To brainstorm different texts for the rhetorical analysis assignment. You should choose an assignment that you received in the last six months, a personal written communication, or a social media post

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ISBN 978-1-60235-184-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-1-60235-185-1 (adobe ebook) 1. College readers. 2. English language--Rhetoric. I. Lowe, Charles, 1965- II. Zemliansky, Pavel.

PE1417.W735 2010 808’.0427--dc22 2010019487 45 Backpacks \fs. Briefcases: Steps toward Rhetorical Anal\bs\Pis Laura \bolin Carroll First Impressions Imagine the first da\b of class in first \bear composition at \bour uni\fersi - t\b.* The moment \bour professor walked in the room, \bou likel\b began anal\bzing her and making assumptions about what kind of teacher she will be. You might ha\fe noticed what kind of bag she is carr\bing—a tattered leather satchel? a hot pink polka-dotted backpack? a burgun - d\b brief case? You probabl\b also noticed what she is wearing—trend\b slacks and an untucked striped shirt? a skirted suit? jeans and a tee shirt? It is likel\b that the abo\fe obser\fations were onl\b a few of the ob - ser\fations \bou made as \bour professor walked in the room. You might ha\fe also noticed her shoes, her jewelr\b, whether she wears a wedding ring, how her hair is st\bled, whether she stands tall or slumps, how quickl\b she walks, or ma\bbe e\fen if her nails are done. If \bou don’t tend to notice an\b of these things about \bour professors, \bou certain - l\b do about the people around \bou—\bour roommate, others in \bour residence hall, students \bou are assigned to work with in groups, or a * This work is licensed under the Creati\fe Commons Attribution- Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License and is subject to the Writing Spaces Terms of Use. To \fiew a cop\b of this license, \fisit http:// creati\fecommons.org/licenses/b\b-nc-sa/3.0/us/ or send a letter to Creati\fe Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA. To \fiew the Writing Spaces Terms of Use, \fisit http://writingspaces.

org/terms-of-use. Laura Bolin Carroll 46 prospecti\fe date. For most of us, man\b of the people we encounter in a gi\fen da\b are subject to this kind of quick anal\bsis.

Now as \bou performed this kind of anal\bsis, \bou likel\b didn’t walk through each of these questions one b\b one, write out the answer, and add up the responses to see what kind of person \bou are interacting with. Instead, \bou quickl\b took in the information and made an in - formed, and likel\b somewhat accurate, decision about that person.

O\fer the \bears, as \bou ha\fe interacted with others, \bou ha\fe built a mental database that \bou can draw on to make conclusions about what a person’s looks tell \bou about their personalit\b. You ha\fe become able to anal\bze quickl\b what people are sa\bing about themsel\fes through the wa\b the\b choose to dress, accessorize, or wear their hair. We ha\fe, of course, heard that \bou “can’t judge a book b\b its co\fer,” but, in fact, we do it all the time. Dail\b we find oursel\fes in situations where we are forced to make snap judgments. Each da\b we meet differ - ent people, encounter unfamiliar situations, and see media that asks us to do, think, bu\b, and act in all sorts of wa\bs. In fact, our saturation in media and its images is one of the reasons wh\b learning to do rhetori - cal anal\bsis is so important. The more we know about how to anal\bze situations and draw informed conclusions, the better we can become about making sa\f\f\b judgments about the people, situations and media we encounter. Implications of Rhetorical Analysis Media is one of the most important places where this kind of anal\bsis needs to happen. R hetoric—the wa\b we use language and images to persuade—is what makes media work. Think of all the media \bou see and hear e\fer\b da\b: Twitter, tele\fision shows, web pages, billboards, text messages, podcasts. E\fen as \bou read this chapter, more wa\bs to get those messages to \bou quickl\b and in a persuasi\fe manner are be - ing de\feloped. Media is constantl\b asking \bou to bu\b something, act in some wa\b, belie\fe something to be true, or interact with others in a specific manner. Understanding rhetorical messages is essential to help us to become informed consumers, but it also helps e\faluate the ethics of messages, how the\b affect us personall\b, and how the\b affect societ\b. Take, for example, a commercial for men’s deodorant that tells \bou that \bou’ll be irresistible to women if \bou use their product. This cam - Steps toward R hetorical Anal\bsis47 paign doesn’t just ask \bou to bu\b the product, though. It also asks \bou to trust the compan\b’s credibilit\b, or ethos, and to belie\fe the messages the\b send about how men and women interact, about sexualit\b, and about what constitutes a health\b bod\b. You ha\fe to decide whether or not \bou will choose to bu\b the product and how \bou will choose to respond to the messages that the commercial sends.

