Rhetorical Analysis, Analysis
Rhetorical analysis is the process of identifying the three main aspects of a message. Those three aspects would be the writer or speaker, message, and reader. What rhetorical analysis does is it shows how these “triangle legs” are connected and helps to illustrate more clearly what strategies are used to connect each of these legs.
I have written rhetorical analysis pieces about two selections of writing. One being about a children’s book called, Iggy Peck Architect. This book was about a child who has their dreams suppressed by a teacher, later his dreams come in handy when his class get into a bit of a sticky situation. Next I wrote a rhetorical analysis about an apartment tour written by a popular interior design website called Apartment Therapy.
My first rhetorical analysis about Iggy Peck Architect is as follows:The audience of this piece is clearly children and specifically children who have big dreams. Next, the message of this is to show children that is is okay to dream big and to follow their dreams despite some tribulations. Lastly the writer is someone who wants to educate children of this important message.
The way this writing appeals to children is by adding illustrations that draws children to read or pay attention to that book. The way the writing developed the message is by giving trials to the main character in which the main character overcomes the trial. Finally, the way the writer develops the message and and makes it appealing to children is by using lots of rhymes and also used simple words to make it easier to understand.
My second rhetorical analysis piece about the apartment tour goes as follows: The way this writer writes this piece creates a sense of closeness and friendship. This feeling is created from referencing the audience and by connecting this piece back to a previous piece about this space, as well as saying how she was invited in to their home. When reading this it gave me a cozy feeling of being welcomed. The organization of this piece is not nearly as good as the one we read previously. This piece has three places to open the slideshow partway down the page after the information about the space and dividing the writing writing. I much prefer the layout where the slide show was at the beginning and part of the top banner then the information about the apartment then the writing. This writing is exploding with adjectives glorifying the space. Some examples would be: beautiful, lovely, calming, etc… By adding these powerful adjectives it sort of tells the reader how to feel before looking at the slideshow.
Rhetorical analysis has helped me greatly as a writer. One way it has helped me is by showing me how to cater my writing to a specific audience, rather than writing for a very wide audience. I have learned that it is important to know your target audience before writing. Another thing I learned this time as a reader was to know who the writer is, or at least about the source of the writing. By doing this it helps to better understand the message.
Overall, rhetorical analysis is an important exercise to do as both a reader and a writer. It helps one to better understand both sides of the spectrum, and ultimately better understand the message.
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