Week 4 Reading: Analyzing a Text
Analyzing Texts
In this unit we’ll discuss analysis and the application of critical thinking as it pertains to analyzing texts in order to prepare you for the next essay: Essay 2 which is a visual analysis. Being able to read and interpret various kinds of texts is an important skill especially in a world in which we are constantly bombarded with messages that are vying for our attention.
Critical Analysis
So what is analysis?
Critical analysis is probably what you think of first when you hear the word analysis. You probably wrote analyses of poems or stories in high school, or you may have even analyzed films or advertisements. Analysis of a specific artifact is called critical analysis or critique. This is typically a process of developing a line of interpretation, or a “reading,” and of identifying the interrelated parts of the text that are meaningful.
Another way of looking at is that analysis is the process of methodically breaking something down to gain a better understanding of it. Analysis also includes the ability to connect pieces of information as the basis for generalization or explanation. Analytical assignments in college often couple analysis with the critical thinking skills of interpretation and evaluation.
Analysis can be applied to content but can also cover form, function, and context. For example, an analysis assignment in an art appreciation class might ask you to analyze the subject and iconography of a painting, but also expect you to analyze the use of shape, space, color, and texture (form), as well as the artist’s intended purpose (function) and the culture or time period in which the work was created (context).
While each academic discipline characterizes the analytic process to suit its needs, the essential skills of analysis are the following:
Breaking down information or artifacts into component parts
Uncovering relationships among those parts
Determining motives, causes, and underlying assumptions
Making inferences and finding evidence to support generalizations
Remember that analysis focuses more on the how of a text than the what. This means that the goal is determine how the text conveys it’s meaning, not just discuss what the text says/means. In other words, by breaking it down into its parts, you are analyzing how those parts work together to create meaning.
The Language of Analytical Assignments
Although analysis is ubiquitous in college, students sometimes fail to recognize when they are being asked to apply analysis. Often that confusion stems from differences in vocabulary across different disciplines.
For example, each of the verbs in the following list may denote some type of analysis:
Common Verbs
Analyze Deduce Examine Outline
Break down Derive Experiment Point out
Calculate Diagram Identify Probe
Categorize Differentiate Induce Question
Classify Discriminate Inspect Separate
Compare Dissect Infer Simplify
Contrast Distill Investigate Test
Although this list is a good start, these aren’t the only verbs that denote analysis. Another way to tell whether an assignment is asking for analysis is this: If the assignment asks you to determine how the parts of something relate to the whole, how something works, what something means, or why it’s important, the assignment is asking you to analyze. Below is a list of sample analytic assignments that meet these criteria.
How the parts relate to the whole:
Classify problems to identify the appropriate algorithms.
Determine how well a feminist interpretation is supported by evidence contained in a work.
How something works:
Recognize flaws, inconsistencies, and logical fallacies in an opinion editorial.
Distinguish between facts and assumptions in a scientific report.
What something means:
Interpret quantitative relationships in a graph.
Analyze data/situations to identify root problems.
Why something is important:
Assess alternative solutions to the health care crisis.
Separate relevant from irrelevant information in testimony.
You will likely encounter some of these types of analysis assignments in most, if not all, of your colleges courses. In this class we’ll focus on a particular type of analysis which is often called a rhetorical analysis or textual analysis.
Rhetorical Analysis
Sometimes, the best way to learn how to write a good argument is to start by analyzing other arguments. When you do this, you get to see what works, what doesn’t, what strategies another author uses, what structures seem to work well and why, and more.
When we understand the decisions other writers make and why, it helps us make more informed decisions as writers. We can move from being the “accidental” writer, where we might do well but are not sure why, to being a “purposeful” writer, where we have an awareness of the impact our writing has on our audience at all levels.
The Importance of Rhetoric
As we have discussed, rhetoric is the art of effective and persuasive communication that is appropriate to a given situation. Although a thorough understanding of effective oral, written, and visual communication can take years of study, the foundation of such communication begins with rhetoric. With this foundation, even if you are just starting out, you can become a more powerful, more flexible writer. Rhetoric is key to being able to write effectively and persuasively in a variety of situations.
Every time you write or speak, you’re faced with a different rhetorical situation. Each rhetorical situation requires thoughtful consideration on your part if you want to be as effective and impactful as possible. Often, a successful essay or presentation is one that manages to persuade an audience to understand a question or issue in a particular way, or to respond to a question or issue by taking a particular action. Urging one’s reader to think or act in response to an important question or issue is one way of addressing the “so what?” element of analysis.
Many times, when students are given a writing assignment, they have an urge to skim the assignment instructions and then just start writing as soon as the ideas pop into their minds. But writing rhetorically and with intention requires that you thoroughly investigate your writing assignment (or rhetorical situation) before you begin to write the actual paper.
Thinking about concepts like purpose, audience, and voice will help you make good decisions as you begin your research and writing process.
What is Rhetorical Analysis?
Take a look at the following definition of rhetorical analysis:
Rhetorical analysis shows how the words, phrases, images, gestures, performances, texts, films, etc. that people use to communicate work, how well they work, and how the artifacts, as discourse, inform and instruct, entertain and arouse, and convince and persuade the audience; as such, discourse includes the possibility of morally improving the reader, the viewer, and the listener.[1]Links to an external site.
