I'd like to see more generalizing/overview like approaches to this page; the huge lists are intimidating and probably not ultimately useful for getting a broader understanding of the topics. Try to structure the page so that the information is better integrated and consolidated. -- ( ) 20:10, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
A RHETORICAL ANALYSIS REFERS TO THE PROCESS OF ANALYZING A TEXT, GIVEN SOURCE OR ARTIFACT. The text, source, or artifact may be in written form or in some different sort of communication. The goal of a rhetorical analysis is to take into consideration the purpose, audience, genre, stance, and media/design of the given rhetorical situation. In other words, the analysis explores not only what everything means in the given source (content), but also why the author wrote about it (the purpose), who the author is (background), how the piece was organized (structure), where and/or when it was published (forum), and the intended message conveyed to the audience (topic).
A rhetorical analysis is one of the more challenging assignments in any writing class. Students often confuse a rhetorical analysis with a review because both assignments work to analyze a text. However, a rhetorical analysis reserves judgment on whether they agree/disagree with the topic presented. A review, of course, invites the reviewer to critique how "good" or "bad" the content of the text is. The PROCESS of completing a rhetorical analysis requires the use of different rhetorical strategies. These strategies are: critical reading, strategies for effective communication, persuasive appeals, argumentation, and avoidance of logical fallacies. These specific strategies are discussed in depth throughout the remainder of this page.
The PURPOSE of a rhetorical analysis is to engage in critical thinking with the intention of effectively communicating an intended message to a predetermined audience. In order to successfully determine the intended message of a particular text a good question to guide your analysis is: how did the author craft their argument?
Rhetoric is a term that is widely used in many forms, and by itself can mean a great many things. Some use the term in association with political rhetoric, to name the voice and stance, as well as the language that becomes the nature of politics. Rhetoric can be thought of as the way in which you phrase what you are saying, and the forces that impact what you are saying. At its very core RHETORIC IS THE ABILITY TO EFFECTIVELY COMMUNICATE AN INTENDED MESSAGE , whether it is via argumentation, persuasion, or another form of communication.
Critical reading is the first step in a rhetorical analysis. In order to make a reasonable and logical analysis, you need to apply critical reading skills to a text, given source, or artifact that you intend on analyzing. For example, when reading, you can break the whole text down into several parts. Then, try to determine what the writer is attempting to achieve with the message they are conveying to a predetermined audience; then work to identify the writing strategies they are using. Once the text, artifact or given source has been thoroughly analyzed you can determine whether the intended message was effectively communicated.
Reading critically does not simply mean being moved, affected, informed, influenced, and persuaded by a piece of writing; it is much more than that. It refers to analyzing and understanding of how the writing has achieved its effect on the audience. Some specific questions can guide you in your critical reading process. You can use them in reading the text, and if asked to, you can use them in writing a formal analysis. In terms of engaging in critical reading, it is important to begin with broad questions and then work towards asking more specific questions, but in the end the purpose of engaging in critical reading is so that as an analyzer you are asking questions that work to develop the purpose of the artifact, text, or given source you are choosing to analyze.
The following is a list of suggested questions that you may find useful for when you engage in critical reading. However, you do not need to apply all of these questions to every text, artifact, or given source. Rather, you may use them selectively according to the specific reading at hand. The main questions listed below are considered to be broad in nature; with the questions listed via bullet points underneath the broad questions are meant to get at more the specific details of the intended message. Please remember that this is simply one method for getting you started on reading (and then writing) more critically.
POTENTIAL QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN ENGAGING IN CRITICAL READING:
What is the subject?
What is the thesis (the overall main point)?
Who is the intended audience?
What is the tone of the text?
What is the writer's purpose?
What methods does the writer use to develop their ideas?
What pattern does the author use for the arrangement of ideas?
Does the writer use adequate transitions to make the text unified and coherent?
Are there any patterns in the sentence structure that make the writer's purpose clear to you?
Is there any dialog and/or quotations used in the text?
In what way does the writer use diction?
Is there anything unusual in the writer's use of punctuation?
Are there any repetitions of important terms throughout the text?
Does the writer present any particularly vivid images that stand out?
Are there any tropes--similes, metaphors, personification, hyperbole, comparisons, contrasts, etc. that are employed by the writer?
Are there any other devices such as humor, wordplay, irony, sarcasm, understatement, or parody that are used in the text?
Is there any information about the background of the writer?
After engaging in a critical analysis or reading of your intended artifact, text, or given source, the next step in the process of completing an effective rhetorical analysis is to discuss your discoveries. For the purposes of writing, when we refer to rhetoric, we often talk about it as the art of persuasion or the ability to communicate effectively. There are many different strategies a communicator may employ to effectively communicate their message to their intended audience. While the rhetorical strategies for effective communication are discussed in terms of writing about your findings, pertaining to your rhetorical analysis, it should be noted that these rhetorical strategies can be employed during the critical analysis or reading portion of your rhetorical analysis project.
Below is a table that breaks down some rhetorical strategies, what they mean, and how to analyze them critically. This table can be used when rhetorically analyzing a text or artifact or when you begin the process of writing about your findings. The purpose of this table is to provide a breakdown of rhetorical strategies and how one can identify them in a message.
