Using SOAPSTONE for a Rhetorical Analysis of Literature

RHETORIC AND THE READER

Reading 2.5 Extend ideas presented in primary or secondary sources through original

analysis, evaluation, and elaborationReading 2.8

Evaluate the credibility of an author’s argument or defense of a claim by critiquing the relationship between

generalizations and evidence… and the way in which the author’s intent affects

the structure and tone of a text

Literary Response and Analysis 3.9 Explain how voice, persona, and the

choice of narrator affect characterization and the tone, plot, and credibility of a

textLiterary Response and Analysis 3.11 Evaluate the aesthetic qualities of style,

including the impact of diction and figurative language on tone, mood, and

themeLiterary Response and Analysis 3.12

Analysis the way in which a work of literature is related to the themes and

issues of its historical period

The art of communication…

Analysis and comprehension of how a writer has influences or persuades his/her an audience.

WHAT IS RHETORIC?

“He who does not study rhetoric will be victim of it.” –found on a Greek wall from 6th Century B.C

Analysis Being able to recognize

HOW other people are trying to get you to do something, buy something, believe something

Comprehension Being able to use

rhetorical strategies to get what YOU want

Advertisements Try to get you to BUY

somethingSongs

Try to get you to BELIEVE something

Trying to persuade your parents to buy you a car

Trying to persuade a girl/guy to go out with you

Trying to persuade your teacher to give you more time on an assignment

SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO YOU?

THE RHETORICAL APPEALS

RHETORICAL APPEALS

The AuthorIf the audience is going

to buy into the argument, they need to trust the author

The author needs to demonstrate he knows what he is talking about Personal experience Credentials Research

Credibility

ETHOS

The AudienceIt’s important for the

author to understand who his audience is Their interests The values Their culture

One way to help persuade the audience is to get them emotional involved in the topic Make them feel something

Emotions

PATHOS

The Text / The Topic

In order for an argument to be believable, it needs to make sense

The author needs to provide evidence in order to persuade the audience Facts Examples Research

Organization / Evidence

LOGOS

As a reader, it is important to look at who is the AUTHOR what is his or her PURPOSE for writingHOW does he or she get the point across to their audience

SOAPSTONESubjectOccasionAudiencePurposeSpeakerToneOrganizationNarrative StyleEvidence

WHAT DOES RHETORIC HAVE TO DO WITH READING?

“Words – so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows

how to combine them.” ~Nathaniel Hawthorne

RHETORICAL APPEALS AND SOAPSTONE

THE TOPIC

The general content and ideas contained in the text.

Logos The subject of a text will

determine the most logical structure the author must use

Each of these elements work with one another to persuade the audience

SUBJECT

DEFINITION: how society impacts the subject of a text

Authors know how to refer to context to help the audience understand the position he or she takes and to connect positively with this or her argument.

Logos The context helps to

create a need for the subject of the text Context =

Vietnam War

OCCASION / CONTEXT

What’s Happening?

Where and when did the story take place? In what historical context? How does this context

impact the message of the story?

Rhetorical Analysis

The larger occasion = the broad issue which is the center of ideas and emotions.

The immediate occasion = the issue that catches the writer’s attention and triggers a response.

OCCASION / CONTEXT

Rhetorical Analysis

Pathos Toward whom is the text

directed? Primary? Secondary?

What assumptions can be made about the intended audience?

How does the author utilize the audience’s emotions to persuade them?

AUDIENCE

What the writer or wants to happen as a result of the text

what he or she wants the audience to believe or do after hearing or reading the text.

What is the purpose of the text? Is it…

To persuade To call to action To entertain To inform

PURPOSE

What is the message? What is the speaker's

reason for writing the text? In what ways does the

author convey the message of the purpose?

How does the speaker try to spark a reaction in the audience? How is the text supposed to

make the audience feel? What is its intended effect?

Considering the purpose is important so that the reader can examine the writer’s argument and the logic of it

PURPOSE

Rhetorical Analysis

Credibility

Is someone identified as the speaker?

What assumptions can you make about the speaker? (e.g., age, gender, class, emotional state, etc.)

How does the writer present his/her narration?

What is the character of the speaker?

How does the speaker’s credibility help to persuade the audience?

Rhetorical AnalysisThe speaker and the

author are NOT the same thing How does the author

make the speaker a reliable source?

What can we tell about the “character” of the speaker?

If we don’t know the author, then we have to look at his/her text Persona

SPEAKER

What is Persona?

Don’t get fooled by the author!

The writer creates a persona to make himself or herself more believable and trustworthy so that the audience will buy into what he or she is saying

It is the “mask” or character the writer or speaker creates for him/herself

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND PERSONA?

Rhetorical AnalysisWhat is the author's

attitude toward the subject? How does the diction (choice

of words) point to tone? How does syntax create a

specific tone? How does imagery create a

specific tone?

How does the tone help to persuade the audience?

“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered

weak and weary”

•Ethos

TONE

Rhetorical AnalysisHow is the text organized? How does the writer

arrange his/her content?Stylistic and Linguistic

Elements: syntax, language, literary devices, imagery, diction, detail.

How does the organization help to persuade the audience? Chronological

Cause and Effect Flashforwards / Flashbacks

ORGANIZATION

•Logos

Rhetorical AnalysisHow does the writer tell the

“story”? What does the writer reveal?

Conceal? Evidence

What does (s)he invert/subvert? Is the writing “dramatic, almost play-like in its use of dialogue or theatrical conventions?

How does the writer treat time?

How does the narrative style help to persuade the audince?

•Logos

NARRATIVE STYLE

Rhetorical AnalysisHow the argument is supported

Facts Statistics Examples

What kind of diction dominates the text?

What is the source of the images (e.g, nature, weapons, law, science, theology, love, architecture, etc.).

What do sound devices contribute to the work?

How does the evidence provided help to persuade the audience?

•Logos

EVIDENCE

Banks, William P. “A Short Handbook on Rhetorical Analysis.” 2001. Web. 27 Feb. 2007. http://english.ecu.edu/~wpbanks/rhetoric/rhetanalysis.html.

Roskelly, Hephzibah & Jolliffe, David. Everyday Use: Rhetoric at Work in Reading and Writing. Pearson Longman, New York: 2005. Print.

“SOAPSTONE: An Acronym for Analyzing Texts for Point of View.” Web. 26 June 2011. http://www.sdcoe.net/score/things/PDF/SOAPSTONE_Discuss.pdf.

WORKS CITED