Basically, when you conduct a rhetorical analysis, you’re examining the way authors (or speakers) or creators communicate their message. This means you can conduct a rhetorical analysis of any act of communication. Naturally, this makes rhetorical analysis one of the most common types of analysis you will perform at the college level.
How to Write a Rhetorical Analysis
As a part of thinking rhetorically about an argument, your professor may ask you to write a formal or informal rhetorical analysis essay. Rhetorical analysis is about “digging in” and exploring the strategies and writing style of a particular piece. Rhetorical analysis can be tricky because, chances are, you haven’t done a lot of rhetorical analysis in the past.
To add to this trickiness, you can write a rhetorical analysis of any piece of information, not just an essay. You may be asked to write a rhetorical analysis of an ad, an image, or a commercial.
When you analyze a work rhetorically, you explore the following concepts in a piece:
Audience
Purpose
Style or Tone
Supporting Appeals and Claims: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos
Ethos – an appeal to ethical considerations. Is the author credible and knowledgeable? Are the actions or understandings that they are calling for ethical?
Pathos – an appeal to emotions. Is the author trying to evoke strong feelings for or against something?
Logos – an appeal to rational, logical understanding. Is the author using facts and “hard” research to present a case? Is the argument coherent and cohesive?
Note that these three rhetorical modes are closely interrelated. Consider that a strong logical appeal will often convince us that a writer is ethical and diligent in his analysis, whereas an emotional appeal that seems manipulative or a weak substitute for a substantive argument may undermine a writer’s ethos, that is, his credibility.
In a rhetorical analysis, you will think about the decisions that author has made regarding the supporting appeals, the style, tone, purpose, and audience, considering whether these decisions are effective or ineffective.
There are three possible structures you might use for a critical or rhetorical analysis paper.
Description followed by analysis Thematic Part by Part
Introduction with thesis addressing composer’s choices and motivations (how and why)Description of artifact
Analysis of artifact
Conclusion examining larger significance (so what)
Introduction with summary description and thesis (how and why)Identify a theme or pattern
Provide examples
(Continue this as needed)
Conclude with larger significance (so what)
Introduction with summary description and thesis (how and why)Analyze first section of artifact
Analyze next section of artifact
(Continue this as needed)
Conclude with larger significance (so what)
Analytical paragraphs generally follow the claim, evidence, explanation model. A writer establishes a claim, then supports that claim with evidence, and then explains how the evidence supports the claim. In a critical (or textual) analysis, the details of the artifact serve as the evidence supporting the claim (Lumen Learning)..
Visual Rhetoric
While a rhetorical analysis often focuses on a written text, it can be used to analyze any artifact or “text” which is presenting an argument or message of some kind. In this sense, almost anything could potentially be a text that you could analyze in the same way that you might analyze a piece of writing. For the Essay 2 assignment, I’ve chosen visual rhetoric as the focus for your analysis. This means that you can choose a visual “text” to analyze. What is a visual text? Any image that presents an argument or conveys meaning.
Types of Visual Rhetoric
There are many common types of visual rhetoric that can be analyzed in the same way that you would analyze a written text. The following list includes the most common types of visual rhetoric:
Fine arts (painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, multimedia, etc.)
Journalistic photography
Audiovisual (film, TV, etc.)
Political Cartoons
Internet Memes
How does analyzing a visual differ from analyzing a written text?
The main difference between a rhetorical analysis of a written text versus a visual is that the design elements of the image are an important part of the analysis. Just as you would read a written text carefully before analyzing it, so too you should carefully study the visual, making note of the significant design elements of the image. You should survey all its design elements including:
Light
Composition
Color
Scale
Texture
Line
Tone
Pattern
Once you’ve carefully examined the various design elements of the image, you can begin to figure out what you think it means. You can ask yourself: What is the main idea or theme the artist or creator wants to convey? When analyzing a visuals it’s also helpful to consider the following:
Understand the intended effect as well as the actual effect (or meaning)
How does it create this effect?
Assume every detail is intentional
Consider context (historical, cultural, genre, etc.)
Consider non-literal elements (symbolism, etc.)
Being able to analyze visual rhetoric is just as important as analyzing written texts because so much of the media we consume includes visual elements. And, often the visual rhetoric is more compelling and holds our attention more readily than writing, so being able to understand how images are being used to persuade us, influence us, provoke us, etc. is essential in our digital age.
Key Features of Rhetorical Analysis
Briefly summarize the text
Never assume the reader is familiar with a text. Always provide a brief summary/description
Pay attention to context
Examine the larger context (culture, history, location, genre, etc.) in which the text you’re analyzing has occurred
Present a clear interpretation or judgment
Your goal is to lead the readers in a careful examination of the text which ultimately explains your interpretation of the text’s meaning and/or its effectiveness in communicating its message
Provide reasonable support for your conclusions
Support for a textual analysis generally comes from the text itself
Consider the rhetorical elements of the text
This includes both the rhetorical triangle (ethos, pathos, & logos) and the rhetorical situation (audience, tone/stance, purpose, genre, media/design)