EXEMPLIFICATION | Provide examples or cases in point | Are there examples -- facts, statistics, cases in point, personal experiences, interview quotations -- added to the essay? |
DESCRIPTION | Detail sensory perceptions of a person, place, or thing | Does a person, place, or object play a prominent role in the essay? |
NARRATION | Recount an event | Are there any anecdotes, experiences, or stories in the essay? |
PROCESS ANALYSIS | Explain how to do something or how something happens | Does any portion of the essay include concrete directions about a certain process? |
COMPARISON AND CONTRAST | Discuss similarities and differences | Does the essay contain two or more related subjects? Does it evaluate or analyze two or more people, places, processes, events, or things? Are there any similarities and/or differences between two or more elements? |
DIVISION AND CLASSIFICATION | Divide a whole into parts or sort related items into categories | Does the essay reduce the subject to more manageable parts or group parts? |
DEFINITION | Provide the meaning of terms you use | Is there any important word in the essay with many meanings and is defined or clarified? |
CAUSE AND EFFECT ANALYSIS | Analyze why something happens and describe the consequences of a string of events | Does the essay examine past events or their outcome? Does it explain why something happened? |
REPETITION | The constant use of certain words | Why, with all words at her disposal, does the writer choose to repeat particular words? |
COUNTERPOINTS | Contrasting ideas such as black/white, darkness/light, good/bad | Does the writer acknowledge and respond to counterpoints to her position? |
IMAGERY | Language that evokes one or all of the five senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, smell | Does the essay use any provocative language that calls upon readers’ senses? |
METAPHOR AND SIMILE | A figure of speech in which two essentially unlike things are compared, often in a phrase introduced by “like” or “as” | Does the essay make connections between things to make a point or elicit an idea? |
STYLE, TONE, AND VOICE | The attitude a writer takes towards a subject or character: serious, humorous, sarcastic, ironic, satirical, tongue-in-cheek, solemn, objective | What tone does the essay have? How does the writer portray herself? What choices does she make that influence her position? |
ANALOGY | The comparison of two pairs that have the same relationship | Are there any comparisons made by the writer to strengthen her message? |
FLASHBACK | A memory of an event in the past | |
HYPERBOLE | Exaggeration or overstatement | Does the writer make any claims that seem extreme? |
PERSONIFICATION | Giving human qualities to animals or objects | Is something without conscience thinking or talking? |
IRONY | An expression or utterance marked by deliberate contrast between apparent and intended meaning, often humorous | Does the writer really support her own assertions? Does she seem to be claiming the opposite you expect her to claim? |
OXYMORON | A contradiction in terms such as “faithless devotion,” “searing cold,” “deafening silence,” “virtual reality,” “act naturally,” “peacekeeper missile,” or “larger half” | Do any of the writer’s terms seem to obviously clash? |
PARADOX | Reveals a kind of truth which at first seems contradictory; Red wine is both good and bad for us | Do any contradictions used in the essay contain some grain of truth? |
PARODY | An exaggerated imitation of a style, person, or genre for humorous effect. | Do any contradictions used in the essay contain some grain of truth? |
SYMBOLISM | Using an object or action that means something more than its literal meaning; A skull and crossbones symbolize death | Does the writer seem to assert that a thing has meaning outside of the obvious? |
SATIRE | Literary tone used to ridicule or make fun of human vice or weakness, often with the intent of correcting, or changing, the subject of the satiric attack | Does the writer’s humor aim to fix its target? |
DICTION | An author's choice of words | Why, with all words at her disposal, does the writer choose to use those particular words? |
PARALLELISM | The use of identical or equivalent constructions in corresponding clauses | Are there any syntactic similarities between two parts of a sentence? |
The persuasive appeals, or what could also be known as the rhetorical triangle, were developed by Aristotle to ensure effective communication, and are a cornerstone within the field of Rhetoric and Writing. It is common to see the three persuasive appeals depicted as the points of a triangle because like the points of triangle they each play a role in the ability to hold the message together. Aristotle was a Greek philosopher that believed all three of these rhetorical appeals were needed to effectively communicate an intended message to a pre-determined audience. Aristotle's three rhetorical appeals are: Logos, Ethos, and Pathos; they are discussed in detail throughout the remainder of this section.
Logos is most easily defined as the logical appeal of an argument. It relies on logic or reason and depends on deductive and/or inductive reasoning. Deductive reasoning begins with a generalization and then applies it to a specific case. The generalization you start with must be based on a sufficient amount of reliable evidence. Inductive reasoning takes a specific representative case, or facts, and then draws generalizations or conclusions from them. Inductive reasoning must be based on a sufficient amount of reliable evidence. In other words, the facts you draw on must fairly represent the larger situation or population. Both deductive and inductive reasoning are discussed more in depth further down on this page.
Example of Logos: Say that you are writing a paper on immigration and you say "55,000 illegal immigrants entered this country last year, of those, only 23,000 did it legally." There is obviously something wrong here. Although saying 55,000 immigrants were "illegal" makes for an impressive statistic, it is apparently not correct if you admit that 23,000 of these people immigrated legally. The actual number of illegal immigrants would then be only 32,000, a significantly lower number. The purpose of this example is to demonstrate how having logical progression to an argument is essential in effectively communicating your intended message.
