Northern Virginia Community College Rhetorical Devices Chart for Speech Analysis

Purpose

Because rhetoric can unwittingly persuade a listener or reader, recognizing and analyzing the elements of rhetoric within a speech will help you become a stronger critical thinker. In this assignment, you will analyze a famous speech by finding examples of rhetorical elements such as audience, purpose, repetition, imagery, logos, ethos, and pathos.

Directions

1. Review and select ONE speech from the website titled 100 Greatest Speeches (Links to an external site.). (NOTE: You may not use the first two speeches.)
2. Open, download, and save the Rhetorical Devices Chart (Links to an external site.) to begin your speech analysis.
3. Write the source information for the speech at the top of the chart.
4. Read and analyze the speech for TWO specific examples of audience, purpose, repetition, imagery, logos, ethos, and pathos.
5. Submit your completed chart as a docx attachment.

The Essay

1. Review the Rhetorical Devices Chart you completed in the previous assignment.
2. Identify TWO rhetorical devices to discuss from the speech you read analyzed.
3. Develop a two-paragraph analysis about those points. Create one substantive paragraph (7-12 sentences per paragraph)for each device.
4. Begin each paragraph with a topic sentence (Links to an external site.) that identifies the rhetorical device it will discuss.
5. Include SPECIFIC evidence from the speech you analyzed; see the examples you listed on your chart.
6. Revise your analysis and proofread it.
7. Post your two-paragraph analysis to the “Rhetorical Devices Analysis” Discussion.