your speech:

• Don’t write either statement as a question.
• Always use complete sentences for central idea statements and infinitive phrases (beginning with “to”) for the specific purpose statement.
• Use concrete language (“I admire Beyoncé for being a talented performer and businesswoman”) and avoid subjective or slang terms (“My speech is about why I think Beyoncé is the bomb”) or jargon and acronyms (“PLA is better than CBE for adult learners.”)

There are also problems to avoid in writing the central idea statement. As mentioned above, remember that:

• The specific purpose and central idea statements are not the same thing, although they are related.
• The central idea statement should be clear and not complicated or wordy; it should “stand out” to the audience. As you practice delivery, you should emphasize it with your voice.
• The central idea statement should not be the first thing you say but should follow the steps of a good introduction as outlined in the next chapters.

You should be aware that all aspects of your speech are constantly going to change as you move toward the moment of giving your speech. The exact wording of your central idea may change, and you can experiment with different versions for effectiveness. However, your specific purpose statement should not change unless there is a good reason to do so. There are many aspects to consider in the seemingly simple task of writing a specific purpose statement and its companion, the central idea statement. Writing good ones at the beginning will save you some trouble later in the speech preparation process.

Public Speaking as Performance Copyright © 2023 by Mechele Leon is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Thesis Statements

What this handout is about.

This handout describes what a thesis statement is, how thesis statements work in your writing, and how you can craft or refine one for your draft.

Introduction

Writing in college often takes the form of persuasion—convincing others that you have an interesting, logical point of view on the subject you are studying. Persuasion is a skill you practice regularly in your daily life. You persuade your roommate to clean up, your parents to let you borrow the car, your friend to vote for your favorite candidate or policy. In college, course assignments often ask you to make a persuasive case in writing. You are asked to convince your reader of your point of view. This form of persuasion, often called academic argument, follows a predictable pattern in writing. After a brief introduction of your topic, you state your point of view on the topic directly and often in one sentence. This sentence is the thesis statement, and it serves as a summary of the argument you’ll make in the rest of your paper.

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement:

• tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion.
• is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper.
• directly answers the question asked of you. A thesis is an interpretation of a question or subject, not the subject itself. The subject, or topic, of an essay might be World War II or Moby Dick; a thesis must then offer a way to understand the war or the novel.
• makes a claim that others might dispute.
• is usually a single sentence near the beginning of your paper (most often, at the end of the first paragraph) that presents your argument to the reader. The rest of the paper, the body of the essay, gathers and organizes evidence that will persuade the reader of the logic of your interpretation.

If your assignment asks you to take a position or develop a claim about a subject, you may need to convey that position or claim in a thesis statement near the beginning of your draft. The assignment may not explicitly state that you need a thesis statement because your instructor may assume you will include one. When in doubt, ask your instructor if the assignment requires a thesis statement. When an assignment asks you to analyze, to interpret, to compare and contrast, to demonstrate cause and effect, or to take a stand on an issue, it is likely that you are being asked to develop a thesis and to support it persuasively. (Check out our handout on understanding assignments for more information.)

How do I create a thesis?

A thesis is the result of a lengthy thinking process. Formulating a thesis is not the first thing you do after reading an essay assignment. Before you develop an argument on any topic, you have to collect and organize evidence, look for possible relationships between known facts (such as surprising contrasts or similarities), and think about the significance of these relationships. Once you do this thinking, you will probably have a “working thesis” that presents a basic or main idea and an argument that you think you can support with evidence. Both the argument and your thesis are likely to need adjustment along the way.

Writers use all kinds of techniques to stimulate their thinking and to help them clarify relationships or comprehend the broader significance of a topic and arrive at a thesis statement. For more ideas on how to get started, see our handout on brainstorming .

How do I know if my thesis is strong?

If there’s time, run it by your instructor or make an appointment at the Writing Center to get some feedback. Even if you do not have time to get advice elsewhere, you can do some thesis evaluation of your own. When reviewing your first draft and its working thesis, ask yourself the following :

• Do I answer the question? Re-reading the question prompt after constructing a working thesis can help you fix an argument that misses the focus of the question. If the prompt isn’t phrased as a question, try to rephrase it. For example, “Discuss the effect of X on Y” can be rephrased as “What is the effect of X on Y?”
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? If your thesis simply states facts that no one would, or even could, disagree with, it’s possible that you are simply providing a summary, rather than making an argument.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? Thesis statements that are too vague often do not have a strong argument. If your thesis contains words like “good” or “successful,” see if you could be more specific: why is something “good”; what specifically makes something “successful”?
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? If a reader’s first response is likely to  be “So what?” then you need to clarify, to forge a relationship, or to connect to a larger issue.
• Does my essay support my thesis specifically and without wandering? If your thesis and the body of your essay do not seem to go together, one of them has to change. It’s okay to change your working thesis to reflect things you have figured out in the course of writing your paper. Remember, always reassess and revise your writing as necessary.
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? If a reader’s first response is “how?” or “why?” your thesis may be too open-ended and lack guidance for the reader. See what you can add to give the reader a better take on your position right from the beginning.

Suppose you are taking a course on contemporary communication, and the instructor hands out the following essay assignment: “Discuss the impact of social media on public awareness.” Looking back at your notes, you might start with this working thesis:

Social media impacts public awareness in both positive and negative ways.

You can use the questions above to help you revise this general statement into a stronger thesis.

• Do I answer the question? You can analyze this if you rephrase “discuss the impact” as “what is the impact?” This way, you can see that you’ve answered the question only very generally with the vague “positive and negative ways.”
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? Not likely. Only people who maintain that social media has a solely positive or solely negative impact could disagree.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? No. What are the positive effects? What are the negative effects?
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? No. Why are they positive? How are they positive? What are their causes? Why are they negative? How are they negative? What are their causes?
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? No. Why should anyone care about the positive and/or negative impact of social media?

After thinking about your answers to these questions, you decide to focus on the one impact you feel strongly about and have strong evidence for:

Because not every voice on social media is reliable, people have become much more critical consumers of information, and thus, more informed voters.

This version is a much stronger thesis! It answers the question, takes a specific position that others can challenge, and it gives a sense of why it matters.

Let’s try another. Suppose your literature professor hands out the following assignment in a class on the American novel: Write an analysis of some aspect of Mark Twain’s novel Huckleberry Finn. “This will be easy,” you think. “I loved Huckleberry Finn!” You grab a pad of paper and write:

Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn is a great American novel.

You begin to analyze your thesis:

• Do I answer the question? No. The prompt asks you to analyze some aspect of the novel. Your working thesis is a statement of general appreciation for the entire novel.

Think about aspects of the novel that are important to its structure or meaning—for example, the role of storytelling, the contrasting scenes between the shore and the river, or the relationships between adults and children. Now you write:

In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain develops a contrast between life on the river and life on the shore.

• Do I answer the question? Yes!
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? Not really. This contrast is well-known and accepted.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? It’s getting there–you have highlighted an important aspect of the novel for investigation. However, it’s still not clear what your analysis will reveal.
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? Not yet. Compare scenes from the book and see what you discover. Free write, make lists, jot down Huck’s actions and reactions and anything else that seems interesting.
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? What’s the point of this contrast? What does it signify?”

After examining the evidence and considering your own insights, you write:

Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twain’s Huckleberry Finn suggests that to find the true expression of American democratic ideals, one must leave “civilized” society and go back to nature.

This final thesis statement presents an interpretation of a literary work based on an analysis of its content. Of course, for the essay itself to be successful, you must now present evidence from the novel that will convince the reader of your interpretation.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Anson, Chris M., and Robert A. Schwegler. 2010. The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers , 6th ed. New York: Longman.

Lunsford, Andrea A. 2015. The St. Martin’s Handbook , 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s.

Ramage, John D., John C. Bean, and June Johnson. 2018. The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing , 8th ed. New York: Pearson.

Ruszkiewicz, John J., Christy Friend, Daniel Seward, and Maxine Hairston. 2010. The Scott, Foresman Handbook for Writers , 9th ed. Boston: Pearson Education.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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11.3 Analyzing a Conclusion

Learning objectives.

• See what a full conclusion section looks like.
• Distinguish among the three parts of a conclusion.

Theilr – blank dossier – CC BY-SA 2.0.

