TL;DR

A rhetorical analysis isn't about what the author says — it's about how and why they say it
Use the SOAPSTone method to break down any text before you start writing: Speaker, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, Subject, Tone
Focus on ethos (credibility), pathos (emotion), and logos (logic) — but don't just identify them; explain why they work
Every body paragraph should follow the claim → evidence → analysis structure
The most common mistake is summarizing the text instead of analyzing the author's strategies
Your thesis should name the specific strategies the author uses and explain their overall effect

What Is a Rhetorical Analysis (And Why Does It Feel So Confusing)?

If you're staring at a rhetorical analysis assignment thinking, "I genuinely don't understand what you want from me," you're not alone. This is one of the most misunderstood essay types in college and AP English.

Here's the confusion: in most essays, you're asked what you think about a topic. In a rhetorical analysis, you're asked to examine how someone else communicates their ideas. You're not arguing for or against the author's position. You're dissecting their strategy.

Think of it like being a sports commentator instead of a player. You're not scoring goals — you're explaining how someone scored and why their approach worked (or didn't).

The key question a rhetorical analysis answers: What techniques does the author use to persuade, inform, or engage their audience, and how effective are those techniques?

Step 1: Read the Text Like an Analyst, Not a Student

Most students read a text once, think "okay, I get what they're saying," and jump straight to writing. That's how you end up with a summary instead of an analysis.

You need to read the text at least twice:

First Read: Understand the Content

What is the author's main argument or message?
What's the context — when and where was this written?
Who is the intended audience?

Second Read: Identify the Strategies

This is where the real work happens. On your second read, annotate for:

Language choices — What words stand out? Are they emotional? Technical? Casual?
Structure — How is the argument organized? What comes first and why?
Evidence — What types of evidence does the author use? Statistics? Anecdotes? Expert testimony?
Tone shifts — Does the tone change throughout the piece? Where and why?
Repetition — What phrases or ideas get repeated?
Appeals — Where do you see ethos, pathos, or logos at work?

Mark up the text. Highlight. Write in the margins. You can't analyze what you haven't noticed.

Step 2: Apply the SOAPSTone Method

SOAPSTone is the go-to framework for breaking down any rhetorical text. Before you write a single sentence of your essay, fill this out:

S — Speaker

Who is the author or speaker? What do you know about them? What credibility do they bring to this topic?

Example: Martin Luther King Jr., a Baptist minister and civil rights leader, speaking from the authority of both moral conviction and personal experience with racial injustice.

O — Occasion

What prompted this text? What events, social conditions, or controversies is the author responding to?

Example: Written from Birmingham City Jail in 1963, in response to a public statement by eight white clergymen who called the civil rights demonstrations "unwise and untimely."

A — Audience

Who is the intended audience? This is often more nuanced than "everyone."

Example: While addressed to the eight clergymen, the letter was also intended for moderate white Americans who sympathized with civil rights in theory but opposed direct action.

P — Purpose

What does the author want to achieve? Persuade? Inform? Call to action? Shame?

Example: To justify the strategy of nonviolent direct action and to challenge the idea that civil rights activists should "wait" for change.

S — Subject

What is the text about? Keep this concise.

Example: The moral justification for civil disobedience against unjust laws.

Tone

What is the author's attitude? Note that tone can shift throughout a piece. Use specific adjectives.

Example: Begins measured and respectful, shifts to passionate and urgent in the middle, and ends with a tone of hopeful determination.

Step 3: Understand the Three Appeals (Beyond Just Naming Them)

Here's where most students get a C instead of an A: they identify ethos, pathos, and logos, but they don't explain how they function in the text or why they're effective.

Ethos (Credibility)

Ethos is about the author establishing trust and authority. Look for:

Credentials — Does the author reference their expertise or experience?
Tone — Is the author fair-minded? Do they acknowledge the other side?
Shared values — Does the author align themselves with the audience's beliefs?
Concessions — Does the author admit limitations or counterpoints?

Weak analysis: "The author uses ethos by mentioning their experience."

Strong analysis: "By opening with a detailed account of her fifteen years as an emergency room physician, Dr. Torres establishes medical authority that gives weight to her subsequent policy recommendations. This ethos is reinforced by her willingness to acknowledge the limitations of her own perspective — she admits that her experience is concentrated in urban hospitals and may not reflect rural healthcare challenges. This concession paradoxically strengthens her credibility, positioning her as an honest expert rather than an ideologue."

