Rhetorical Analysis

A Ladder Approach to Text Analysis

The ladder is leaning up against my house…

Exigency

Audience

Purpose

Appeals Ethos Pathos Logos

TropesScheme

Big Picture

Foundation

Ethos

Pathos

Logos

ExigencyA need or lack of something

that needs doing.

AudienceReader or group of

readers capable of acting on this exigency.

•Primary

•Secondary

Purpose

What the author intends for the reader (s) to do while and after they read the text.

•Action, change minds, clarify, informative—Never singular

Appeals

1. Ethos—Appeals to the character of the writer or persona.

Appeals--Ethos

a. Good Will

•Do they have you on their side?

Appeals--Ethos

b. Good character

•Yes, I can trust this person

Appeals--Ethos

c. Good sense

•Have they done their homework?

“What is an Essay?”Ethos:

•FallacyAd Hominem (p. 26)

Appeals--PathosAppeals to emotions or interest of

readers

•Self-interest

“What is an Essay?”Pathos:

•FallaciesBandwagon (p. 30)

Appeal to Tradition (p.31)

Appeal to Pity (p. 31)

Appeals--LogosAppeals to the structure of an

argument

•Body of text/structure

Appeals--LogosSyllogism

•Minor premise

•Major premise (fact)

•Conclusion

•Transitive Property

•A=b and b=c :.a=c

Appeals--LogosEnthymeme

• A syllogism in which the major premise is an assumption that the audience may already believe

• Frequently unstated existing tacitly in argument

• Minor Premise

• Major Premise (often assumed)

• Conclusion

Appeals--LogosToulmin’s Informal Structure

•Type of enthymeme on its side (same as an enthymeme, but now in a diagram format with new terms)

DATA/GROUND(Minor Premise)

Warrant or Bridge(Major Premise)

Claim

(Conclusion)

Toulminhttp://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~digger/305/toulmin_model.htm

Data/Ground: reasons or supporting evidence that bolster the claim.

Warrant: the principle, provision or chain of reasoning that connects the grounds/reason to the claim of the argument.

Claim: the position or claim being argued for; the conclusion

(Actually has 6 parts, but we concentrate on 3.)

ParadigmsPattern of examples

•Repeated and often historical

Common Warrants http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~digger/305/toulmin_model.htm

There are 6 main argumentative strategies via which the relationship between evidence and claim are often established.  They have the acronym “GASCAP.”

Generalization (Inductive Fallacy)         Analogy (Inductive Fallacy)                                     Sign                                       Causality (Deductive Fallacy)                    Authority                                Principle       

Common Warrants http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~digger/305/toulmin_model.htm

These strategies are used at various different levels of generality within an argument, and rarely come in neat packages - typically they are interconnected and work in combination.

1.  Argument based on GeneralizationA very common form of reasoning.  It assumes that what is true of a well chosen sample is likely to hold for a larger group or population, or that certain things consistent with the sample can be inferred of the group/population. 

2. Argument based on Analogy

Extrapolating from one situation or event based on the nature and outcome of a similar situation or event. 

Has links to 'case-based' and precedent-based reasoning used in legal discourse.

What is important here is the extent to which relevant similarities can be established between 2 contexts.  Are there sufficient, typical, accurate, relevant similarities?

3. Argument via Sign/Clue

The notion that certain types of evidence are symptomatic of some wider principle or outcome. 

For example, smoke is often considered a sign for fire.  Some people think high SAT scores are a sign

a person is smart and will do well in college. 

4.  Causal Argument Arguing that a given occurrence or event is the

result of, or is effected by, factor X.  Causal reasoning is the most complex of the different forms of warrant. The big dangers with it are:

Mixing up correlation with causation Falling into the post hoc, ergo propter hoc trap. 

Closely related to confusing correlation and causation, this involves inferring 'after the fact, therefore because of the fact').

5.  Argument from Authority Does person X or text X constitute an authoritative

source on the issue in question?  What political, ideological or economic interests

does the authority have?  Is this the sort of issue in which a significant

number of authorities are likely to agree on? 

6.  Argument from PrincipleLocating a principle that is widely regarded as valid

and showing that a situation exists in which this

principle applies.  Evaluation: Is the principle widely accepted? Does it accurately apply to the situation in question? Are there commonly agreed on exceptions?  Are there 'rival' principles that lead to a different claim?  Are the practical consequences of following the principle

sufficiently desirable? 

“What is an Essay?”Logos:

•Valid v Sound Argument (p. 16-17)

•Deductive v Inductive Reasoning (p. 16)

•Deductive Fallaciesnon sequitur (p. 21)Red Herring (p. 22)

False cause (GASCAP) (p. 23)

Begging the Questions (p. 24)

Either or Fallacy (p. 24)

“What is an Essay?”Logos:

• Inductive FallaciesHasty Generalization (GASCAP) (p. 25)Anecdotal Evidence (p. 25)

False Analogy (GASCAP) (p. 25)

Special Pleading (p. 26)

Schemes and TropesScheme=Variation of norm

words and sentencesTrope=Variations from idea

construction (Ideation)

Schemes

Schemes of words Prosthesis Epenthesis Proparalepsis Aphaeresis

SyncopeApocopeMetathesisAntisthecon

Schemes of construction

Schemes of balance Parallelism Antithesis

Schemes of unusual or inverted word order

Hyperbaton Anastrophe Parenthesis Apposition

Schemes of Omission Ellipsis Asyndeton

Schemes of Repetition

Alliteration Assonance Anaphora Epistrophe

AnalepticAnadiplosisClimaxAntimetabolePolytoton

Tropes Metaphor Paronomasia Simile Metonymy Synecdoche Antanaclasis Syllepsis Puns

Tropes Puns Antanaclasis Paronomasia Syllepsis

Tropes Anthimeria Periphrasis Personification Hyperbole Litotes

Tropes Rhetorical question Irony Onomatopoeia Oxymoron

Top Down=Big Picture

Exigency

Purpose

Audience

Middle Up or Down

Appeals

Bottom Up

Schemes and Tropes

Exigency

Audience

Purpose

Appeals

Schemes & Tropes

Top Down

Middle Up or Down

Bottom Up