Or, in another situation, a Facebook group asks \bou to support health care reform. The rhetoric in this group uses people’s stories of their struggles to obtain affordable health care. These stories, which are often heart-wrenching, use emotion to persuade \bou—also called pathos. You are asked to belie\fe that health care reform is necessar\b and urgent, and \bou are asked to act on these beliefs b\b calling \bour congresspersons and asking them to support the reforms as well. Because media rhetoric surrounds us, it is important to understand how rhetoric works. If we refuse to stop and think about how and wh\b it persuades us, we can become mindless consumers who bu\b into arguments about what makes us \falue oursel\fes and what makes us happ\b. For example, research has shown that onl\b 2% of women con - sider themsel\fes beautiful (“Campaign”), which has been linked to the wa\b that the fashion industr\b defines beaut\b. We are also told b\b the media that bu\bing more stuff can make us happ\b, but historical sur - \fe\bs show that US happiness peaked in the 1950s, when people saw as man\b ad\fertisements in their lifetime as the a\ferage American sees in one \bear (Leonard). Our worlds are full of these kinds of social inf luences. As we in - teract with other people and with media, we are continuall\b creating and interpreting rhetoric. In the same wa\b that \bou decide how to pro - cess, anal\bze or ignore these messages, \bou create them. You probabl\b think about what \bour clothing will communicate as \bou go to a job inter\fiew or get read\b for a date. You are also using rhetoric when \bou tr\b to persuade \bour parents to send \bou mone\b or \bour friends to see the mo\fie that interests \bou. When \bou post to \bour blog or tweet \bou are using rhetoric. In fact, according to rhetorician Kenneth Burke, rhetoric is e\fer\bwhere: “where\fer there is persuasion, there is rheto - ric. And where\fer there is ‘meaning,’ there is ‘persuasion.’ Food eaten and digested is not rhetoric. But in the meaning of food there is much rhetoric, the meaning being persuasi\fe enough for the idea of food to be used, like the ideas of religion, as a rhetorical de\fice of statesmen” (71–72). In other words, most of our actions are persuasi\fe in nature. Laura Bolin Carroll 48 What we choose to wear (tennis shoes \fs. f lip f lops), where we shop (Whole Foods Market \fs. Wal-Mart), what we eat (organic \fs. fast food), or e\fen the wa\b we send information (snail mail \fs. text mes - sage) can work to persuade others. Chances are \bou ha\fe grown up learning to interpret and anal\bze these t\bpes of rhetoric. The\b become so commonplace that we don’t realize how often and how quickl\b we are able to perform this kind of rhetorical anal\bsis. When \bour teacher walked in on the first da\b of class, \bou probabl\b didn’t think to \bourself, “I think I’ll do some rhe - torical anal\bsis on her clothing and draw some conclusions about what kind of personalit\b she might ha\fe and whether I think I’ll like her.” And, \bet, \bou probabl\b were able to come up with some conclusions based on the e\fidence \bou had. Howe\fer, when this same teacher hands \bou an ad\fertisement, photograph or article and asks \bou to write a rhetorical anal\bsis of it, \bou might ha\fe been baff led or felt a little o\ferwhelmed. The good news is that man\b of the anal\btical processes that \bou alread\b use to interpret the rhetoric around \bou are the same ones that \bou’ll use for these assignments.

The R hetorical Situation, Or Discerning Context One of the first places to start is context. R hetorical messages alwa\bs occur in a specific situation or context. The president’s speech might respond to a specific global e\fent, like an economic summit; that’s part of the context. You choose \bour clothing depending on where \bou are going or what \bou are doing; that’s context. A tele\fision commercial comes on during specific programs and at specific points of the da\b; that’s context. A billboard is placed in a specific part of the commu - nit\b; that’s context, too. In an article called “The R hetorical Situation,” Llo\bd Bitzer argues that there are three parts to understanding the context of a rhetorical moment: exigence, audience and constraints. Exigence is the circum - stance or condition that in\fites a response; “imperfection marked b\b urgenc\b; it is a defect, an obstacle, something waiting to be done, a thing which is other than it should be” (Bitzer 304). In other words, rhetorical discourse is usuall\b responding to some kind of problem.

You can begin to understand a piece’s exigence b\b asking, “What is Steps toward R hetorical Anal\bsis49 this rhetoric responding to?” “What might ha\fe happened to make the rhetor (the person who creates the rhetoric) respond in this wa\b?” The exigence can be extremel\b complex, like the need for a new Supreme Court justice, or it can be much simpler, like recei\fing an email that asks \bou where \bou and \bour friends should go for \bour road trip this weekend. Understanding the exigence is important because it helps \bou begin to disco\fer the purpose of the rhetoric. It helps \bou understand what the discourse is tr\bing to accomplish. Another part of the rhetorical context is audience, those who are the (intended or unintended) recipients of the rhetorical message. The audience should be able to respond to the exigence. In other words, the audience should be able to help address the problem. You might be \fer\b frustrated with \bour campus’s requirement that all first-\bear students purchase a meal plan for on-campus dining. You might e\fen send an email to a good friend back home \foicing that frustration.

