Rhetorical analysis essay

by | Oct 11, 2018 | Main

Rhetorical analysis essay
In this 1250 word rhetorical analysis essay you will closely examine and make interpretative claims about one or more of the texts by the following writers/speakers: Zinn, Baldwin, Morrison, Vongkiatkajorn, or Nussbaum. You will discuss not only the main ideas of the text(s) but also the techniques/tools (words, paragraphs, structure, evidence, etc) by which the writer has produced the text(s) to impact readers. The idea is to make this essay interesting to you AND your readers.
You’ll demonstrate that you understand content through summary and paraphrase. What does the text say? But beyond summary, you will read between the lines for clues and offer an interpretation of the text, and explain how the writer has constructed her/his text to impact readers (in other words, what does the text do?). Some questions you’ll ask and answer in this essay: What are the most important ideas of this essay? How are these ideas presented to readers? What textual and persuasive tools does the writer use in this essay? How does the writer inform, persuade, entertain, etc. the reader? Once you identify the techniques and strategies the writer has used to communicate the main ideas, you will explain to your reader why the writer uses these particular strategies to persuade readers.
To successfully do this analysis, you will need to re-read the text carefully, over and over. Look for evidence in particular words, phrases, tone, examples, and structure, and cite these sections as evidence to support your claims. Think about the rhetorical situation as you read, and have a clear understanding of it as you draft. Ask yourself: • Who is the writer (background and attitude; for background info you will need to find credible sources)? How does the writer’s identity/experience affect how she/he has constructed this text? • What is the writer’s purpose (to educate, to persuade? to call to action, to explain)? How does the writer’s purpose shape the text? • Who is the audience (intended and unintended)? What is their background and attitude? How do you know? How does the audience have an effect on the way the text is created? • What is the cultural and social context to which this text is responding? In other words, what/who is the text “talking” to?
Some textual strategies that you might consider include: Content: What are the main claims of the essay? What kind of evidence is used? How is the evidence used? Form: How is the information organized? Language/Style: Is it informal or slang? Complex or clear? Formal or technical? Idiomatic? Does the writer use personal pronouns? Repetition? What about sentence structure? Why does the writer choose to use this particular kind of language/style? The writer’s use of appeals. ethos (How does the writer earn readers’ trust and respect?) logos (How does the writer address readers’ rationality and sense of reason?) pathos (How does the writer stir readers’ emotions?) Kairos, or the particular setting, time, and place that occasions the text

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sample Solution

Sample solution

Dante Alighieri played a critical role in the literature world through his poem Divine Comedy that was written in the 14th century. The poem contains Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The Inferno is a description of the nine circles of torment that are found on the earth. It depicts the realms of the people that have gone against the spiritual values and who, instead, have chosen bestial appetite, violence, or fraud and malice. The nine circles of hell are limbo, lust, gluttony, greed and wrath. Others are heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Dante’s Inferno in the perspective of its portrayal of God’s image and the justification of hell. 

In this epic poem, God is portrayed as a super being guilty of multiple weaknesses including being egotistic, unjust, and hypocritical. Dante, in this poem, depicts God as being more human than divine by challenging God’s omnipotence. Additionally, the manner in which Dante describes Hell is in full contradiction to the morals of God as written in the Bible. When god arranges Hell to flatter Himself, He commits egotism, a sin that is common among human beings (Cheney, 2016). The weakness is depicted in Limbo and on the Gate of Hell where, for instance, God sends those who do not worship Him to Hell. This implies that failure to worship Him is a sin.


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God is also depicted as lacking justice in His actions thus removing the godly image. The injustice is portrayed by the manner in which the sodomites and opportunists are treated. The opportunists are subjected to banner chasing in their lives after death followed by being stung by insects and maggots. They are known to having done neither good nor bad during their lifetimes and, therefore, justice could have demanded that they be granted a neutral punishment having lived a neutral life. The sodomites are also punished unfairly by God when Brunetto Lattini is condemned to hell despite being a good leader (Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). While he commited sodomy, God chooses to ignore all the other good deeds that Brunetto did.

Finally, God is also portrayed as being hypocritical in His actions, a sin that further diminishes His godliness and makes Him more human. A case in point is when God condemns the sin of egotism and goes ahead to commit it repeatedly. Proverbs 29:23 states that “arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected.” When Slattery condemns Dante’s human state as being weak, doubtful, and limited, he is proving God’s hypocrisy because He is also human (Verdicchio, 2015). The actions of God in Hell as portrayed by Dante are inconsistent with the Biblical literature. Both Dante and God are prone to making mistakes, something common among human beings thus making God more human.

To wrap it up, Dante portrays God is more human since He commits the same sins that humans commit: egotism, hypocrisy, and injustice. Hell is justified as being a destination for victims of the mistakes committed by God. The Hell is presented as being a totally different place as compared to what is written about it in the Bible. As a result, reading through the text gives an image of God who is prone to the very mistakes common to humans thus ripping Him off His lofty status of divine and, instead, making Him a mere human. Whether or not Dante did it intentionally is subject to debate but one thing is clear in the poem: the misconstrued notion of God is revealed to future generations.

 

References

Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). Dante’s inferno: Seven deadly sins in scientific publishing and how to avoid them. Addiction Science: A Guide for the Perplexed, 267.

Cheney, L. D. G. (2016). Illustrations for Dante’s Inferno: A Comparative Study of Sandro Botticelli, Giovanni Stradano, and Federico Zuccaro. Cultural and Religious Studies, 4(8), 487.

Verdicchio, M. (2015). Irony and Desire in Dante’s” Inferno” 27. Italica, 285-297.

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