Rhetorical Analysis "People & Peace, Not Profits & War"

​When it comes time to write a rhetorical analysis essay, the first thing to do is craft a thesis statement. Your thesis statement must:

• make an argument about the choices the speaker makes and how they help her achieve her purpose

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You may end up changing your thesis statement as you go, but having an idea of your argument will help you stay focused.

​A thesis statement presents your topic to the reader and indicates how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter discussed in your essay. Think of it as a kind of road map, designed to help the reader know what to expect in the essay.

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Unlike other kinds of thesis statements, a rhetorical analysis thesis statement demands that you do three things:

1. Identify the rhetorical devices you will analyze in your essay

2. Identify the impact of those devices of the effectiveness of the text

3. Identify the author, genre, and name of the text

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​In Shirley Chisholm’s 1969 speech to Congress, the young congresswoman establishes her credibility, makes a clear connection between cause and effect, and focuses on the human costs of government policy to argue for the necessity of making people and peace America’s first priority.

​Template: In her adverb/adjective, adverb/adjective name of genre and other identifying information such as the date the document was written, writer’s name adverb active verb and adverb active verb name of reader or intended audience through the use of describe or name rhetorical techniques you will focus on to describe to the writer’s purpose.

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Template filled in: In her indignantly critical and cleverly crafted speech given to the National Association for Women’s Suffrage, Florence Kelley clearly articulates and emotionally persuades her audience through the use of parallelism and inclusive language to advocate for changes to child labor laws.

Your Thesis is a Superclaim​

• There is a direct, observable relationship between thesis statements and topic sentences (claim sentences) -- a relationship this exercise will ideally make very clear for you.

• The order of ideas in your thesis is the order of ideas in your paper.  Your thesis is a compilation of all of your major ideas. 

• To put it another way, a highly oversimplified version of a thesis may read something like this: THESIS: In order to achieve goal X, My Author uses tactic A, tactic B, and tactic C.

• Topic Sentence #1: First, in order to achieve goal X, my author uses tactic A.

• Topic Sentence #2: Next, to achieve goal X, my author uses tactic B.

• Topic Sentence #3: Finally, my author uses tactic C to accomplish his/her goals.