Determine the purpose and audience of the speech

Reference no: EM132679712 , Length: 7

Rhetorical Analysis of Political Speech

Go to americanrhetoric.com or to any one of the republican candidates' websites or previous democratic candidates' websites and choose a speech to download. You'll probably want to take a look at several to find one that is appropriate for this assignment. Consider length (5-6 pages single spaced is usually good), focus (a more generalized speech versus one focusing, for instance, specifically on foreign policy or energy), and rhetorical techniques. Make sure as well that it is an actual speech and not an interview or town meeting. Make sure there is a lot to analyze!

Read the speech once for the general gist. Write a 2-4 sentence summary of the speech's major points.

Re-read the speech more slowly for better, more full understanding of content and details.

Discussion 1: Determine the purpose and audience of the speech. For instance, if the speech is on energy, don't simply say the speech's purpose is to convince someone to vote for the candidate-that would be true of all the speeches. Be as complete as possible as well. For instance, there may be more than one purpose, more than one audience. Unless you know what the speaker's purpose is, you can't begin to analyze his tactics because you won't know what he's trying to achieve.

Go through the speech again, this time with a pen in hand. As you read, mark in the margins where you believe the speaker is making a rhetorical appeal based on pathos, ethos, or logos. Identify the type in your margin notes. Look, too, for other appeals (to authority, nationalism, etc. because if you find pathos, you need to determine/explain what emotion he/she's trying to evoke.

Go through the speech again looking for rhetorical techniques (refer to the tutorials on argument). Identify them in the margins (you might want to highlight or underline examples). These are notes to yourself-use whatever shorthand is best. Don't feel the need to label all of them as long as you have enough to complete a 5-7 page essay.

Go through the speech again, and this time focus on language, style, word choice. Circle particularly loaded words, similes/metaphors, motifs, sudden shifts in sentence style or length (such as use of a short fragment for emphasis), repeated words, parallel structure, etc.

Write a 5-7 page rhetorical analysis

Reference no: EM132679712

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