So far this chapter has focused on how to go about creating a clear conclusion. We discussed why conclusions are important, the three steps of effective conclusions, and ten different ways to conclude a speech. In this section, we’re going to examine an actual conclusion to a speech. Please read the sample conclusion paragraph for the smart dust speech.

Sample Conclusion: Smart Dust

Today, we’ve explored how smart dust may impact all of our lives in the near future by examining what smart dust is, how smart dust could be utilized by the US military, and how smart dust could impact all of our lives sooner rather than later. While smart dust is quickly transforming from science fiction to science fact, experts agree that the full potential of smart dust will probably not occur until 2025. While smart dust is definitely coming, swarms of smart dust eating people as was depicted in Michael Crichton’s 2002 novel, Prey , aren’t reality. However, as with any technological advance, there are definite ethical considerations and worries to consider. Even Dr. Kris Pister’s Smart Dust Project website admits that as smart dust becomes more readily available, one of the trade-offs will be privacy. Pister responds to these critiques by saying, “As an engineer, or a scientist, or a hair stylist, everyone needs to evaluate what they do in terms of its positive and negative effect. If I thought that the negatives of working on this project were larger than or even comparable to the positives, I wouldn’t be working on it. As it turns out, I think that the potential benefits of this technology far outweigh the risks to personal privacy.”

Now that you’ve had a chance to read the conclusion to the speech on smart dust, read it a second time and try to find the three parts of an introduction as discussed earlier in this chapter. Once you’re finished analyzing this conclusion, take a look at Table 11.2 “Smart Dust Conclusion” , which shows you how the speech was broken down into the various parts of a conclusion.

Table 11.2 Smart Dust Conclusion

Now that you have seen the above analysis of a speech conclusion, we encourage you to do a similar analysis of the conclusions of other speeches. Listen to a speech in your class or online. Does it end with a restatement of the thesis, a review of the main points, and a concluding device? Can you suggest ways to improve the conclusion?

Here is another exercise to try. Consider the specific purpose and three main points of a hypothetical speech. Based on those components, develop a conclusion for that speech.

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Speech Analysis #1: How to Study and Critique a Speech

The Speech Analysis Series is a series of articles examining different aspects of presentation analysis. You will learn how to study a speech and how to deliver an effective speech evaluation. Later articles will examine Toastmasters evaluation contests and speech evaluation forms and resources.

• How to Study and Critique a Speech
• The Art of Delivering Evaluations
• Modified Sandwich Technique for Evaluations
• Evaluation Forms, Tools, and Resources
• Toastmasters Evaluation Contests

The first in the series, this article outlines questions to ask yourself when assessing a presentation . Ask these questions whether you attend the presentation, or whether you view a video or read the speech text. These questions also apply when you conduct a self evaluation of your own speeches .

The Most Important Thing to Analyze: The Speech Objectives

Knowing the speaker’s objective is critical to analyzing the speech, and should certainly influence how you study it.

• What is the speaker’s goal? Is it to educate , to motivate , to persuade , or to entertain ?
• What is the primary message being delivered?
• Why is this person delivering this speech ? Are they the right person?
• Was the objective achieved ?

The Audience and Context for the Speech

A speaker will need to use different techniques to connect with an audience of 1500 than they would with an audience of 15. Similarly, different techniques will be applied when communicating with teenagers as opposed to communicating with corporate leaders.

• Where and when is the speech being delivered?
• What are the key demographic features of the audience ? Technical? Students? Elderly? Athletes? Business leaders?
• How large is the audience?
• In addition to the live audience, is there an external target audience ? (e.g. on the Internet or mass media)

Speech Content and Structure

The content of the speech should be selected and organized to achieve the primary speech objective. Focus is important — extraneous information can weaken an otherwise effective argument.

Before the Speech

• Were there other speakers before this one ? Were their messages similar, opposed, or unrelated?
• How was the speaker introduced ? Was it appropriate?
• Did the introduction establish why the audience should listen to this speaker with this topic at this time ?
• What body language was demonstrated by the speaker as they approached the speaking area? Body language at this moment will often indicate their level of confidence .

The Speech Opening

Due to the primacy effect , words, body language, and visuals in the speech opening are all critical to speaking success.

• Was a hook used effectively to draw the audience into the speech? Or did the speaker open with a dry “ It’s great to be here today. “
• Did the speech open with a story ? A joke ? A startling statistic ? A controversial statement ? A powerful visual ?
• Did the speech opening clearly establish the intent of the presentation?
• Was the opening memorable ?

The Speech Body

• Was the presentation focused ? i.e. Did all arguments, stories, anecdotes relate back to the primary objective?
• Were examples or statistics provided to support the arguments ?
• Were metaphors and symbolism use to improve understanding?
• Was the speech organized logically ? Was it easy to follow?
• Did the speaker transition smoothly from one part of the presentation to the next?

The Speech Conclusion

Like the opening, the words, body language, and visuals in the speech conclusion are all critical to speaking success. This is due to the recency effect .

• Was the conclusion concise ?
• Was the conclusion memorable ?
• If appropriate, was there a call-to-action ?

Delivery Skills and Techniques

Delivery skills are like a gigantic toolbox — the best speakers know precisely when to use every tool and for what purpose.

Enthusiasm and Connection to the Audience

• Was the speaker enthusiastic ? How can you tell?
• Was there audience interaction ? Was it effective?
• Was the message you – and we-focused , or was it I- and me-focused ?
• Was humor used?
• Was it safe and appropriate given the audience?
• Were appropriate pauses used before and after the punch lines, phrases, or words?
• Was it relevant to the speech ?

Visual Aids

• Were they designed effectively?
• Did they complement speech arguments ?
• Was the use of visual aids timed well with the speaker’s words?
• Did they add energy to the presentation or remove it?
• Were they simple and easy to understand ?
• Were they easy to see ? e.g. large enough
• Would an additional visual aid help to convey the message?

Use of Stage Area

• Did the speaker make appropriate use of the speaking area?

Physical – Gestures and Eye Contact

• Did the speaker’s posture display confidence and poise?
• Were gestures natural, timely, and complementary ?
• Were gestures   easy to see ?
• Does the speaker have any distracting mannerisms ?
• Was eye contact effective in connecting the speaker to the whole audience?

Vocal Variety

• Was the speaker easy to hear ?
• Were loud and soft variations used appropriately?
• Was the speaking pace  varied? Was it slow enough overall to be understandable?
• Were pauses used to aid understanding, heighten excitement, or provide drama?
• Was the language appropriate for the audience?
• Did the speaker articulate clearly?
• Were sentences short and easy to understand?
• Was technical jargon or unnecessarily complex language used?
• What rhetorical devices were used? e.g. repetition, alliteration, the rule of three , etc.

Intangibles

Sometimes, a technically sound speech can still miss the mark. Likewise, technical deficiencies can sometimes be overcome to produce a must-see presentation. The intangibles are impossible to list, but here are a few questions to consider:

• How did the speech make you feel ?
• Were you convinced ?
• Would you want to listen to this speaker again?
• Were there any original ideas or techniques?

Next in the Speech Analysis Series

The next article in this series – The Art of Delivering Evaluations – examines how best to utilize speech evaluation skills as a teaching tool.

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• Speech Analysis #4: Evaluation Forms, Tools, and Resources
• Speech Analysis #3: Modified Sandwich Technique for Evaluations
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40 comments.

I absolutely loved this article. It gave me a major idea of what to write on my speech critique. Great information, organized, and detailed!

Great post. I have to say, it was when I started to do exactly what you say that my skills took off.

If anyone wants to go farther, just teach a class on public speaking. You do not need a degree to teach continuing ed. It will help you, as some of my students who went on to teach to improve even more. This is because not only are you observing your students for these points. You are actually teaching them how to attain some of these skills.

oh my god….thank you!! i had no idea where to even start my speech analysis!

Excellent article. Will refer members of my club to it.

Dear Eugenia You refer to “members of your club” and I wanted to know an online public speaking club. Does this exist. Regards Berty

Your article is very informative. Hope you post more tips on writing a speech and how to analyse it!! 😎

Thanks for providing this information. I am writing an essay critiquing my own speech in third person. A tough task, but these pointers made it easier. Thank you.

i loved this information very much.now i am preparing for my examination and i think this article will help me to get good mark. thanks

Great summary/overview on basic things to evaluate while listening to a speech. Will be very much helpful when i have to do evaluations for speech class!

Thank you sooooo much for this article!! This is helping me soooo much for my speech analysis!