Ethos is the appeal to ethics, the use of authority to persuade an audience to believe in their character. And while ethos is called an ethical appeal, be careful not to confuse it solely with ethics; it encompasses a large number of different things which can include what a person wears, says, the words they use, their tone, their credentials, their experience, their charge over the audience, verbal and nonverbal behavior, criminal records, etc. Ethos gives the author credibility. It is important to build credibility with your audience because without it, readers are less inclined to trust you or accept the argument presented to them. Using credible sources is one method of building credibility. A certain amount of ethos may be implied solely from the author's reputation, but a writer should not rely only on reputation to prop up his/her work. A sure way to damage your ethos is by attacking or insulting an opponent or opposing viewpoint. The most effective ethos should develop from what is said, whether it is in spoken or written form. The most persuasive rhetoricians are the ones that understand this concept.
Example of Ethos: To elaborate, the construction of authority is reflected in how the rhetorician presents herself, what diction she uses, how she phrases her ideas, what other authorities she refers to, how she composes herself under stress, her experience within the context of her message, her personal or academic background, and more. In academia, ethos can be constructed not only by diction, tone, phrasing, and the like, but by what the rhetorician knows. A works cited page reflects this. It says: this author has read these sources, and knows their contents. And if those sources are relevant, reputable, and well regarded, the author has just benefited from that association. At the same time, authors want to make sure they properly introduce their sources within their writing to establish the authority they are drawing from.
Pathos is the appeal to passion, the use of emotion to persuade readers’ or listeners’ opinions in a rhetorical argument. Pathetic appeals (the use of pathos) are characterized by evocative imagery, description, visuals, and the like to create within the reader or listener a sense of emotion: outrage, sorrow, excitement, etc. Pathos is often easily recognizable because audiences tend to know when what they hear or read swells emotion within their hearts and minds. Be careful to distinguish between pathos as a rhetorical vehicle to persuade using emotion and the logical fallacy “appeal to pity” (discussed more in depth further down the page). Both use emotion to make their point, but the fallacy diverts the audience from the issue to the self while the appeal emphasizes the impact of the issue.
Although argument emphasizes reason, there is usually a place for emotion as well. Emotional appeals can use sources such as interviews and individual stories to paint a moving picture of reality, or to illuminate the truth. For example, telling the story of a specific child who has been abused may make for a more persuasive argument than simply stating the number of children abused each year. The story provides the numbers with a human face. However, a writer must be careful not to employ emotional appeals which distract from the crux of the debate, argument, or point trying to be made.
Example of Pathos: A good example of pathos is in public services announcements. Some of the most popular include drug warnings: A woman is at the stove in the kitchen with a skillet. She holds up an egg and says, “This is your brain.” She cracks the egg into the skillet where it immediately begins to cook. “This is your brain on drugs.” Or the more recent billboards cautioning against (meth)amphetamines which show an attractive young person juxtaposed against a mug-shot of the same person at a later date but with pustules, open sores, missing teeth, unkempt hair, acne, running makeup, and any other assortment of detrimental and hideous signs of the drug’s ruinous capabilities. Audiences are not meant to pity these individuals; rather, the audience is meant to reel in horror at the destruction meth can cause to a person in a short amount of time. In this case, horror or shock is the emotional tool rhetoric wields to persuade. It should be noted that people with acne, unkempt hair, or other traits listed are not necessarily uncommon—in fact, these traits can be found in vast numbers of high school students; the traits are merely shown in conjunction with the normative “before” picture to elicit the desired emotion. Either of the pictures alone would not be rhetorically effective, it is only by placing them together that the audience is passionately moved.
DEDUCTIVE LOGICAL ARGUMENT
A deductive logical argument is one that works from the top to the bottom. It begins with what is known as a "major premise," adds a "minor premise," and attempts to reach a conclusion. A major premise is a statement that names something about a large group, a minor premise takes a single member, and the conclusion attempts to prove that because this single member is a part of the larger group, they must also have the trait named in the original statement. For example:
Now, if it is true that men are tall, and that Bob is a man, then we can safely infer that Bob must be tall. However, beware the logical fallacy. Though it may be true that in certain cultures men are, on average, taller than women, certainly this is not always the case. Being that our major premise is not altogether true, we can now say that this argument is flawed. Furthermore, we might ask what our definition of "tall" is. Tall is different if we are talking about the average population, or basketball players. Also, what is a man? Do transgendered individuals count? We see that the problem becomes far more complex the more we look into it.
INDUCTIVE LOGICAL ARGUMENT
As some would argue that a deductive argument works from the top down, toward a conclusion, some comment that an inductive argument works from the bottom up. This is mildly misleading. What is meant by this is that an inductive logical argument begins with a firm affirmation of truth, a conclusive statement. By getting the audience to agree with this statement, the argument moves to the next "logical" step. It proceeds in this manner until the argument has led you from one seemingly reasonable conclusion to another that you may not have originally agreed with. Take the following as an example. Move through the argument slowly, making sure you understand and agree with each step in the process (and please forgive the religious content, you'll come to see it is irrelevant anyway).
