Rhetorical Analysis Essay Length: Five paragraphs; two full pages (and a works cited page)
Purpose: To analyze the rhetorical situation of an essay Audience: Your instructor and classmates (an academic audience) Genre: Five-paragraph academic essay
Directions:
1. Pick one of the following essays from 50 Essays and read it multiple times: a. “On Dumpster Diving” by Lars Eighner (139-51)
b. “On Being a Cripple” by Nancy Mairs (259-72)
2. Then write a five-paragraph essay about the essay you selected.
a. Paragraph One: Introduction
i. Introduce the essay you will be writing about.
1. Include the author’s name and the title of the essay.
2. Give a brief (no more than two-sentence) description of what the essay is about
ii. End your introduction with a thesis statement
1. Your thesis must indicate the three elements of the rhetorical situation you intend to
analyze
2. Your thesis must indicate why it is important to consider these elements (what people
can expect to learn by reading your essay)
Sample: By examining Carr as an author, exploring the context in which he wrote, and considering the message he conveys through his essay, his audience can arrive at a deeper understanding of how technology influences the intellectual experiences of people in the United States.
b. Paragraphs Two through Four: Main Body
i. You must write three paragraphs in the Main Body of your essay. Each paragraph should address one part of the rhetorical situation (purpose, audience, message, context, or author).
ii. Each paragraph will begin with a topic sentence that indicates the rhetorical element you will be discussing.
iii. Include supporting details from the essay you are analyzing—use evidence from the text.
iv. You must include two short quotations (no more than one sentence each) at some point in
your essay.
1. Your quotations must be properly attributed and cited in MLA format.
2. Do not use more than two quotations!
v. Questions to answer in the Main Body of the essay (depending on the three rhetorical elements you select):
1. What is the essay’s context? What does the essay tell us about the values of the society in which it was created? How does the author appeal to his/her readers? How do you know?

English 100T.004/006 Professor Ross Fall 2016
2. Who is the author? Why should we trust the author? How do you know the author is
credible? What qualifies the author to write about the topic? Is the author an expert?
How do you know?
3. What is the author’s purpose? How do you know?
4. Who is the essay’s intended audience? How do you know?
5. What is the author’s message? What is his/her main point?
vi. Each paragraph will end with a transitional sentence that foreshadows the next paragraph.
c. Paragraph Five: Conclusion
i. Restate your thesis (using different words)
ii. Summarize your main points
iii. Leave your readers thinking:
Based on your analysis, did the author achieve his or her rhetorical goals? Why or why not? How could the author have been more successful in achieving these goals?
3. Do not use either the first-person singular (I, me, my) or the second-person perspective (you, your, yours, yourself) anywhere in this paper.
4. You must include an MLA-style works cited page. Any paper failing to include a works cited page will receive a zero.