Thank you so so much! You are awesome and very helpful plus amazing too!

Great job once again! I liked the clarity with which these concepts were explained. Self explanatory and useful for both novice and advanced speakers. Keep it up!

Such a great article, thank you! It truly helped

I have to look at this for a class project and really learned some new tips from this.

This helped immensely; thank you so much!

thank you, you helped me a lot

Best article I found for speech critique and analysis. Definitely a place to come back for speech resource.

Thank you Andrew, great articles and valuable information. I recently joined a Toastmaster’s group and this will really help. Once I figure out how to “tweet” I will be “tweeting” this site to Kwantlen University Students and Alumni.

I absolutely loved this article it gave me a major idea of what to write on my speech critique great information, organized, and detailed!

Fantastic article. For someone that is new to Taostmasters this gives me at least an idea of how I should approach giving an evaluation…frigthening me more than giving a speech!! Thanks!

hi Andrew, this is a great article for someone who is a beginner to evaluate a speech. thanks a lot. -Venkat

very informative article will certainly help me to develop my speech technique.

Thus really helpful…we always read text resurfacely I gained alot from this article. now I know where to start when I want to present information through speech to the public

thank you this helped me vey much.

thanks a lot this just help me with my paper. you explain it better than my teacher

I am a toastmaster who loves to compete. I believe these articles will help me help other to deliver their speeches and both of us can grow.

Hi Andrew Dlugan, i am really happy to come across your site as new trainee in the public speaking and writing profession. i am programmer but i have passion for writing especially poems.Do you have any advice or resources to help me survive in the world of speaking and writing.

Thank You, Best Regards, Lawal Abdulateef Olawle

I came here looking for a speech review but reading this article helped me a lot in my opening speech. I hope many people who are having trouble in analysing there speech they should really open this website. Thank you

This is a helpful source to me. Thanks a lot

Great article. I am preparing to critique a public speaking competition this weekend and I found this article quite helpful Thanks a lot

Hi Andrew, May I use your article in our club newsletter? It is particularly timely as we approach the contest season in Toastmasters. I will source it to your web site and also include a link under the Articles about speaking of our club website.

John Sleigh Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia

Amazing breakdown of how to not only analysis a speech but to also push yourself that inch further to get more scope for marks. I really recommend this webpage. Thank you

Thank you for this amazing information, your 6 minutes guide is great and I am learning so much with it.

Really GREAT JOB! thanks so much! Best! Rasha

I really love this and would want more of this

This information was very informative and knowledgeable.Thank you.

Your articles are very thorough. I really enjoyed reading the first one.

Can you give me some examples of relevant puns used in speeches?

One more treasure trove on the internet. Thanks for sharing DLugan.

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Thesis Statement for Rhetorical Analysis

Rhetorical analysis is a nuanced and insightful approach to examining the strategies and techniques employed by authors to convey their messages effectively. Crafting a well-defined thesis statements is the cornerstone of a successful rhetorical analysis essay. This essay will explore effective thesis statement examples, provide guidance on how to formulate them, and offer valuable tips to enhance the overall quality of your rhetorical analysis. Through a detailed examination of various texts, we will uncover the art of dissecting persuasion and rhetoric.

What is a Rhetorical Analysis Thesis Statement? – Definition

A rhetorical analysis thesis statement is a concise and focused assertion that encapsulates the main argument or interpretation you intend to explore in your rhetorical analysis essay. It serves as a roadmap for your readers, outlining the key elements you will examine within the text, such as the author’s use of rhetorical devices, persuasive techniques, and overall effectiveness in conveying their message.

What is Thesis Statement Example for Rhetorical Analysis?

“In his compelling speech, Martin Luther King Jr. strategically employs poignant metaphors, rhythmic cadence, and passionate appeals to justice, effectively galvanizing the Civil Rights Movement and compelling societal change.”

This good thesis statement highlights the specific rhetorical elements (metaphors, cadence, appeals) that will be discussed in the analysis of Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech and emphasizes the impact on social progress.

