Rhetorical Analysis questions Template

I 

What is the rhetorical situation?

1. What is the historical occasion that would give rise to the composition of this text?

II 

Who is the author/speaker?

1. How does he or she establish ethos (personal credibility)?
2. Does he/she come across as knowledgeable? fair?
3. Does the speaker's reputation convey a certain authority?

III 

What is his/her intention in speaking?

1. To attack or defend?
2. To praise or blame?
3. To teach, explain, or to persuade?

IV 

Who make up the audience?

1. Who is the intended audience?
2. What values does the audience hold that the author or speaker appeals to?

V 

What is the content of the message?

1. Summarize the main idea.
2. What are the principal lines of reasoning or kinds of arguments used?
3. How does the author or speaker appeal to reason? to emotion?

VI 

What is the form in which it is conveyed?

1. What is the structure of the communication; how is it arranged?
2. What kind of style and tone is used and for what purpose?

VI 

Does the message/speech/text succeed in fulfilling the author's or speaker's intentions?

1. For whom?
2. Does the author/speaker effectively fit his/her message to the circumstances, times, and audience?

VII 

What does the nature of the communication reveal about the values of the writer who produced it?

1. What kinds of values or customs would the people have that would produce this?