The human soul is inherently free. This is its very nature. We are confined to our mortal, earthly bodies, but our souls must be kept free, or the nature of the soul is entirely negated. If one chooses to believe in a soul, they can only believe that it embraces this (vague idea of ) freedom.
At conception, a child is given a soul. Some may argue that it is not until birth, but if those very same persons are pro-life, they confuse their arguments. Thus, if someone is pro-life, and believes in a soul, they must believe in the freedom of that soul, and also accept that the soul is granted upon conception.
A soul cannot die. By the same means by which it is free over the body, a soul claims immortality while the body decomposes and is ruined. To deny that a soul is immortal is again to deny the very essence of a soul. Thus, if someone is pro-life, and believes in a soul, they must believe in the freedom of that soul, the immortality of the soul, and also accept that the soul is granted upon conception.
A soul cannot be born. It is immortal and cannot die, it is not earthly, it forever exists, and cannot be born. There are tales in Greek mythology of Athena’s birth, yet she bounds from her father’s head a fully decorated woman. She was not born. She existed previously, as Milton writes the Son in Paradise Lost. If one accepts the Bible’s teachings, there can be no reincarnation, another form of birth, a rebirth. Thus, if someone is pro-life, and believes in a soul, and does not accept reincarnation, they must believe in the freedom of that soul, the immortality of the soul that is always and forever (which cannot be born and cannot die), and also accept that the soul is granted upon conception.
A soul being always an essence, and not being able to be reincarnated, can only exist outside of the body, somewhere, until the act of conception occurs. That soul must then be placed in the body that was forever intended to receive it, as it belongs nowhere else. The soul is fated to that one body. Thus, if someone is pro-life, and believes in a soul, and does not accept reincarnation, namely a practicing Catholic, they must also believe in the freedom of the soul, and in the concept of fate. Fate, however, completely opposes the idea of freedom. One cannot then believe in a soul, for it immediately enforces a belief if fate which directly negates the belief in the soul. If our actions are written in a Divine plan, we are not free to make our own choices. Every action has been scripted.
Do not worry, it must be that you were meant to read this.
Having seen this, some might say that the argument defeats Catholicism from an atheist standpoint. Others might find that it argues for the secularization of religion. Still, there are ways in which it supports Catholicism at the same time. Though the argument might seem as if it is disagreeing with the Catholic religion, and some would agree that it is, we must always be looking for the logical fallacy. Upon closer inspection, you may notice that all this argument truly does, in one reading of the text, is to explain the complexity of God through the mind of a human. Catholicism has argued since the beginning that God is impossible to fully explain using the conceptions of man. In that way, this argument only supports that conclusion. Be aware that there will be logic fallacies hidden in almost every argument. If there is more than one side to an argument, such as in religious or political debates, it is most likely because the argument is impossible to prove. Hence, there will be a logical fallacy present.
Logical fallacies, often referred to by their Latin name “non sequitur” (which translates to “it does not follow”), are powerful tools in logic and rhetoric. When an arguer is able to identify her opponent’s fallacious positions, she can point them out and expose a weakness. She undermines her opponent’s position. Arguers comfortable with fallacies have an easier time avoiding them, thus making their positions more tenable. Missteps in logic can be confusing for students: sometimes a fallacy will be called by its Latin name, other times they will be referred to by a synonym; some are clumped together, and others are overly specific. For example: “Argument against the person” is often called an “Ad hominem” argument; a “Complex question” can be referred to as a “Loaded question”; “Appeal to the people” occasionally loses its distinction between direct and indirect (referred to only as “Bandwagon fallacy”); and “Begging the question” many times implies only its aspect of circular reasoning and not the other aspects. However, more important than agreeing on a name is the recognition of these non sequiturs. While a logician might dedicate her life to this topic, as a student you are expected only to avoid fallacies in your own writing and identify them in others’.
The following is a fairly comprehensive table of fallacies, and its purpose if for you to use a reference to ensure that you do not create a logical fallacy as your are writing about your discoveries throughout your rhetorical analysis. Having said that, this table can be used for more than just the completion of a rhetorical analysis; rather this table could be used as a reference for any argument or persuasion you are attempting to effectively communicate to an intended audience.