100 Thesis Statement Examples for Rhetorical Analysis

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• “Through her use of vivid imagery, Maya Angelou masterfully conveys the resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity in her poem ‘Still I Rise.'”
• “Through the skillful integration of statistics, personal anecdotes, and emotionally charged language, the documentary ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ persuasively conveys the urgency of addressing climate change.”
• “By juxtaposing contrasting viewpoints and utilizing irony, George Orwell incisively critiques the manipulation of language for political control in his novel ‘1984.’”
• “In his letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. employs rhetorical appeals and historical references to compellingly advocate for nonviolent protest as a means of achieving justice.”
• “Through a combination of humor, satire, and logical reasoning, Jonathan Swift provocatively critiques British colonialism and social inequities in ‘A Modest Proposal.'”
• “Gloria Steinem employs a combination of personal anecdotes, inclusive language, and impassioned appeals to justice to galvanize the feminist movement in her essay ‘If Men Could Menstruate.'”
• “In his inaugural address, John F. Kennedy strategically employs pathos, ethos, and anaphora to inspire national unity and commitment to global progress.”
• “Through the manipulation of tone, diction, and rhetorical questions, Frederick Douglass powerfully exposes the inherent contradictions of slavery in his narrative.”
• “By utilizing allegory, biblical allusions, and emotional appeals, John Bunyan navigates complex spiritual themes and personal struggles in his work ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress.'”
• “Through the strategic use of anecdotes, historical references, and logical reasoning, Malala Yousafzai compellingly advocates for girls’ education rights in her speech to the United Nations.”
• “By intertwining personal narrative with universal themes, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie highlights the importance of diverse storytelling and challenges cultural stereotypes in her TED Talk ‘We Should All Be Feminists.'”
• “Through the use of allegory, symbolism, and metaphors, Nathaniel Hawthorne explores the consequences of hidden sin and guilt in his novel ‘The Scarlet Letter.'”
• “Utilizing juxtaposition, emotional anecdotes, and appeals to morality, Rachel Carson eloquently critiques the adverse effects of pesticide use on the environment in ‘Silent Spring.'”
• “In his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, Martin Luther King Jr. employs repetition, allusion, and emotive language to inspire a nation towards racial harmony and equality.”
• “Through a fusion of personal reflections, historical context, and persuasive arguments, Elizabeth Cady Stanton champions women’s suffrage in her speech ‘The Solitude of Self.'”
• “By blending irony, satire, and rhetorical questions, Mark Twain critiques societal hypocrisy and human nature in his novel ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.'”
• “Utilizing a combination of ethos, pathos, and logos, Ronald Reagan articulates his vision for a united America and small government in his speech ‘A Time for Choosing.'”
• “Through vivid sensory descriptions, emotional appeals, and allegory, F. Scott Fitzgerald critiques the American Dream and the decadence of the Jazz Age in ‘The Great Gatsby.'”
• “By employing allegorical characters, vivid imagery, and emotional appeals, George Orwell satirizes totalitarian regimes and political propaganda in ‘Animal Farm.'”
• “Through the strategic use of anecdotes, expert opinions, and logical reasoning, Atul Gawande advocates for open discussions about end-of-life care in his essay ‘Letting Go.'”
• “Combining anecdotes, historical references, and emotional appeals, Patrick Henry passionately advocates for colonial independence and unity in his speech ‘Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death.'”
• “By utilizing repetition, parallelism, and emotional appeals, Sojourner Truth powerfully challenges gender and racial prejudices in her speech ‘Ain’t I a Woman?'”
• “Through allegory, anthropomorphism, and emotional appeals, George Orwell critiques authoritarianism and the corruption of power in his novella ‘Animal Farm.'”
• “Utilizing vivid imagery, allegory, and emotional appeals, Langston Hughes critiques the deferred dreams of African Americans in his poem ‘Harlem.'”
• “By weaving personal anecdotes, expert opinions, and rhetorical questions, Jill Bolte Taylor explores the complexities of human brain function and recovery in her TED Talk ‘My Stroke of Insight.'”
• “Through the use of allegory, religious imagery, and emotional appeals, John Bunyan’s ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress’ explores the spiritual journey and personal salvation.”
• “Utilizing humor, satire, and logical reasoning, Voltaire critiques religious dogma, social inequality, and human folly in his novella ‘Candide.'”
• “By incorporating historical references, logical appeals, and emotional anecdotes, Abraham Lincoln persuades for the preservation of the Union and the end of slavery in his Gettysburg Address.”
• “Through the combination of personal experiences, emotional appeals, and vivid language, Anne Frank’s diary captures the human spirit’s resilience amidst the horrors of the Holocaust.”
• “Utilizing allegory, symbolism, and emotional appeals, William Golding’s ‘Lord of the Flies’ delves into the inherent conflict between civilization and primal instincts.”
• “By employing irony, sarcasm, and logical reasoning, Jonathan Swift criticizes British colonial exploitation and economic policies in his essay ‘A Modest Proposal.'”
• “Through the strategic use of metaphors, repetition, and emotional appeals, Emily Dickinson’s poetry explores themes of mortality, nature, and human emotions.”
• “Utilizing rhetorical questions, emotional appeals, and vivid imagery, Martin Luther King Jr. addresses the issue of racial segregation and inequality in his ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail.'”
• “By incorporating historical anecdotes, expert opinions, and emotional appeals, Susan B. Anthony advocates for women’s suffrage in her speech ‘On Women’s Right to Vote.'”
• “Through allegory, symbolism, and emotional appeals, Franz Kafka explores the absurdity and alienation of modern life in his novella ‘The Metamorphosis.'”
• “Utilizing logical appeals, emotional anecdotes, and expert opinions, Michael Pollan challenges the industrial food system and advocates for healthier eating habits in ‘The Omnivore’s Dilemma.'”
• “By blending satire, humor, and emotional appeals, Oscar Wilde critiques the shallow values of Victorian society in his play ‘The Importance of Being Earnest.'”
• “Through the use of dialogue, rhetorical questions, and logical reasoning, Plato’s ‘Apology’ presents Socrates’ defense of his philosophical beliefs and principles.”
• “Utilizing metaphors, emotional appeals, and expert opinions, Maya Angelou’s poetry reflects the struggles and triumphs of the African American experience in ‘Caged Bird.'”
• “By incorporating historical context, emotional appeals, and rhetorical devices, Patrick Henry’s ‘Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death’ speech galvanizes colonial resistance against British oppression.”
• “Through allegory, vivid imagery, and emotional appeals, Yann Martel’s ‘Life of Pi’ explores the journey of faith and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity.”
• “Utilizing emotional anecdotes, rhetorical questions, and vivid descriptions, Elie Wiesel’s ‘Night’ vividly conveys the horrors of the Holocaust and the endurance of human hope.”
• “By blending personal reflections, expert opinions, and logical appeals, Sheryl Sandberg’s ‘Lean In’ advocates for women’s empowerment and equal opportunities in the workplace.”
• “Through the use of allegory, emotional appeals, and vivid language, Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ critiques the cyclical nature of history and human experience.”
• “Utilizing rhetorical devices, emotional anecdotes, and logical appeals, Steve Jobs’ Stanford commencement address emphasizes the value of following one’s passion and intuition.”
• “By incorporating allegory, symbolism, and emotional appeals, Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ examines racial prejudice and moral growth in the American South.”
• “Through the strategic use of historical references, logical appeals, and emotional anecdotes, Thomas Paine’s ‘Common Sense’ advocates for American independence from British rule.”
• “Utilizing metaphors, emotional appeals, and vivid descriptions, Edgar Allan Poe’s poetry delves into the dark recesses of the human mind and explores themes of death and despair.”
• “By blending personal experiences, emotional appeals, and logical reasoning, Helen Keller’s essay ‘Three Days to See’ explores the value of appreciating the world’s beauty.”
• “Through the use of allegory, emotional appeals, and vivid imagery, Aldous Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’ critiques the dehumanizing effects of technological advancements and consumerism.”
• “Utilizing rhetorical questions, emotional anecdotes, and expert opinions, Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ examines themes of gender oppression and societal control.”
• “By incorporating historical context, emotional appeals, and logical reasoning, Frederick Douglass’ narrative reveals the brutality of slavery and the power of literacy in gaining freedom.”
• “Through allegory, symbolism, and emotional appeals, Aesop’s fables convey moral lessons and insights into human behavior through the experiences of animals.”
• “Utilizing irony, satire, and logical appeals, George Bernard Shaw’s play ‘Pygmalion’ critiques class distinctions and the impact of education on social mobility.”
• “By blending emotional anecdotes, rhetorical appeals, and vivid descriptions, Anne Bradstreet’s poetry expresses themes of faith, love, and the challenges of colonial life.”
• “Through allegory, religious references, and emotional appeals, John Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’ explores the nature of good and evil, freedom, and the fall of humanity.”
• “Utilizing rhetorical questions, expert opinions, and emotional appeals, Richard Dawkins’ ‘The God Delusion’ critiques religious beliefs and advocates for atheism and science.”
• “By incorporating historical context, logical appeals, and emotional anecdotes, Thomas Jefferson’s ‘Declaration of Independence’ justifies colonial separation from Britain.”
• “Through allegory, symbolism, and emotional appeals, Ray Bradbury’s ‘Fahrenheit 451’ examines the consequences of censorship and the importance of critical thinking.”
• “Utilizing rhetoric, emotional appeals, and historical references, Winston Churchill’s ‘We Shall Fight on the Beaches’ speech inspires resilience and determination during World War II.”
• “Through allegory, symbolism, and emotional appeals, William Blake’s ‘The Tyger’ explores the nature of creation, innocence, and experience.”
• “Utilizing rhetorical questions, logical appeals, and emotional anecdotes, Gloria Anzaldúa’s ‘How to Tame a Wild Tongue’ reflects on language, identity, and cultural assimilation.”
• “By incorporating historical context, emotional appeals, and rhetorical devices, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s ‘Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation’ rallies the American people after the attack.”
• “Through allegory, metaphors, and emotional appeals, Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ challenges the conventions of reality and explores the absurdity of life.”
• “Utilizing rhetorical questions, expert opinions, and emotional appeals, Naomi Klein’s ‘No Logo’ critiques consumer culture, branding, and the power of multinational corporations.”
• “By incorporating historical references, emotional anecdotes, and logical appeals, Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘Quit India’ speech calls for nonviolent resistance against British colonial rule.”
• “Through allegory, symbolism, and emotional appeals, Ralph Ellison’s ‘Invisible Man’ examines the invisibility and marginalization of African Americans in society.”
• “Utilizing irony, humor, and emotional appeals, Kurt Vonnegut’s ‘Slaughterhouse-Five’ reflects on the horrors of war and the complexities of time.”
• “By blending personal reflections, emotional appeals, and logical reasoning, J.K. Rowling’s Harvard commencement address explores the benefits of failure and imagination.”
• “Through the use of allegory, symbolism, and emotional appeals, Herman Melville’s ‘Moby-Dick’ delves into themes of obsession, fate, and the power of nature.”
• “Utilizing rhetorical questions, expert opinions, and emotional appeals, bell hooks’ ‘Feminism Is for Everybody’ advocates for a more inclusive and intersectional feminist movement.”
• “By incorporating historical context, logical appeals, and emotional anecdotes, Nelson Mandela’s ‘I Am Prepared to Die’ speech defends his anti-apartheid activism.”
• “Through allegory, symbolism, and emotional appeals, Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ critiques gender roles and the treatment of mental illness.”
• “Utilizing irony, satire, and emotional appeals, Joseph Heller’s ‘Catch-22’ exposes the absurdity and disillusionment of war and bureaucracy.”
• “By blending personal anecdotes, rhetorical questions, and emotional appeals, Audre Lorde’s ‘The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House’ critiques white feminism.”
• “Through allegory, metaphors, and emotional appeals, George Orwell’s ‘Shooting an Elephant’ explores the complexities of colonialism and the abuse of power.”
• “Utilizing rhetorical questions, logical appeals, and emotional anecdotes, Harvey Milk’s ‘Hope Speech’ advocates for LGBTQ+ rights and social acceptance.”
• “By incorporating historical references, emotional appeals, and rhetorical devices, Frederick Douglass’ ‘What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?’ speech challenges American hypocrisy.”
• “Through allegory, symbolism, and emotional appeals, Franz Kafka’s ‘The Trial’ examines themes of absurdity, alienation, and the elusive nature of justice.”
• “Utilizing humor, satire, and emotional appeals, Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ critiques patriarchal control and the erosion of women’s rights.”
• “By weaving personal reflections, emotional appeals, and logical reasoning, Ta-Nehisi Coates’ ‘Between the World and Me’ explores the realities of racism and its impact on black bodies.”
• “Utilizing rhetorical questions, historical references, and emotional appeals, Patrick Henry’s ‘Speech to the Virginia Convention’ galvanizes colonial resistance against British oppression.”
• “Through allegory, symbolism, and emotional appeals, Haruki Murakami’s ‘Kafka on the Shore’ delves into themes of identity, destiny, and the blurred lines between reality and fantasy.”
• “By blending personal experiences, expert opinions, and emotional appeals, Michelle Obama’s ‘Becoming’ reflects on identity, leadership, and the power of storytelling.”
• “Utilizing irony, satire, and logical appeals, Aldous Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’ critiques the dehumanizing effects of a society driven by pleasure and conformity.”
• “Through allegory, symbolism, and emotional appeals, John Steinbeck’s ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ explores themes of poverty, injustice, and the human struggle for dignity.”
• “By incorporating historical context, emotional appeals, and rhetorical devices, Sojourner Truth’s ‘Ain’t I a Woman?’ speech challenges gender and racial prejudices.”
• “Utilizing rhetorical questions, expert opinions, and emotional anecdotes, Ken Robinson’s TED Talk ‘Do Schools Kill Creativity?’ critiques the modern education system.”
• “Through allegory, metaphors, and emotional appeals, Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s ‘Love in the Time of Cholera’ examines themes of love, time, and the human condition.”
• “By blending personal reflections, emotional appeals, and logical reasoning, Malala Yousafzai’s ‘I Am Malala’ recounts her fight for education and women’s rights.”
• “Utilizing satire, humor, and emotional appeals, George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’ allegorically criticizes the abuse of power and the corrupting influence of totalitarianism.”
• “Through allegory, symbolism, and emotional appeals, E.B. White’s ‘Charlotte’s Web’ explores themes of friendship, mortality, and the circle of life.”
• “By incorporating historical references, emotional anecdotes, and logical appeals, Susan Sontag’s ‘Notes on ‘Camp” explores the aesthetics of extravagance and artifice.”
• “Utilizing rhetorical questions, expert opinions, and emotional appeals, Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s ‘Declaration of Sentiments’ advocates for women’s rights and suffrage.”
• “Through allegory, imagery, and emotional appeals, J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Lord of the Rings’ delves into themes of heroism, friendship, and the battle between good and evil.”
• “By blending personal experiences, emotional appeals, and logical reasoning, Neil deGrasse Tyson’s ‘The Perimeter of Ignorance’ lecture explores the frontiers of scientific knowledge.”
• “Utilizing irony, satire, and emotional appeals, Mark Twain’s ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’ critiques societal norms and presents a humorous coming-of-age story.”
• “Through allegory, symbolism, and emotional appeals, Margaret Atwood’s ‘Alias Grace’ examines themes of memory, identity, and the manipulation of truth.”
• “By incorporating historical context, emotional appeals, and rhetorical devices, Abraham Lincoln’s ‘Second Inaugural Address’ reflects on the complexities of reconciliation after the Civil War.”
• “Utilizing rhetorical questions, expert opinions, and emotional appeals, Naomi Wolf’s ‘The Beauty Myth’ critiques societal standards of beauty and their impact on women.”