See the difference? The strong version doesn't just identify the strategy — it explains the mechanism and effect.

Pathos (Emotion)

Pathos appeals to the audience's emotions. Look for:

Vivid imagery and descriptive language
Personal stories or anecdotes
Loaded or emotionally charged words
Appeals to shared fears, hopes, or values
Hypothetical scenarios ("Imagine if...")

Weak analysis: "The author uses pathos to make the reader feel sad."

Strong analysis: "The author's decision to describe the abandoned toys scattered across an empty living room — 'a stuffed bear with one eye missing, a coloring book open to a half-finished rainbow' — transforms an abstract statistic about child poverty into a visceral, individual tragedy. By anchoring the reader's emotional response in these specific, domestic details rather than citing a percentage, the author makes the issue feel personal and unavoidable."

Logos (Logic)

Logos appeals to reason and evidence. Look for:

Statistics and data
Logical reasoning and cause-effect relationships
Expert testimony and research citations
Analogies and comparisons
Structured arguments (if/then, because/therefore)

Weak analysis: "The author uses logos by including statistics."

Strong analysis: "The author strategically sequences her evidence from the local to the global, beginning with her county's 23% increase in opioid prescriptions before zooming out to national CDC data showing 70,000 overdose deaths annually. This telescoping structure makes the crisis feel simultaneously personal and systemic, preventing the audience from dismissing it as 'someone else's problem.' The logical progression — from individual prescriptions to community impact to national epidemic — mirrors the actual spread of the crisis itself."

Step 4: Build Your Thesis Statement

Your thesis is the roadmap for your entire essay. A strong rhetorical analysis thesis:

Names the author and text
Identifies the specific strategies you'll analyze
Explains the overall effect of those strategies

Thesis Formula

[Author] uses [strategy 1], [strategy 2], and [strategy 3] to [achieve purpose/effect] for [audience].

Examples

Weak thesis: "In her speech, the author uses rhetorical strategies to persuade the audience."

This says nothing. Which strategies? How? What audience?

Strong thesis: "In her 2019 UN address, Greta Thunberg leverages raw emotional appeals, accusatory repetition, and the deliberate rejection of diplomatic language to shame world leaders into treating climate change as an immediate crisis rather than a future concern."

Another strong thesis: "Through a combination of carefully curated statistical evidence, strategic concessions to opposing viewpoints, and emotionally resonant case studies, Nicholas Kristof transforms a complex economic policy debate into a moral imperative in his New York Times column."

Step 5: Structure Your Essay

Introduction

Context — Briefly introduce the text, author, and rhetorical situation (1–2 sentences)
Summary — A one-sentence summary of the text's main argument (don't overdo this)
Thesis — Your analysis claim naming specific strategies and their effect

Body Paragraphs (Claim → Evidence → Analysis)

Each body paragraph should focus on one rhetorical strategy. Use the CEA structure:

Claim: State the strategy the author uses.

"Thunberg repeatedly uses accusatory language directed at her audience of world leaders."

Evidence: Quote or describe a specific moment from the text.

"She states, 'You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words,' and later repeats, 'How dare you,' four times in succession."

Analysis: Explain how and why this strategy works on the audience.

"The repetition of 'how dare you' functions as more than emphasis — it inverts the typical power dynamic between a teenager and global leaders, transforming what might be dismissed as youthful idealism into a moral indictment. By framing world leaders as the ones who should feel ashamed, Thunberg rejects the deferential tone expected of a sixteen-year-old speaker, which makes her message impossible to ignore or patronize."

How Many Body Paragraphs?

Short essay (2–3 pages): 2–3 body paragraphs, each covering one strategy
Medium essay (4–6 pages): 3–4 body paragraphs, potentially grouping related strategies
Long essay (7+ pages): 4–6 body paragraphs with deeper analysis of each strategy

Conclusion

Don't just restate your thesis
Zoom out: Why does this analysis matter? What does it reveal about rhetoric, the topic, or the author?
You can comment on the overall effectiveness of the author's approach
Consider: What would the text lose if these strategies were absent?