APPEAL TO FORCE | Arguer threatens reader/listener | If you don't agree with me, I will beat you up. |
APPEAL TO PITY | Arguer elicits pity from reader/listener | If you don't pass me in this course, I will get kicked out of school and have to flip burgers the rest of my life. |
DIRECT APPEAL TO THE PEOPLE | Arguer arouses mob mentality | The terrorists came from the middle east. Our only course of action is to turn it into a parking lot. |
INDIRECT APPEAL TO THE PEOPLE | Arguer appeals to the reader/listener's desire for security, love, respect, etc. | Of course you want to read my book, it's what all the intellectuals read. |
ABUSIVE ARGUMENT AGAINST THE PERSON ( ) | Arguer verbally abuses the other arguer | You're a moron; therefore your point is invalid. |
CIRCUMSTANTIAL ARGUMENT AGAINST THE PERSON ( ) | Arguer presents the other arguer as predisposed to argue in this way | Of course you'd say I need braces; you're a dentist. (Anyone may be able to note I need braces.) |
CONSISTENCY ARGUMENT AGAINST THE PERSON ( ) | Arguer presents other arguer as a hypocrite | How can you tell me not to drink and drive when you did it last weekend? (Note: don't drink and drive.) |
ACCIDENT | General rule is applied to a specific case it was not intended to cover | Americans are entitled to freedom of speech, so you cannot arrest him for yelling "fire" in the theater. (Note: don't yell "fire" in the theater.) |
STRAW MAN | Arguer distorts opponent's argument and then attacks the distorted argument | Our campus is "dry" and doesn't allow alcohol. Obviously the administration is composed of a bunch of puritans who don't speak for the majority and can be ignored. |
MISSING THE POINT | Arguer draws conclusion different from that supported by the premises | College education costs are rising exponentially; therefore we should reduce the number of years needed to obtain a degree. |
RED HERRING | Arguer leads reader/listener off track | People continually talk about the negative effects of tobacco, but did you know that the Native Americans used to smoke tobacco? Many Native American folk remedies are still used today in holistic medicine. |
APPEAL TO UNQUALIFIED AUTHORITY | Arguer cites untrustworthy authority | My sixteen year old cousin Billy said that there was no moon landing, and he wants to be an astronaut, so it must be true. |
APPEAL TO IGNORANCE | Premises report that nothing is known or proved, and then a conclusion is drawn | There is no way of disproving the existence of God, therefore he exists. Or, conversely: There is no way of proving the existence of God, therefore he doesn't exist. |
HASTY GENERALIZATION | Conclusion is drawn from atypical sample | Mrs. Dobson's Rottweiler bit a neighbor boy; therefore all Rottweilers are violent dogs. |
FALSE CAUSE | Conclusion depends on nonexistent or minor causal connection | Every time I change the channel, my sports team scores. Therefore, any time I want my team to score, I need only change the channel |
SLIPPERY SLOPE | Conclusion depends on unlikely chain reaction | If Americans' rights to bear arms is taken away, foreigners will view the country as weak and disarmed and attack, easily crushing our crippled defenses and enslaving our nation to submit to their will and whim. |
WEAK ANALOGY | Conclusion depends on defective analogy | My cousin Billy is just like Yao Ming, he is tall and loves basketball; therefore he will be a pro ball player just like Yao Ming. |
BEGGING THE QUESTION | Arguer creates the illusion that inadequate premises are adequate by leaving out key premises, by restating the conclusion as a premise, or by reasoning in a circle | Of course animals have rights, just look at how they're being treated. |
COMPLEX QUESTION | Multiple questions are concealed in a single question | Have you stopped sleeping with your secretary? |
FALSE DICHOTOMY | "Either/or" statement that hides additional alternatives | Either you buy Axe body spray or you risk not attracting the ladies. Obviously you want to attract the ladies, so you will buy Axe body spray. |
SUPPRESSED EVIDENCE | Arguer ignores important evidence that requires a different conclusion | Of course that child can't practice medicine, he is only a boy. (If said child is Doogie Howser.) |
EQUIVOCATION | Conclusion depends on a shift in meaning of a word of phrase | A squirrel is a mammal; therefore a large squirrel is a large mammal. |
AMPHIBOLY | Conclusion depends on the wrong interpretation of a syntactically ambiguous statement | John rode his bike past the tree with a helmet. (The tree has a helmet?) |
COMPOSITION | Attribute is wrongly transferred from parts to whole | Bleach and ammonia individually are strong chemical cleaners; therefore if I mix them I will have a stronger chemical cleaner. (This produces various lethal gases, which would be foolish to do) |
DIVISION | Attribute is wrongly transferred from whole to parts | Our campus is over one hundred years old; therefore every building on campus is over one hundred years old. |
← Oral Presentations · Grammar and Mechanics →
A place for English teachers to share ideas and lessons and to brainstorm and collaborate on all things related to English Language Arts.
High school English teachers often tell their students that using rhetorical questions in their formal essays is ineffective and a waste of space.
But how or when is a rhetorical question in an academic essay effective? And how does one use a rhetorical questions effectively?
Stack Exchange network consists of 183 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow , the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers.
Q&A for work
Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search.
The author in this model essay never answers or presents counterarguments to his many rhetorical questions. So why would the author choose to conclude a paragraph and write this essay in the form of questions? By allowing, inviting, and 'opening up' to counterarguments, counterclaims, and rebuttals, don't questions weaken or worsen an argumentative essay?
In asking a question in this manner, the author uses (or tries to use!) rhetorical questions . The author does not expect a response - indeed, such a response is not possible, because the responder has way to insert himself or herself into the piece. These questions are not meant for "allowing, inviting, and 'opening up' to counterarguments." It appears the author's intent is to ask questions that (to the author) have obvious answers in a way to engage the reader more.