Your thesis statement should reflect the unique aspects of the text you’re analyzing and provide a clear roadmap for your analysis.

Rhetorical Analysis Thesis Statement Example for Essay

Crafting a powerful rhetorical analysis thesis statement for personal essay sets the stage for dissecting the art of persuasion within a given text. It succinctly outlines the author’s techniques, persuasive strategies, and the intended impact on the audience, offering a roadmap for an in-depth exploration of rhetoric’s nuances.

• “Through skillful use of metaphors, emotive language, and compelling anecdotes, Jane Doe effectively challenges societal beauty standards in her essay ‘Mirror, Mirror.'”
• “By dissecting persuasive appeals, rhetorical devices, and tone shifts, John Smith uncovers the manipulation of emotion and logic in his analysis of the political speech ‘A Nation United.'”
• “In analyzing Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, this essay explores how he employs repetition, powerful imagery, and moral appeals to inspire societal change.”
• “Examining the persuasive strategies in ‘The Power of Vulnerability’ TED Talk, this analysis demonstrates how Brené Brown combines personal stories, humor, and audience engagement.”
• “Through a close examination of tone, diction, and narrative structure, this essay explores the emotional impact of J.K. Rowling’s ‘The Casual Vacancy’ on its readers.”
• “By evaluating rhetorical devices, historical context, and the speaker’s credibility, this analysis dissects Winston Churchill’s ‘Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat’ speech during World War II.”
• “Analyzing the ‘Blackfish’ documentary, this essay delves into the manipulation of emotional appeals, expert testimonies, and visual storytelling to advocate for animal rights.”
• “This analysis of Maya Angelou’s poem ‘Phenomenal Woman’ uncovers how she uses rhythm, repetition, and empowering language to celebrate female strength and allure.”
• “Through the exploration of rhetorical devices, irony, and emotional appeals, this essay dissects Mark Antony’s funeral oration in Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar.'”
• “Examining Barack Obama’s ‘A More Perfect Union’ speech, this analysis illustrates how he combines personal history, logical reasoning, and rhetorical questions to address race in America.”

Rhetorical Analysis Thesis Statement Example for College

In college-level rhetorical analysis, the thesis statement for college essay acts as a compass guiding readers through the intricacies of persuasive techniques. This critical element encapsulates the main focus of the essay, from analyzing rhetorical devices to uncovering underlying themes, facilitating a comprehensive understanding of communication strategies.

• “By scrutinizing the strategic use of anecdotes, historical context, and logical appeals, this college-level analysis dissects Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.”
• “Analyzing the ‘TED Talk’ genre, this essay explores how speakers employ rhetorical strategies, visual aids, and audience engagement to convey complex ideas effectively.”
• “This college-level analysis of Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ examines the symbolism, dystopian elements, and social commentary through a rhetorical lens.”
• “Evaluating the persuasive techniques in President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s ‘Day of Infamy’ speech, this analysis highlights his use of rhetorical questions, historical references, and emotional appeals.”
• “Through an examination of metaphors, emotional appeals, and logical reasoning, this analysis dissects Frederick Douglass’ ‘Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.'”
• “Analyzing J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit,’ this essay explores how Tolkien employs allegory, symbolism, and vivid descriptions to convey universal themes of heroism and growth.”
• “This college-level analysis of Maya Angelou’s ‘Still I Rise’ dissects how she uses repetition, metaphor, and uplifting language to empower and inspire marginalized voices.”
• “Evaluating the persuasive techniques in Michelle Obama’s ‘Becoming,’ this analysis illustrates how she combines personal narratives, emotional appeals, and relatable anecdotes to connect with readers.”
• “Through a rhetorical analysis of George Orwell’s ‘1984,’ this essay explores how he uses dystopian elements, propaganda, and language manipulation to critique totalitarianism.”
• “Analyzing Steve Jobs’ Stanford commencement address, this essay delves into how he employs personal stories, rhetorical questions, and aspirational language to inspire graduates.”

Strong Rhetorical Analysis Thesis Statement Example

A robust rhetorical analysis strong thesis statement  serves as a cornerstone for rigorous exploration. It not only identifies the core rhetorical strategies but also unveils their profound impact on shaping perceptions, opinions, and societal discourse, emphasizing the author’s skill in effectively manipulating language and emotion.

• “Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’ masterfully combines logical appeals, emotional anecdotes, and historical references to advocate for civil rights.”
• “Through the strategic use of pathos, ethos, and logos, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s ‘We Should All Be Feminists’ compellingly challenges gender stereotypes and inequality.”
• “In ‘The Great Gatsby,’ F. Scott Fitzgerald employs vivid imagery, symbolism, and dramatic irony to critique the American Dream’s corruption and superficiality.”
• “By blending allegory, emotional appeals, and vivid language, Yann Martel’s ‘Life of Pi’ artfully explores the human spirit’s resilience and the complexities of faith.”
• “Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ uses allegory, symbolism, and emotional appeals to navigate themes of racial prejudice, moral growth, and societal justice.”
• “Through the manipulation of tone, diction, and rhetorical questions, George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’ satirically critiques the abuse of power and the dangers of totalitarianism.”
• “In his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, Martin Luther King Jr. strategically employs repetition, allusion, and emotional appeals to inspire racial unity and equality.”
• “Gloria Anzaldúa’s ‘How to Tame a Wild Tongue’ combines rhetorical questions, historical context, and emotional anecdotes to explore the challenges of linguistic assimilation.”
• “Through the use of vivid imagery, emotive language, and allegory, William Blake’s ‘The Tyger’ delves into the complexities of creation, innocence, and experience.”
• “By intertwining allegory, symbolism, and emotional appeals, John Bunyan’s ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress’ explores themes of spiritual journey and redemption.”