The Five Biggest Rhetorical Analysis Mistakes

Mistake 1: Summarizing Instead of Analyzing

Summary: "The author talks about how climate change affects polar bears and then discusses rising sea levels."

Analysis: "By opening with the image of a solitary polar bear on a shrinking ice floe before transitioning to data about rising sea levels, the author moves from emotional appeal to logical evidence — first making the reader feel the crisis, then making them understand it."

If you're explaining what the author says, you're summarizing. If you're explaining how and why the author says it, you're analyzing.

Mistake 2: Listing Rhetorical Devices Like a Grocery Receipt

"The author uses metaphor. The author also uses alliteration. Additionally, the author employs anaphora."

Nobody cares that you can name literary devices. Your professor wants to know why the author chose that device and what effect it has on the audience.

Mistake 3: Confusing Your Opinion With Analysis

A rhetorical analysis is not an opinion piece. You're not arguing whether the author is right or wrong — you're examining whether their strategies are effective.

Not rhetorical analysis: "I disagree with the author's stance on gun control."

Rhetorical analysis: "The author's reliance on emotional appeals without supporting data may weaken her argument for readers who prioritize evidence-based reasoning."

Mistake 4: Using Vague Language

Words like "good," "effective," "interesting," and "nice" add nothing to your analysis. Be specific:

Instead of "effective," say how it's effective: "This creates urgency" or "This undermines the counterargument"
Instead of "interesting," explain why: "This choice is notable because it subverts the audience's expectations"

Mistake 5: Ignoring the Audience

Rhetorical strategies don't exist in a vacuum — they're designed for a specific audience. Your analysis should consider who the author is trying to reach and how their strategies would land with that particular group.

Rhetorical Analysis vs. Other Essay Types

Feature	Rhetorical Analysis	Literary Analysis	Argumentative Essay
Focus	How the author persuades	Themes, symbols, literary devices	Your own argument on a topic
Your opinion	Not the focus	May include interpretation	Central to the essay
Evidence	Quotes showing strategies	Quotes showing literary elements	Research and data
Goal	Explain how rhetoric works	Interpret meaning	Convince the reader

Quick-Reference: Rhetorical Devices to Look For

Beyond the big three (ethos, pathos, logos), watch for these:

Device	What It Is	Example
Anaphora	Repeating a word/phrase at the start of successive clauses	"We shall fight... We shall fight... We shall fight..."
Antithesis	Placing contrasting ideas side by side	"Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country"
Juxtaposition	Placing two things close together for comparison	Describing wealth next to poverty
Rhetorical questions	Questions asked for effect, not answers	"How long must we wait?"
Understatement	Deliberately downplaying something	"The situation is not ideal" (about a disaster)
Hyperbole	Deliberate exaggeration	"I've told you a million times"
Allusion	Reference to another text, event, or figure	Comparing a leader to a historical figure
Parallelism	Similar grammatical structure in a series	"Government of the people, by the people, for the people"
Irony	Saying the opposite of what you mean	Praising someone's "brilliant" plan that obviously failed
Tone shifts	A deliberate change in attitude mid-text	Moving from calm to urgent

How Gradily Can Help With Your Rhetorical Analysis

Rhetorical analysis essays require a specific kind of thinking — and a specific kind of writing voice. Gradily can help you move from "I can spot the strategies but can't explain them" to a polished essay that sounds like you, not like a textbook.

Whether you're working on an AP English essay or a college rhetoric assignment, Gradily helps you draft analysis that's specific, insightful, and written in your own voice — because professors can spot generic analysis from a mile away.

Final Checklist Before You Submit

Your thesis names specific strategies and their overall effect
Every body paragraph follows claim → evidence → analysis
You're analyzing (how/why), not summarizing (what)
You've connected strategies to the specific audience
Your quotes are integrated into your sentences, not dropped in randomly
You've avoided vague words like "good," "effective," and "interesting" without explanation
Your conclusion goes beyond restating the thesis
You've proofread for grammar, citation format, and flow

A rhetorical analysis is hard the first time. By the third one, you'll start seeing rhetorical strategies everywhere — in ads, speeches, social media posts, even your roommate's excuses for not doing the dishes. That's the point. Once you understand how persuasion works, you're a sharper reader, writer, and thinker.

Editorial Standards