Rather than looking at an artificial, bad example, it would be more helpful to look at a canonical good example: the speech given by the Corcyrean Envoy at Sparta prior as told by Thucydides . In the opening of the speech, the envoy effectively makes use of several rhetorical questions.
In the piece you're referring to, I see four questions. The two in the first paragraph aren't rhetorical questions. The second question there is a clarification of the first, and the first is setting up an ostensibly stronger claim than the claim to be proved, on the idea that if you prove the stronger claim, you thereby prove the weaker claim as well. It's not a rhetorical question because the writer proceeds to attempt to answer the question. Similarly with the question in the third paragraph: the writer raises this question as a possible objection to the argument he's presenting, and proceeds to answer the question to rebut that possible objection. The question at the end of the second paragraph is the only rhetorical question in the piece. Rhetorical questions are questions that are not intended to be answered (and that the writer doesn't proceed to try to answer). They pose a question with a seemingly obvious answer in order to use that implied answer as a step in their argument. They can be effective argumentative tactics in persuasive writing in general, but I always discouraged them when teaching philosophical writing because the gold-standard of clarity in an argument is having all the premises of an argument stated explicitly. Dan Dennett advises to always try answering rhetorical questions (similar to his advice to always have a "ding" go off in your mind when you come across the words "of course," "obviously," etc. in an argument), to guard against arguments sneaking in unquestioned assumptions.
How might you distinguish one from a human-composed counterpart? After analyzing dozens, Elizabeth Steere lists some key predictable features.
By Elizabeth Steere
You have / 5 articles left. Sign up for a free account or log in.
baona /iStock/Getty images Plus
Since OpenAI launched ChatGPT in 2022, educators have been grappling with the problem of how to recognize and address AI-generated writing. The host of AI-detection tools that have emerged over the past year vary greatly in their capabilities and reliability. For example, mere months after OpenAI launched its own AI detector, the company shut it down due to its low accuracy rate.
Understandably, students have expressed concerns over the possibility of their work receiving false positives as AI-generated content. Some institutions have disabled Turnitin’s AI-detection feature due to concerns over potential false allegations of AI plagiarism that may disproportionately affect English-language learners . At the same time, tools that rephrase AI writing—such as text spinners, text inflators or text “humanizers”—can effectively disguise AI-generated text from detection. There are even tools that mimic human typing to conceal AI use in a document’s metadata.
While the capabilities of large language models such as ChatGPT are impressive, they are also limited, as they strongly adhere to specific formulas and phrasing . Turnitin’s website explains that its AI-detection tool relies on the fact that “GPT-3 and ChatGPT tend to generate the next word in a sequence of words in a consistent and highly probable fashion.” I am not a computer programmer or statistician, but I have noticed certain attributes in text that point to the probable involvement of AI, and in February, I collected and quantified some of those characteristics in hopes to better recognize AI essays and to share those characteristics with students and other faculty members.
I asked ChatGPT 3.5 and the generative AI tool included in the free version of Grammarly each to generate more than 50 analytical essays on early American literature, using texts and prompts from classes I have taught over the past decade. I took note of the characteristics of AI essays that differentiated them from what I have come to expect from their human-composed counterparts. Here are some of the key features I noticed.
AI essays tend to get straight to the point. Human-written work often gradually leads up to its topic, offering personal anecdotes, definitions or rhetorical questions before getting to the topic at hand.
AI-generated essays are often list-like. They may feature numbered body paragraphs or multiple headings and subheadings.
The paragraphs of AI-generated essays also often begin with formulaic transitional phrases. As an example, here are the first words of each paragraph in one essay that ChatGPT produced:
Notably, AI-generated essays were far more likely than human-written essays to begin paragraphs with “Furthermore,” “Moreover” and “Overall.”
AI-generated work is often banal. It does not break new ground or demonstrate originality; its assertions sound familiar.
AI-generated text tends to remain in the third person. That’s the case even when asked a reader response–style question. For example, when I asked ChatGPT what it personally found intriguing, meaningful or resonant about one of Edgar Allan Poe’s poems, it produced six paragraphs, but the pronoun “I” was included only once. The rest of the text described the poem’s atmosphere, themes and use of language in dispassionate prose. Grammarly prefaced its answer with “I’m sorry, but I cannot have preferences as I am an AI-powered assistant and do not have emotions or personal opinions,” followed by similarly clinical observations about the text.
AI-produced text tends to discuss “readers” being “challenged” to “confront” ideologies or being “invited” to “reflect” on key topics. In contrast, I have found that human-written text tends to focus on hypothetically what “the reader” might “see,” “feel” or “learn.”
AI-generated essays are often confidently wrong. Human writing is more prone to hedging, using phrases like “I think,” “I feel,” “this might mean …” or “this could be a symbol of …” and so on.
AI-generated essays are often repetitive. An essay that ChatGPT produced on the setting of Rebecca Harding Davis’s short story “Life in the Iron Mills” contained the following assertions among its five brief paragraphs: “The setting serves as a powerful symbol,” “the industrial town itself serves as a central aspect of the setting,” “the roar of furnaces serve as a constant reminder of the relentless pace of industrial production,” “the setting serves as a catalyst for the characters’ struggles and aspirations,” “the setting serves as a microcosm of the larger societal issues of the time,” and “the setting … serves as a powerful symbol of the dehumanizing effects of industrialization.”
