Rhetorical Analysis How-To
Step #1: Annotate The Prompt-SPACE
Do this step as you read the prompt information at the top of your page (before you even start
reading the passage) Create a chart for yourself in the margins and add to it as you read the
passage.
● SPACE
- Speaker: Who is the source creating the message? What do we know about them and how
does that help us understand the point of view expressed in the text?
- Purpose: What is the author/source hoping to accomplish through this text? What do they
want the audience to do after having listened?
- Audience: Who is the intended audience? Do they indicate a specific audience? is it
implied? What assumptions exist in the text about the intended audience?
- Context: What is the time and place of this piece? What is happening in the world as it
relates to the subject of the speech or the author/source?
- Exigence: Why now? What sparked this message at this specific time? What is prompting
the author/source to speak on this issue?
Step #2: Annotate The Passage- CAT
Identify Devices → Connect to SPACE→ Find Patterns/Overlap→ Think deeper about big
picture choices!
Step #3: Create a Thesis
● Choose the three most important/purposeful Choices that the author uses to persuade the
audience– the ones you choose should have connections to SPACE
● Draft a Thesis Statement: Author (Choice #1 phrased as an action) and (Choice #2
phrased as an action) to (complex and nuanced purpose)
● The strongest thesis statements phrased their rhetorical choices as VERBS- Active
choices the author is making rather than devices/terms.
- Instead of saying “the author uses repetition”, say “the author repeats ideas of ____”
- Instead of saying “the author uses juxtaposition”, say “the author juxtaposes ________
and ___________.
● Make sure you have a connection to a deeper, complex purpose! Don’t just stick with “to
convey her message to the audience” or “to inspire” - to inspire whom? And towards
what?
Step #1: Annotate The Prompt-SPACE
Do this step as you read the prompt information at the top of your page (before you even start
reading the passage) Create a chart for yourself in the margins and add to it as you read the
passage.
● SPACE
- Speaker: Who is the source creating the message? What do we know about them and how
does that help us understand the point of view expressed in the text?
- Purpose: What is the author/source hoping to accomplish through this text? What do they
want the audience to do after having listened?
- Audience: Who is the intended audience? Do they indicate a specific audience? is it
implied? What assumptions exist in the text about the intended audience?
- Context: What is the time and place of this piece? What is happening in the world as it
relates to the subject of the speech or the author/source?
- Exigence: Why now? What sparked this message at this specific time? What is prompting
the author/source to speak on this issue?
Step #2: Annotate The Passage- CAT
Identify Devices → Connect to SPACE→ Find Patterns/Overlap→ Think deeper about big
picture choices!
Step #3: Create a Thesis
● Choose the three most important/purposeful Choices that the author uses to persuade the
audience– the ones you choose should have connections to SPACE
● Draft a Thesis Statement: Author (Choice #1 phrased as an action) and (Choice #2
phrased as an action) to (complex and nuanced purpose)
● The strongest thesis statements phrased their rhetorical choices as VERBS- Active
choices the author is making rather than devices/terms.
- Instead of saying “the author uses repetition”, say “the author repeats ideas of ____”
- Instead of saying “the author uses juxtaposition”, say “the author juxtaposes ________
and ___________.
● Make sure you have a connection to a deeper, complex purpose! Don’t just stick with “to
convey her message to the audience” or “to inspire” - to inspire whom? And towards
what?
