To understand a rhetorical analyses one must first understand the term, argument....
Argument is an attempt to solve a problem with two or more conflicting positions. Arguments must do three things...
1. They must justify their claims
2.They must be truth seeking
3.They must be part of a larger debate
Now that we know what an argument is, why is it important for someone to create an argument here and now? What are the constraints of their argument? What is the Context? These questions may be summarized by the "Rhetorical Situation" triangle below...
Argument is an attempt to solve a problem with two or more conflicting positions. Arguments must do three things...
1. They must justify their claims
2.They must be truth seeking
3.They must be part of a larger debate
Now that we know what an argument is, why is it important for someone to create an argument here and now? What are the constraints of their argument? What is the Context? These questions may be summarized by the "Rhetorical Situation" triangle below...
The rhetorical situation is the context of a rhetorical event that consists of a message, an audience, a set of constraints, an author, and a text, as represented by the and triangle above acronym TRACE below.
Text: What is our text?
Reader/audience: Who are we trying to convince or argue to?
Author: What are the writer's views?
Constraints: What are the constraints of our writing medium (a website, an op-ed....)?
Exigence: Why is it important to talk about this issue now?
Once a context, or each part of the rhetorical situation has been established, now it is time to write an argument! (To find out what makes an effective argument click on "The Rhetorical Appeals"!)
Text: What is our text?
Reader/audience: Who are we trying to convince or argue to?
Author: What are the writer's views?
Constraints: What are the constraints of our writing medium (a website, an op-ed....)?
Exigence: Why is it important to talk about this issue now?
Once a context, or each part of the rhetorical situation has been established, now it is time to write an argument! (To find out what makes an effective argument click on "The Rhetorical Appeals"!)