AI writing is often hyperbolic or overreaching. The quotes above describe a “powerful symbol,” for example. AI essays frequently describe even the most mundane topics as “groundbreaking,” “vital,” “esteemed,” “invaluable,” “indelible,” “essential,” “poignant” or “profound.”
AI-produced texts frequently use metaphors, sometimes awkwardly. ChatGPT produced several essays that compared writing to “weaving” a “rich” or “intricate tapestry” or “painting” a “vivid picture.”
AI-generated essays tend to overexplain. They often use appositives to define people or terms, as in “Margaret Fuller, a pioneering feminist and transcendentalist thinker, explored themes such as individualism, self-reliance and the search for meaning in her writings …”
AI-generated academic writing often employs certain verbs. They include “delve,” “shed light,” “highlight,” “illuminate,” “underscore,” “showcase,” “embody,” “transcend,” “navigate,” “foster,” “grapple,” “strive,” “intertwine,” “espouse” and “endeavor.”
AI-generated essays tend to end with a sweeping broad-scale statement. They talk about “the human condition,” “American society,” “the search for meaning” or “the resilience of the human spirit.” Texts are often described as a “testament to” variations on these concepts.
AI-generated writing often invents sources. ChatGPT can compose a “research paper” using MLA-style in-text parenthetical citations and Works Cited entries that look correct and convincing, but the supposed sources are often nonexistent. In my experiment, ChatGPT referenced a purported article titled “Poe, ‘The Fall of the House of Usher,’ and the Gothic’s Creation of the Unconscious,” which it claimed was published in PMLA , vol. 96, no. 5, 1981, pp. 900–908. The author cited was an actual Poe scholar, but this particular article does not appear on his CV, and while volume 96, number 5 of PMLA did appear in 1981, the pages cited in that issue of PMLA actually span two articles: one on Frankenstein and one on lyric poetry.
AI-generated essays include hallucinations. Ted Chiang’s article on this phenomenon offers a useful explanation for why large language models such as ChatGPT generate fabricated facts and incorrect assertions. My AI-generated essays included references to nonexistent events, characters and quotes. For example, ChatGPT attributed the dubious quote “Half invoked, half spontaneous, full of ill-concealed enthusiasms, her wild heart lay out there” to a lesser-known short story by Herman Melville, yet nothing resembling that quote appears in the actual text. More hallucinations were evident when AI was generating text about less canonical or more recently published literary texts.
This is not an exhaustive list, and I know that AI-generated text in other formats or relating to other fields probably features different patterns and tendencies . I also used only very basic prompts and did not delineate many specific parameters for the output beyond the topic and the format of an essay.
It is also important to remember that the attributes I’ve described are not exclusive to AI-generated texts. In fact, I noticed that the phrase “It is important to … [note/understand/consider]” was a frequent sentence starter in AI-generated work, but, as evidenced in the previous sentence, humans use these constructions, too. After all, large language models train on human-generated text.
And none of these characteristics alone definitively point to a text having been created by AI. Unless a text begins with the phrase “As an AI language model,” it can be difficult to say whether it was entirely or partially generated by AI. Thus, if the nature of a student submission suggests AI involvement, my first course of action is always to reach out to the student themselves for more information. I try to bear in mind that this is a new technology for both students and instructors, and we are all still working to adapt accordingly.
Students may have received mixed messages on what degree or type of AI use is considered acceptable. Since AI is also now integrated into tools their institutions or instructors have encouraged them to use—such as Grammarly , Microsoft Word or Google Docs —the boundaries of how they should use technology to augment human writing may be especially unclear. Students may turn to AI because they lack confidence in their own writing abilities. Ultimately, however, I hope that by discussing the limits and the predictability of AI-generated prose, we can encourage them to embrace and celebrate their unique writerly voices.
Elizabeth Steere is a lecturer in English at the University of North Georgia.
The embattled Federal Student Aid office enlisted executives from the nonprofit to help launch next year’s aid form.
More from teaching.
Our students have been drifting away, Helen Kapstein writes, but we want them to drift back to the mindset of being c
Alex Rockey recommends eight principles for transforming academic access for them through mobile-friendly courses.
Michel Estefan offers a roadmap for helping graduate student instructors cultivate their distinct teaching style.
4 /5 Articles remaining this month.
IMAGES
VIDEO
COMMENTS
This question does not seek an answer because it aims to make readers feel that the world would be dreary without art. #2. Evoke Emotions. Your writing is considered genuinely effective when you trigger an emotional response and strike a chord with the reader.
What is a rhetorical question? These rhetorical question examples show they can have an obvious answer or none at all. They make a point or make you think.
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 ...
How to Write a Rhetorical Analysis Essay in 6 Steps. Written by MasterClass. Last updated: Sep 2, 2021 • 3 min read. In a rhetorical analysis essay, a writer will examine the rhetoric and style of another author's work. If you want to write your own rhetorical analysis essay, we've developed a step-by-step guide to lead you through the ...
