Critical Analysis Analyzing a Text Rhetorical Context Background

Critical Analysis Analyzing a Text

Rhetorical Context • Background of the author – What makes the author reliable or credible? – Is the writer writing within his or her area of expertise? – Does the author identify with a particular group or set of beliefs? – What experience does he or she have? – Is the author a writer by profession? • Why is that significant?

Rhetorical Context • Type / Genre of the Source – Is it a researched and documented essay by a specialist? – Is it the text of a speech delivered to a specific audience? – Is it an editorial or an op-ed piece? – Is it a syndicated column, political cartoon, or comic strip? • Why is that significant?

Rhetorical Context • Intended Audience – Who was the article meant for? – Does the author expect a popular audience? A general but educated audience? A specialist audience of shared expertise? – Does the author anticipate an audience that share cultural, political, or religious values? – What type of audience was it? Supportive? Sympathetic? Skeptical? Hostile? • Why is that significant?

Rhetorical Context • Primary Purpose – Is the work primarily informative or persuasive in intent? – Is it designed to entertain or be inspiring? – Does it narrate, describe, illustrate, define, compare, or offer analysis? – What goals does the author identify in his/her thesis statement? • Why is that significant?

Rhetorical Context • Sources of Information – Where was the information obtained? – Are the sources clearly identified? • Beware of “unnamed” or “reliable” sources – What kind of sources does the author use? – Does he rely on facts and figures? Personal experience? Anecdotal evidence? • Why is that significant?

Style • Diction and Tone – Is the writer using a conversational tone or a more formal style of writing? – Does the writer use slang words or technical words? – Is the word choice concrete and vivid or abstract and intellectual? • Why is that significant?

Style • Sentence Structure – Are the sentences generally long or short, or varied in length? – Does the writer use sentence fragments (incomplete sentences)? – Does the writer seem to be using an overly simplistic style? If so, why? – Does the writer use parallelism (coordination) or antithesis

Style • Figurative Language – Does the author make use of metaphors or similes? – What are the items being compared? – What is the point of comparison? – What is the emotional impact of the figurative comparison?

Style • Organization – Where are the ideas placed? The beginning, middle, end? – What does the placement say about the importance of the idea? – What parts of the discussion are developed at length? – What points are treated only briefly? • Why is that significant?

Style • Other things to pay attention to: – Hyperbole (exaggeration), understatement, or irony – Quotation marks, italics, or capital letters – Repetition – Examples