Journal Article Rhetorical Analysis
I will include the Journal to be used and the three articles previously used. I can also include the previous paper if requested.
Due Monday by 11:59pm
Submitting a file upload
For your next paper, you will begin analyzing the rhetorical choices used by professionals in your field. Because you have already carefully examined an academic journal in your field and some of its articles, you are in a better position to do this. To get started, select an article from the academic journal you used for the Rhetorical Comparison assignment or an article from a different issue of that journal. Select an article that seems to be arguing a specific point…something that the authors are hoping to persuade the audience by. For example, maybe they are persuading how a new method of doing something is effective or how a new piece of technology is more cost effective. Because we will be analyzing for the appeals, we need to have an article that is attempting to persuade the audience.
Realize, these articles are written for professionals in your field; thus, they will be challenging to read. Perhaps you won’t understand everything, but that’s okay. Do your best; get the gist of things.
Rhetorical Appeals observations:
Your purpose in this paper is to analyze how the authors build their argument using the rhetorical appeals. So, you will discuss how the authors use pathos, ethos, logos, and/or kairos. You do not have to discuss all of the appeals, just the ones you observe. Remember, analyzing doesn’t include personal opinions on the article’s content. The focus of your paper will be on how the author uses the appeals, so you will again be explicitly referring to the appeals throughout the paper.
First, consider who the target audience is for your journal article, then look to see how the authors use certain appeals to persuade this audience. For example, how do the authors gain the audience’s trust (ethos)? Do they share their credentials, a brief bio of themselves; do they cite credible sources or refer to professional organizations or studies, etc.? How do they logically persuade their points (logos)? Do they use charts, graphs, state facts, provide research, stats, etc. Do they appeal to the emotions of the audience (pathos)? How so? Are there particular words they use that evoke certain emotions in the audience such as concern or excitement?
If you are reading a more scientific journal, like an engineering journal, you will likely see more uses of logos in an attempt to logically persuade the audience about the topic at hand, whereas, an education journal, might use more pathos in an attempt to appeal to the desire in teachers to be successful in reaching their students. Ethos will be utilized in all articles and kairos just depends on the timing and topic.
As you analyze, also consider which appeal(s) you feel could have been better utilized to strengthen the article/make it more persuasive.
Organization
Intro: Begin by introducing the article you’ll be analyzing, stating the full name of the author(s), article title, journal title, and year it was published. Offer a summary of the article (do your best here to capture the main points of the article without going into too great of detail). After the summary, state what you feel is the main purpose of the article and who the specific audience is of the journal (you already accomplished this in your journal analysis, so you can always copy points from that). End the intro with your claim, which will include the appeals you will discuss and your recommendation for improvement. Remember, you will use the body of the paper to defend your claim, so the claim itself doesn’t need to be detailed. It’s simply a preview to the rest of the paper.
Example claim: Smith primarily uses pathos, ethos, and kairos to argue……….but needed a stronger use of logos to strengthen his argument.
Body: Here you will unpack your claim. Quote specific passages and explain how they are examples of the specific appeal. Explain HOW they appeal to emotion, trust, logic, or timeliness.
Discuss all examples of ethos together, all examples of logos together, etc. Don’t mix discussing more than one appeal in a single paragraph or it will be confusing for the reader.
Make sure it’s very clear which appeal you are discussing in each paragraph.
Conclusion: Use the conclusion to comment on what you feel could have improved or strengthened the article. Find 1 additional source on this same topic in the library databases that could provide such content. For example, if the author did a great job appealing to pathos, but could have used more logos, find an article with compelling stats or facts that can help persuade the audience. Be sure to cite this additional source in the paper and in the Works Cited page.
Note: Avoid use of block quotes (quotes over four lines of text).
Tone: Because this is an academic paper, try to maintain a more formal, objective tone. Avoid use of first person (I think, I feel…) and second person (You should feel…). Also, never refer to authors by their first name only. For example, “According to Smith….” NOT “According to John….”
Length: 5 pgs.
Sources: 2 (main journal article and 1 additional source for conclusion (should also be from an academic journal)
