Intro to Rhetorical Criticism

1
Intro to Rhetorical Criticism

• Analyzing Historical Context
• Rhetorical Text

2
Historical Context

• Who? Speaker and audience
• Why? Purpose
• When? Timing of speech
• Where? Placement of speech
• How? Production and deliver of speech who
  wrote it? How was it delivered? How might the
  medium have shaped the creation and delivery of
  the text?

3
Analysis of theRhetorical Text

• Characters
• Place
• Time
• Argumentation
• Structure
• Style
• Delivery
• All of these may provide implicit/explicit
  appeals to logos, ethos, pathos

4
Characters

• Roles or personas used in the speech may
  include the speaker or the audience

5
Place

• In what places are the characters situated in the
  speech?

6
Time

• How is time used to communicate the message?
• Past, present and future references

7
Argumentation

• A claim backed by one or more justifications
• Variety of supports, critical
• Clear sense of logic

8
Structure

• How does the text unfold?
• Historical, chronological?
• Topical?
• Logical/Pragmatic?

9

• Historical, Chronological
• The topic is best understood in terms of how it
  unfolds in time. Sequence is important.

10

• Topical
• Claims that certain elements are critical to
  understanding the issue

11

• Logical/Pragmatic
• Problem/Solution, Cause/Effect
• Ideas or situations stand in necessary relation
  to one another

12
Style

• What is distinctive about the language of this
  rhetorical text?
• Grammar, sentence length, syntax, figures of
  speech, etc.

13
Delivery

• The voice of the style/language

14
Evaluation of the Rhetorical Text

• Effect How successful was the speech at
  securing its goals?
• Artistry Evaluating the quality of the
  strategies used
• Ethics What are the long-term implications for
  the social welfare of society?