Rhetorical Analysis Thesis Statement Example for History

Within historical context, a rhetorical analysis thesis statement provides a lens through which to examine how persuasive methods have influenced significant events. By scrutinizing the techniques used, this statement illuminates how rhetoric has played a role in shaping historical narratives, ideologies, and even shaping collective memory.

• “Analyzing Winston Churchill’s ‘Their Finest Hour’ speech, this historical analysis dissects his use of rhetoric to inspire resilience and unity during World War II.”
• “Evaluating Patrick Henry’s ‘Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death’ speech, this historical analysis explores how he strategically employed emotional appeals and historical references to advocate for colonial independence.”
• “By examining the rhetoric of Frederick Douglass’ ‘What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?’ speech, this historical analysis uncovers how he used personal anecdotes and logical appeals to critique American hypocrisy.”
• “This historical analysis of Sojourner Truth’s ‘Ain’t I a Woman?’ speech explores her use of rhetorical questions and emotional appeals to challenge gender and racial prejudices of her time.”
• “Through the exploration of Abraham Lincoln’s ‘Second Inaugural Address,’ this historical analysis delves into how he employed biblical references, emotional appeals, and rhetorical devices to address post-Civil War reconciliation.”
• “Analyzing Susan B. Anthony’s ‘Declaration of Sentiments,’ this historical analysis dissects how she utilized rhetorical strategies to advocate for women’s rights and suffrage in the 19th century.”
• “By examining the persuasive techniques in Franklin D. Roosevelt’s ‘Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation,’ this historical analysis highlights how he combined emotional appeals, historical context, and logical reasoning to rally the nation after the attack.”
• “Evaluating Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech through a historical lens, this analysis illustrates how he employed references to history, biblical allusions, and emotional appeals to advocate for racial equality.”
• “Through the exploration of Gandhi’s ‘Quit India’ speech, this historical analysis uncovers how he used rhetoric to inspire nonviolent resistance against British colonial rule during India’s struggle for independence.”
• “Analyzing the persuasive techniques in Ronald Reagan’s ‘Tear Down This Wall’ speech, this historical analysis delves into how he employed rhetorical strategies to advocate for the end of the Berlin Wall and Cold War tensions.”

How do you write a rhetorical analysis thesis statement? – Step by Step Guide

Crafting a compelling rhetorical analysis final thesis statement requires a systematic approach to distill the core elements of the text’s persuasive strategies. Follow these steps to create an effective thesis statement for your rhetorical analysis essay:

• Understand the Text: Read the text thoroughly to grasp its message, context, and the author’s intent. Identify the rhetorical techniques, such as ethos, pathos, logos, and various stylistic devices used to influence the audience.
• Identify the Core Strategies: Determine the main persuasive strategies employed by the author, such as the use of metaphors, anecdotes, rhetorical questions, appeals to authority, tone shifts, and more.
• Analyze the Impact: Assess how these strategies contribute to the overall effectiveness of the message. Consider how they evoke emotions, create credibility, enhance logic, or provoke thought.
• Narrow Down Your Focus: Choose specific aspects of the text’s rhetoric that you’ll analyze in detail. Your thesis statement should highlight the main techniques you’ll discuss in your essay.
• Frame Your Assertion: Formulate a concise thesis statement that encapsulates your interpretation of the author’s message and the techniques used. It should provide insight into how the techniques contribute to the text’s persuasiveness.
• Make it Specific: Ensure your thesis statement is precise and focused, avoiding vague or generic claims. Mention the specific rhetorical techniques and their impact on the audience.
• Draft and Revise: Write a preliminary thesis statement and refine it through revisions. Ensure it reflects the text’s core themes and the analytical direction you plan to take.
• Test for Clarity: Share your thesis statement with peers or mentors to gauge its clarity and effectiveness in conveying your intended analysis.
• Check for Alignment: Confirm that your thesis statement accurately aligns with the analysis you present in your essay’s body paragraphs.
• Refine as Needed: If your analysis evolves as you write, be open to refining your thesis statement to better capture your insights.

Does a rhetorical analysis need a thesis statement?

Yes, a rhetorical analysis essay should definitely have a clear and concise thesis statement . The thesis statement is the foundation of your essay; it guides your analysis, gives direction to your essay, and informs your readers about the central focus of your analysis. A well-crafted thesis statement articulates the author’s main persuasive strategies, the techniques used, and their intended impact on the audience.

A strong thesis statement serves as a roadmap for both you and your readers, ensuring that your analysis is focused and well-structured. Without a thesis statement, your essay may lack coherence and direction, making it challenging for your readers to follow your analytical journey. Therefore, incorporating a thesis statement in your rhetorical analysis essay is essential for a clear and effective presentation of your insights.

Tips for Writing a Rhetorical Analysis Thesis Statement

Creating an effective thesis statement for a rhetorical analysis requires precision and insight. Here are some tips to consider:

• Be Specific: Clearly identify the rhetorical techniques you will analyze, such as imagery, metaphors, tone, or appeals. This specificity sets the tone for your essay.
• Highlight Impact: Address how the identified techniques contribute to the author’s persuasiveness. Explain how they engage emotions, logic, or credibility.
• Avoid Simple Summaries: Your thesis should go beyond summarizing the text; instead, focus on the techniques and their persuasive function.
• Capture Complexity: Reflect the nuanced relationship between techniques and their combined impact on the audience’s interpretation.
• Tailor to Audience: Consider the context of your essay. Adapt your thesis statement to the intended audience and their familiarity with the text.
• Draft and Revise: Create a working thesis, then refine it as you analyze the text further and gain deeper insights.
• Use Strong Language: Employ confident and assertive language to showcase your analytical approach.
• Stay Objective: Maintain an objective tone in your thesis statement, focusing on the author’s techniques rather than expressing your personal opinions.
• Parallel Structure: Consider using parallel structure to list the techniques you’ll analyze, ensuring clarity and consistency.
• Connect to Argument: Ensure your thesis sets up your main argument or interpretation about the author’s overall effectiveness in persuasion.

Remember, a well-crafted thesis statement sets the tone for your entire essay and guides your analysis. Take the time to refine it, and it will serve as a valuable roadmap for both you and your readers.  In addition, you should review our  thesis statement persuasive essay .

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Text prompt

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10 Examples of Public speaking

20 Examples of Gas lighting

Analyzing Famous Speeches as Arguments

• Resources & Preparation
• Instructional Plan
• Related Resources

Traditionally, teachers have encouraged students to engage with and interpret literature—novels, poems, short stories, and plays. Too often, however, the spoken word is left unanalyzed, even though the spoken word has the potential to alter our space just as much than the written. After gaining skill through analyzing a historic and contemporary speech as a class, students will select a famous speech from a list compiled from several resources and write an essay that identifies and explains the rhetorical strategies that the author deliberately chose while crafting the text to make an effective argument. Their analysis will consider questions such as What makes the speech an argument?, How did the author's rhetoric evoke a response from the audience?, and Why are the words still venerated today?

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From theory to practice.

Nearly everything we read and hear is an argument. Speeches are special kinds of arguments and should be analyzed as such. Listeners should keep in mind the context of the situation involving the delivery and the audience-but a keen observer should also pay close attention to the elements of argument within the text. This assignment requires students to look for those elements.

"Since rhetoric is the art of effective communication, its principles can be applied to many facets of everyday life" (Lamb 109). It's through this lesson that students are allowed to see how politicians and leaders manipulate and influence their audiences using specific rhetorical devices in a manner that's so effective that the speeches are revered even today. It's important that we keep showing our students how powerful language can be when it's carefully crafted and arranged.

Further Reading

Common Core Standards

This resource has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards for states in which they have been adopted. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, CCSS alignments are forthcoming.

State Standards

This lesson has been aligned to standards in the following states. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, standard alignments are not currently available for that state.

NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts

• 3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
• 4. Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
• 5. Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
• 7. Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.

