Finding what the writer wants the reader to understand

Choosing a side and convincing your audience to agree with your position

To entertain your audience with your wit

To summarize the text for your audience

The author's motivation

The intended audience

The language used

The rhetorical appeals used

figurative

connotative

syntax/sentence structure

imagery

Facts

Descriptions and details

Experts

Hypothetical scenarios

Offers the reader evidence that he/she is credible or ethical

Offers the reader logical ideas and then develops those ideas with reasoning

Draws on the reader's emotions so they will be sympathetic to his/her cause

Offers the reader evidence that he/she is credible or ethical

Offers the reader logical ideas and then develops those ideas with reasoning

Draws on the reader's emotions so they will be sympathetic to his/her cause

Offers the reader evidence that he/she is credible or ethical

Offers the reader logical ideas and then develops those ideas with reasoning

Draws on the reader's emotions so they will be sympathetic to his/her cause