The heart of rhetorical analysis is a two-part move: name a choice, then explain its effect on the audience and how it serves the purpose.
Key idea
Choice → effect → purpose. “By [choice], the writer [effect on the audience], which [serves the purpose].” A choice can be a word, a sentence pattern, an example, an order, an appeal, or what the writer leaves out.
Why it works
Every writer chooses among many ways to say a thing. Asking why this way, and not another, is how analysis finds meaning. A good test is to imagine the plain version: if Lincoln had said “We can’t really dedicate this ground,” what would be lost?
| Choice | Effect on the audience | How it serves the purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Lincoln: “we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground” | each verb is holier than the last, so the confession of weakness builds instead of shrinking | turns the duty from the speakers to the listeners: honor the dead by finishing their work |
| Lincoln, Second Inaugural: “And the war came.” | a four-word sentence after long ones lands like a blow | presents the war as something both sides failed to prevent, inviting reconciliation |
| Douglass: “your 4th of July” | “your,” not “our,” sets him apart from the holiday | makes listeners feel the gap between their celebration and the lives of the enslaved |
Verbs that name effects
Strong analysis uses precise verbs: emphasizes, contrasts, invites, reassures, unsettles, shames, honors, builds, undercuts, echoes, narrows, broadens, anticipates. Weak analysis leans on shows and uses.
Worked example: From spotting to analyzing
A student writes: “Lincoln uses repetition.” Make it analysis.
- Name the specific choice: “we can not” three times, with verbs that rise from dedicate to consecrate to hallow.
- Say the effect: the listeners hear the speakers admit, more strongly each time, that their words fall short.
- Tie it to purpose: if words can’t honor the dead, only deeds can; so the living must finish the work.
Answer: “Lincoln repeats ‘we can not,’ each time with a holier verb, to admit that words fall short of the soldiers’ sacrifice, so that honoring them becomes a task for the living rather than a ceremony.”
Common mistake
Listing devices without saying why they matter, sometimes called feature spotting. “He uses repetition, imagery and a rhetorical question” tells the reader nothing about the speech. Check: every device you name should be followed by “which …” or “so that …” and an effect on the audience.