Materials and Technology

• ReadWriteThink Notetaker
• Teacher Background and Information Sheet
• Student Assignment Sheet
• List of Speeches for Students
• Queen Elizabeth I’s Speech with Related Questions
• Historical Speech Research Questions
• Peer Response Handout
• Essay Rubric

This website contains audio of the Top 100 speeches of all time.

Included on this site is audio of famous speeches of the 20th century, as well as information about the speeches and background information on the writers.

The "Great Speeches Collection" from The History Place are available here in print and in audio.

This website includes information on finding and documenting sources in the MLA format.

Preparation

• Review the background and information sheet for teachers to familiarize yourself with the assignment and expectations.  Consider your students' background with necessary rhetorical terms such as claims, warrants, the appeals (logos, pathos, ethos), and fallacies; and rhetorical devices such as tone, diction, figurative language, repetition, hyperbole, and understatement. The lesson provides some guidance for direct instruction on these terms, but there are multiple opportunities for building or activating student knowledge through modeling on the two speeches done as a class.
• Check the links to the online resources (in Websites section) make sure that they are still working prior to giving out this assignment.
• Decide whether you want to allow more than one student to analyze and write about the same speech in each class.
• Look over the  List of Speeches for Students to decide if there are any that you would like to add.
• Look over the suggested Essay Rubric and determine the weights you would like to assign to each category.  For example, you might tell students that Support and Research may be worth three times the value of Style. Customize the Essay Rubric to meet the learning goals for your students.
• Reserve the library for Session Three so the students can do research on their speeches.
• President Obama’s Inauguration Speech.
• Former President Bush’s Defends War in Iraq Speech.
• Former President Bush’s 9/11 Speech.
• Former President Clinton’s “I Have Sinned” Speech.

Student Objectives

Students will

• analyze a speech for rhetorical devices and their purpose.
• identify an author’s purposeful manipulation of language.
• identify elements of argument within a speech.
• write an analysis of a speech with in-text documentation.

Session One

• Begin the lesson by asking students what needs to be present in order for a speech to occur. Though the question may seem puzzling—too hard, or too simple—at first, students will eventually identify, as Aristotle did, the need for a speaker, a message, and an audience.
• The class should discuss audience and the importance of identifying the audience for speeches, since they occur in particular moments in time and are delivered to specific audiences. This is a good time to discuss the Rhetorical Triangle (Aristotelian Triad) or discuss a chapter on audience from an argumentative textbook. You may wish to share information from the ReadWriteThink.org lesson Persuasive Techniques in Advertising and  The Rhetorical Triangle from The University of Oklahoma.
• Next distribute Queen Elizabeth’s speech to the troops at Tilbury and use the speech and its historical context as a model for the processes students will use on the speech they select. Provide a bit of background information on the moment in history.
• Then, as a class, go over  Queen Elizabeth’s speech and discuss the rhetorical devices in the speech and the purpose for each one. Adjust the level of guidance you provide, depending on your students' experiences with this type of analysis. The questions provide a place to start, but there are many other stylistic devices to discuss in this selection.

Discuss the audience and the author’s manipulation of the audience. Consider posing questions such as

• This is a successful speech.  Why?
• Elizabeth uses all of the appeals – logos, pathos, and ethos – to convince all of her listeners to fight for her from the loyal follower to the greedy mercenary.  How?
• The tone shifts throughout the selection.  Where?  But more importantly, why?

Martin Luther King, Jr. uses an appeal to pathos in his “I Have a Dream” speech through his historical allusion to Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation: “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.” This is particularly effective for his audience of people sympathetic to the cause of African American men and women who would have been especially moved by this particular reference since it had such a significant impact on the lives of African Americans.

Session Two

• Continue the work from the previous session by distributing the  Analyzing Famous Speeches as Arguments handout and discussing the assignment and what it requires. See the  background and information sheet for teachers for more details.
• Tell students they will be getting additional practice with analyzing a speech as an argument by showing a short  10-minute clip of a presidential speech . Ask students to think about how the particular moment in history and the national audience contribute to the rhetorical choices made by the speaker.
• Lead a discussion of the speech as an argument with regard to purpose and intent. Work with students to identify warrants, claims, and appeals.
• Ask students to consider how the author manipulates the audience using tone, diction, and stylistic devices. What rhetorical devices aided the author’s manipulation of his audience? Discuss a particular rhetorical device that the President used and the purpose it served.
• Share the Essay Rubric and explain to students the expectations for success on this assignment.
• Allow students to select a speech from the List of Speeches for Students . If they wish to preview any of the speeches, they can type the speaker's name and the title of the speech into a search engine and should have little difficulty finding it.

Session Three

• Take the students to the library and allow them to research their speeches. They should locate their speech and print a copy for them to begin annotating for argumentative structure and rhetorical devices.
• What was the speaker up against?  What is the occasion for the speech?
• What did the author have to keep in mind when composing the text?  
• What were his or her goals?  
• What was his or her ultimate purpose?  
• What was his or her intent?
• Remind students that the writer of the speech is sometimes not the person who delivered the speech, for example, and this will surprise some students. Many people assume that the speaker (president, senator, etc.) is always the writer, and that’s not always the case, so ask your students to check to see who wrote the speech. (They might be surprised at the answer. There’s always a story behind the composition of the speech.)
• Help students find the author of the speech because this will challenge some students. Oftentimes, students assume the speaker is the author, and that’s sometimes not the case. Once the speechwriter is identified, it is easier to find information on the speech. Help students find the history behind the speech without getting too bogged down in the details. They need to understand the climate, but they do not need to be complete experts on the historical details in order to understand the elements of the speech.
• If they wish, students can use the ReadThinkWrite Interactive Notetaker to help them track their notes for their essays. Remind them that their work cannot be saved on this tool and should be printed by the end of the session so they can use it in future work.
• For Session Four, students must bring a thesis, an outline, and all of their research materials to class for a workday. Remind them to refer to the Analyzing Famous Speeches as Arguments , the Essay Rubric , and any notes they may have taken during the first two sessions as they begin their work.
• The thesis statement should answer the following question: What makes this speech an effective argument and worthy of making this list?

Session Four

• Set up students in heterogeneous groups of four. Ask students to share their outlines and thesis statements.
• Go around to check and to monitor as students share their ideas and progress. The students will discuss their speeches and their research thus far.
• Have students discuss the elements of an argument that they plan on addressing.
• Finally, have students work on writing their papers by writing their introductions with an enticing “grab” or “hook.” If time permits, have students share their work. 
• For Session Five, students should bring in their papers. This session would happen in about a week.

Session Five

• In this session, students will respond each other's drafts using the Peer Response Handout .
• Determine and discuss the final due date with your students. Direct students to Diana Hacker’s MLA site for assistance with their citations if necessary. 
• Remind students that their work will be evaluate using the essay rubric .  They should use the criteria along with the comments from their peer to revise and polish their work.
• During the process of analyzing  Queen Elizabeth I’s Speech , consider showing the related scene from the film Elizabeth: The Golden Age . Though the text of the speech is drastically cut and altered, seeing one filmmaker's vision for the scene may help reinforce the notion of historical context and the importance of audience.
• Allow students to read and/or perform parts of the speeches out loud. Then, they can share some of their thinking about the argumentative structure and rhetorical devices used to make the speech effective. This activity could happen as part of the prewriting process or after essays have been completed.
• Require students to write a graduation speech or a speech on another topic. They can peruse print or online news sources to select a current event that interests them.  Have them choose an audience to whom they would deliver an argumentative speech.

Student Assessment / Reflections

• After peer response has taken place, use the essay rubric to provide feedback on student work. You may change the values of the different categories/requirements to better suit the learning goals for your classroom.
• Calendar Activities
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• Student Interactives
• Strategy Guides

Students explore the ways that powerful and passionate words communicate the concepts of freedom, justice, discrimination, and the American Dream in Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.

While drafting a literary analysis essay (or another type of argument) of their own, students work in pairs to investigate advice for writing conclusions and to analyze conclusions of sample essays. They then draft two conclusions for their essay, select one, and reflect on what they have learned through the process.

Useful for a wide variety of reading and writing activities, this outlining tool allows students to organize up to five levels of information.

This strategy guide clarifies the difference between persuasion and argumentation, stressing the connection between close reading of text to gather evidence and formation of a strong argumentative claim about text.

