Overview
Write a 4-5-page rhetorical analysis (analysis of the argument) of a speech from the list provided. The speaker can cover any topic you’d like; the only requirements are that the speech is at least 7 minutes long and you are able to access both the video and the written transcript. You will need to complete two different tasks: (1) summarize the speaker’s argument and (2) explain how the speaker’s argument is put together.
https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts
Specifics
In the summary section, you will need to first introduce the speech you will be analyzing. Then you will summarize what the speaker argues, noting the central claims and key evidence.
The analysis section of the paper should take up the majority of the 4-5 pages. Here you are trying to analyze and explain how the argument was put together (which rhetorical strategies it uses). How are those strategies meant to impact the audience? In other words, how do the strategies attempt to influence the audience’s thoughts and feelings? How do the strategies relate to and support the overall argument?
You will need a thesis that identifies the argumentative strategies you will discuss. Here is a sample thesis: "The speaker’s argument is mainly dependent on emotional appeals, and she/he uses detailed description and narration to support those emotional appeals." For this thesis, you would then need to go on and give examples of different emotional appeals that use description and narration from the speech.
You need to decide which aspects of the argumentative strategy you want to focus on. You should focus on the strategies that are most interesting or obvious to you, or that you think are most important to the success of the argument. You should explain the speaker’s use of the following rhetorical strategies and concepts:
· The speaker’s use of emotional appeals (pathos)
· How the speaker establishes his or her credibility (ethos)
· How the text’s appeal to logic works (logos)
· The timeliness of the remarks (Kairos)