Generally, a rhetorical essay focuses on persuasive texts. The authors of these texts always employ common devices and approaches to convince their audience. That's why the basis of any rhetorical essay is dissecting rhetorical analysis strategies that the author applied. There are three main strategies used in rhetoric: Ethos. Ethos refers ...
Rhetorical Analysis Sample Essay. Harriet Clark. Ms. Rebecca Winter. CWC 101. 13 Feb. 2015. Not Quite a Clean Sweep: Rhetorical Strategies in. Grose's "Cleaning: The Final Feminist Frontier". A woman's work is never done: many American women grow up with this saying and feel it to be true. 1 One such woman, author Jessica Grose, wrote ...
Here are nine strategies that can be fulfilled (often in combination) with a carefully crafted rhetorical question: 1. Engage the audience to think with a rhetorical question. The most popular use of a rhetorical question is to engage your audience to think. If your entire speech is a series of statements, your audience may passively listen and ...
Definition, Examples, and Importance. Politicians deliver rallying cries to inspire people to act. Advertisers create catchy slogans to get people to buy products. Lawyers present emotional arguments to sway a jury. These are all examples of rhetoric—language designed to motivate, persuade, or inform.
A strong thesis statement for a rhetorical analysis is NOT… A broad, simple statement of your topic A statement of facts or statistics A summary of the author's essay you are analyzing A statement of what you're going to do in the essay Examples of weak rhetorical analysis thesis statements:
These are just a few examples of what these appeals look like. When you begin to form your analysis, sometimes it can be beneficial to start with some prewriting activities. You can think of your rhetorical analysis as a culmination of three goals you should achieve: Discussion of the goal or purpose of the piece you are analyzing
Read on for a sample of each, as well as tips for how to answer them. AP English Language and Composition: Sample Rhetorical Analysis Question. Read the following passage published back in 1967 by The New York Times. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the structure of the passage and the use of language help convey the writer's views.
Asking questions in order to chide, to express grief, or to inveigh. Stirring others by one's own vehement feeling (sometimes by means of a rhetorical question). The asking of multiple questions successively (which would together require a complex reply). Reasoning (typically with oneself) by asking questions.
Sample Rhetorical Analysis Essay. Student essay is used with permission. It was originally submitted double-spaced with no extra spaces between the lines, featured proper MLA pagination, and 1/2″ paragraph indents. The writing assignment asks for an argument about how several rhetorical elements work together to create a functioning whole in ...
What is the form in which it is conveyed? What is the structure of the communication; how is it arranged? What oral or literary genre is it following? What figures of speech (schemes and tropes) are used? What kind of style and tone is used and for what purpose?
A rhetorical analysis is one of the more challenging assignments in any writing class. Students often confuse a rhetorical analysis with a review because both assignments work to analyze a text. However, a rhetorical analysis reserves judgment on whether they agree/disagree with the topic presented. A review, of course, invites the reviewer to ...
Essay # 1: Rhetorical Analysis of a Speech. Length: 1000-2500 words (please single space). Task:. Using Roberts-Miller, Selzer, and Campbell as guides (and also as professional rhetorical sources to quote when needed), write an essay that rhetorically analyzes and criticizes (evaluates) one of the following speeches: Ted Kennedy's ...
The best rhetorical questions help the writer transition through the line of reasoning, especially when writing something more complex than the dreaded five-paragraph-essay. For example: an essay about why I love Disney world that resets each body paragraph to discuss a new aspect of WDW shows no line of reasoning.
1. In asking a question in this manner, the author uses (or tries to use!) rhetorical questions. The author does not expect a response - indeed, such a response is not possible, because the responder has way to insert himself or herself into the piece. These questions are not meant for "allowing, inviting, and 'opening up' to counterarguments."
To help you choose the best topic, explore these 40 unique rhetorical analysis essay topics covering media, movies, speeches, and literature. ... You can also explore pathos, logos and ethos along with rhetorical question examples. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Random Word Learn a new word now! Get a Random Word ...
Argumentative,Essay,Introduction, The$introduction$to$an$argumentative$essay$should$have$three$parts:$the$hook,$an$explanation$of$ the$issue,$and$a$clearly$stated ...
Hints for Rhetorical Analysis Essay Writing: 1. Rhetorical analysis moves beyond merely listing the devices or appeals used or stating how the purpose is crafted. Analysis moves into connecting strategies to purpose, occasion, audience, subject, and/or tone. Analysis involves reflecting on how the argument would be
Examples Of Rhetorical Questions In Night By Elie Wiesel. Faith Fading with Hope People look to God as the pinnacle of motivation, where people "find rest in God alone, [their] hope comes from him" (Scriptures). When severe calamity and hardships are presented to humans, their faith that their God will protect them weakens.
A statement may also be turned into a rhetorical question, often by adding a brief question such as "Are you?" or using an intonation more appropriate to a question. The first chapter of The ...
AI essays tend to get straight to the point. Human-written work often gradually leads up to its topic, offering personal anecdotes, definitions or rhetorical questions before getting to the topic at hand. AI-generated essays are often list-like. They may feature numbered body paragraphs or multiple headings and subheadings.