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Why it worked: A rhetorical analysis of Obama’s speech on race

The National Conference of Teachers of English (NCTE) has declared today a National Day on Writing.  I celebrate such a day.  The introduction of my book "Writing Tools" imagines what America might look like and sound like if we declared ourselves a “nation of writers.” After all, what good is freedom of expression if we lack the means to express ourselves?

To mark this day – and to honor language arts teachers everywhere – Poynter is republishing an essay I wrote almost a decade ago.  Remember? It was the spring of 2008 and Barack Obama was running for president. Many of us wondered if America was ready to elect an African-American president (a man with the middle name Hussein).

To dispel the fears of some white Americans and to advance his chances for election, Obama delivered a major address on race in America, a speech that was praised even by some of his adversaries. Obama had/has a gift for language. He is a skilled orator. To neutralize that advantage, his opponents – including Hillary Clinton at one point – would characterize Obama’s words as empty “rhetoric” – an elaborate trick of language.

The Spring of 2008 seems like such a long time ago.  A time just before the Great Recession.  A time just before the ascendancy of social networks and the trolls who try to poison them.  A time before black lives were said to matter in a more assertive way. A time before fake news was anything more dangerous that a piece of satire in the Onion. A time before Colin Kaepernick took a knee — except when he was tired.  A time before torch-bearing white supremacists marched through the night in Charlottesville, Virginia.   

It feels like the perfect time for a restart on a conversation about race. To prepare us, let’s take another look at the words of Barack Obama before he was president. Let’s review what he said, and, more important, how and why he said it. My X-ray analysis of that speech is meant not as a final word on that historical moment, but as an invitation, a doorway to a room where we can all reflect on American history and the American language.

Have a great National Day on Writing.  

More than a century ago, scholar and journalist W.E.B. DuBois wrote a single paragraph about how race is experienced in America. I have learned more from those 112 words than from most book-length studies of the subject:

After the Egyptian and Indian, the Greek and Roman, the Teuton and Mongolian, the Negro is a sort of seventh son, born with a veil, and gifted with second-sight in this American world, a world which yields him no true self-consciousness, but only lets him see himself through the revelation of the other world. It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his two-ness, — an American, a Negro;  two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder."

Much has been said about the power and brilliance of Barack Obama's March 18 speech on race, even by some of his detractors. The focus has been on the orator's willingness to say things in public about race that are rarely spoken at all, even in private, and his expressed desire to move the country to a new and better place. There has also been attention to the immediate purpose of the speech, which was to reassure white voters that they had nothing to fear from the congregant of a fiery African-American pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. 

Amid all the commentary, I have yet to see an X-Ray reading of the text that would make visible the rhetorical strategies that the orator and authors used so effectively. When received in the ear, these effects breeze through us like a harmonious song. When inspected with the eye, these moves become more apparent, like reading a piece of sheet music for a difficult song and finally recognizing the chord changes.

Such analysis, while interesting in itself, might be little more than a scholarly curiosity if we were not so concerned with the language issues of political discourse. The popular opinion is that our current president, though plain spoken, is clumsy with language. Fair or not, this perception has produced a hope that our next president will be a more powerful communicator, a Kennedy or Reagan, perhaps, who can use language less as a way to signal ideology and more as a means to bring the disparate parts of the nation together. Journalists need to pay closer attention to political language than ever before.

Like most memorable pieces of oratory, Obama's speech sounds better than it reads. We have no way of knowing if that was true of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, but it is certainly true of Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech. If you doubt this assertion, test it out. Read the speech and then experience it in its original setting recited by his soulful voice.

The effectiveness of Obama's speech rests upon four related rhetorical strategies:

1.  The power of allusion and its patriotic associations. 2.  The oratorical resonance of parallel constructions. 3.  The "two-ness" of the texture, to use DuBois's useful term. 4.  His ability to include himself as a character in a narrative about race.

Allusion Part of what made Dr. King's speech resonate, not just for black people, but for some whites, was its framing of racial equality in familiar patriotic terms: "This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning, 'My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty of thee I sing.  Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.'"  What follows, of course, is King's great litany of iconic topography that carries listeners across the American landscape: "Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!…"

In this tradition, Obama begins with "We the people, in order to form a more perfect union," a quote from the Constitution that becomes a recurring refrain linking the parts of the speech. What comes next is "Two hundred and twenty one years ago," an opening that places him in the tradition of Lincoln at Gettysburg and Dr. King at the Lincoln Memorial: "Five score years ago."

On the first page, Obama mentions the words democracy, Declaration of Independence, Philadelphia convention, 1787, the colonies, the founders, the Constitution, liberty, justice, citizenship under the law, parchment, equal, free, prosperous, and the presidency. It is not as well known as it should be that many black leaders, including Dr. King, use two different modes of discourse when addressing white vs. black audiences, an ignorance that has led to some of the hysteria over some of Rev. Wright's comments.

Obama's patriotic lexicon is meant to comfort white ears and soothe white fears. What keeps the speech from falling into a pandering sea of slogans is language that reveals, not the ideals, but the failures of the American experiment: "It was stained by this nation's original sin of slavery, a question that divided the colonies and brought the convention to a stalemate until the founders chose to allow the slave trade to continue for at least twenty more years, and to leave any final resolution to future generations." And "what would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part … to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time."

Lest a dark vision of America disillusion potential voters, Obama returns to familiar evocations of national history, ideals, and language:

— "Out of many, we are truly one." — "survived a Depression." — "a man who served his country" — "on a path of a more perfect union" — "a full measure of justice" — "the immigrant trying to feed his family" — "where our union grows stronger" — "a band of patriots signed that document."

Parallelism At the risk of calling to mind the worst memories of grammar class, I invoke the wisdom that parallel constructions help authors and orators make meaning memorable. To remember how parallelism works, think of equal terms to express equal ideas. So Dr. King dreamed that one day his four children "will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." ( By the content of their character is parallel to by the color of their skin .)

Back to Obama: "This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this campaign — to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America." If you are counting, that's five parallel phrases among 43 words. 

And there are many more:

Two-ness I could argue that Obama's speech is a meditation upon DuBois' theory of a dual experience of race in America. There is no mention of DuBois or two-ness, but it is all there in the texture. In fact, once you begin the search, it is remarkable how many examples of two-ness shine through:

— "through protests and struggles" — "on the streets and in the courts" — "through civil war and civil disobedience" — "I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas." — "white and black" — "black and brown" — "best schools … poorest nations" — "too black or not black enough" — "the doctor and the welfare mom" — "the model student and the former gang-banger …" — "raucous laughter and sometimes bawdy humor" — "political correctness or reverse racism" — "your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams"

Such language manages to create both tension and balance and, without being excessively messianic, permits Obama to present himself as the bridge builder, the reconciler of America's racial divide.

Autobiography There is an obnoxious tendency among political candidates to frame their life story as a struggle against poverty or hard circumstances. As satirist Stephen Colbert once noted of presidential candidates, it is not enough to be an average millionaire. To appeal to populist instincts it becomes de rigueur to be descended from "goat turd farmers" in France.

Without dwelling on it, Obama reminds us that his father was black and his mother white, that he came from Kenya, but she came from Kansas: "I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slave and slave owners — an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles, and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible."

The word "story" is revealing one, for it is always the candidate's job (as both responsibility and ploy) to describe himself or herself as a character in a story of his or her own making. In speeches, as in homilies, stories almost always carry the weight of parable, with moral lessons to be drawn.

Most memorable, of course, is the story at the end of the speech — which is why it appears at the end. It is the story of Ashley Baia, a young, white, Obama volunteer from South Carolina, whose family was so poor she convinced her mother that her favorite meal was a mustard and relish sandwich. 

"Anyway, Ashley finishes her story and then goes around the room and asks everyone else why they're supporting the campaign. They all have different stories and reasons. Many bring up a specific issue.  And finally they come to this elderly black man who's been sitting there quietly the entire time. … He simply says to everyone in the room, 'I am here because of Ashley.'"

During most of the 20th century, demagogues, especially in the South, gained political traction by pitting working class whites and blacks against each other. How fitting, then, that Obama's story points in the opposite direction through an old black man who feels a young white woman's pain.  

CORRECTION : An earlier version of this post incorrectly attributed the phrase, "We the people, in order to form a more perfect union" to the Declaration of Independence.

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Rhetorical Analysis Of Malala Yousafzai's Speech

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