MWP 3: Rhetorical Analysis Eve Babitz and Joan Didion

Your name

Date

I.Instructions:

Write a rhetorical analysis of “Expensive Regrets” and Miami.

The goal of a rhetorical analysis is to explain what is happening in the text,

Why the author might have chosen to use a particular move or set of rhetorical moves

Use two to three quotes per paragraph to support your analysis of the story.

Quotes can be from the text or from the outside sources

Be sure to explain the quotes and to relate each paragraph back to the thesis statement.

A.In your paper you must answer the following:

1.Does the author successfully support the thesis or claim? Is the point held consistently throughout the text, or does it wander at any point?

2.Is the evidence the author used effective for the intended audience? (Logos) How might the intended audience respond to the types of evidence that the author used to support the thesis/claim?

3.What rhetorical moves (appeals) do you see the author making to help achieve his or her purpose? Are there word choices or content choices that seem to you to be clearly related to the author’s agenda for the text?

4.Describe the tone in the piece. Is it friendly? Authoritative? Does it lecture? Is it biting or sarcastic? Does the author use simple language, or is it full of jargon? Does the language feel positive or negative? Point to aspects of the text that create the tone; spend some time examining these and considering how and why they work. (Learn more about tone in Section 4.5 “Tone, Voice, and Point of View.”)

5.Is the author objective, or does he or she try to convince you to have a certain opinion? Why does the author try to persuade you to adopt this viewpoint? If the author is biased, does this interfere with the way you read and understand the text?

6.Do you feel like the author knows who you are? Does the text seem to be aimed at readers like you or at a different audience? What assumptions does the author make about their audience? Would most people find these reasonable, acceptable, or accurate?

7.Does the text’s flow make sense? Is the line of reasoning logical? Are there any gaps? Are there any spots where you feel the reasoning is flawed in some way?

8.Does the author try to appeal to your emotions? Does the author use any controversial words in the headline or the article? Do these affect your reading or your interest?

9.Do you believe the author? Do you accept their thoughts and ideas? Why or why not?

Basically, you are comparing and contrasting the two writers and using outside sources and the text to support your analysis of the author’s work.

10. Answer who was the more effective writer and why. Mention the sentence style, style of writing and include a mention of rhetorical appeals

https://pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu/csu-fyw-rhetoric/chapter/what-is-rhetorical-analysis/