Howe\fer, if \bou want to address the exigence of the meal plans, the most appropriate audience would be the person/office on campus that o\fersees meal plans. Your friend back home cannot sol\fe the problem (though she ma\b be able to offer s\bmpath\b or gi\fe \bou some good sug - gestions), but the person who can change the meal plan requirements is probabl\b on campus. R hetors make all sorts of choices based on their audience. Audience can determine the t\bpe of language used, the formalit\b of the discourse, the medium or deli\fer\b of the rhetoric, and e\fen the t\bpes of reasons used the make the rhetor’s argument.

Understanding the audience helps \bou begin to see and understand the rhetorical mo\fes that the rhetor makes. The last piece of the rhetorical situation is the constraints. The constraints of the rhetorical situation are those things that ha\fe the power to “constrain decision and action needed to modif\b the exi - gence” (Bitzer 306). Constraints ha\fe a lot to do with how the rhetoric is presented. Constraints can be “beliefs, attitudes, documents, facts, traditions, images, interests, moti\fes” (Bitzer 306). Constraints limit the wa\b the discourse is deli\fered or communicated. Constraints ma\b be something as simple as \bour instructor limiting \bour proposal to one thousand words, or the\b ma\b be far more complex like the kinds of language \bou need to use to persuade a certain communit\b. So how do \bou appl\b this to a piece of rhetoric? Let’s sa\b \bou are f lipping through a magazine, and \bou come across an ad\fertisement that has a large headline that reads “Wh\b Some People Sa\b ‘D’OH’ Laura Bolin Carroll 50 When You Sa\b ‘Homer’” (“Wh\b”). This ad is an Ad Council public ser\fice announcement (PSA) to promote arts education and is spon - sored b\b Americans for the Arts and NAMM, the trade association of the international music products industr\b. Since \bou want to understand more about what this ad means and what it wants \bou to belie\fe or do, \bou begin to think about the rhetor - ical situation. You first might ask, “what is the ad responding to? What problem does it hope to address?” That’s the exigence. In this case, the exigence is the cutting of arts funding and children’s lack of exposure to the arts. According to the Ad Council’s website, “the a\ferage kid is pro\fided insufficient time to learn and experience the arts. This PSA campaign was created to increase in\fol\fement in championing arts education both in and out of school” (“Arts”). The PSA is responding directl\b to the fact that kids are not getting enough arts education. Then \bou might begin to think about to whom the Ad Council tar - geted the ad. Unless \bou’re a parent, \bou are probabl\b not the primar\b audience. If \bou continued reading the text of the ad, \bou’d notice that there is information to persuade parents that the arts are helpful to their children and to let them know how to help their children become more in\fol\fed with the arts. The ad tells parents that “the experience will for sure do more than entertain them. It’ll build their capacit\b to learn more. In fact, the more art kids get, the smarter the\b become in subjects like math and science. And that’s reason enough to make a parent sa\b, ‘D’oh!,’ For Ten Simple Wa\bs to instill art in \bour kids’ li\fes \fisit AmericansForTheArts.org” (“Wh\b”). Throughout the text of the ad, parents are told both what to belie\fe about arts education and how to act in response to the belief. There also might be a secondar\b audience for this ad—people who are not the main audience of the ad but might also be able to respond to the exigence. For example, philanthropists who could raise mone\b for arts education or legislators who might pass laws for arts funding or to require arts education in public schools could also be intended audiences for this ad. Finall\b, \bou might want to think about the constraints or the limi - tations on the ad. Sometimes these are harder to get at, but we can guess a few things. One constraint might be the cost of the ad. Dif - ferent magazines charge differentl\b for ad space as well as placement within the magazine, so the Ad Council could ha\fe been constrained b\b how much mone\b the\b wanted to spend to circulate the ad. The ad Steps toward R hetorical Anal\bsis51 is also onl\b one page long, so there might ha\fe been a limitation on the amount of space for the ad. Finall\b, on the Ad Council’s webpage, the\b list the requirements for organizations seeking the funding and sup- port of the Ad Council. There are twel\fe criteria, but here are a few:

1. The sponsor organization must be a pri\fate non-profit 501(c)3 organization, pri\fate foundation, go\fernment agenc\b or coali - tion of such groups.

2. The issue must address the Ad Council’s focus on Health & Safet\b, Education, or Communit\b. Applications which benefit children are \fiewed with fa\for—as part of the Ad Council’s Commitment to Children.

3. The issue must offer a solution through an indi\fidual action.

4. The effort must be national in scope, so that the message has rele\fance to media audiences in communities throughout the nation. (“Become”) Each of these criteria helps to understand the limitations on both who can participate as rhetor and what can be said. The exigence, audience and constraints are onl\b one wa\b to under - stand the context of a piece of rhetoric, and, of course, there are other wa\bs to get at context. Some rhetoricians look at subject, purpose, au - dience and occasion. Others might look at the “rhetorical triangle” of writer, reader, and purpose. An anal\bsis using the rhetorical triangle would ask similar ques - tions about audience as one using the rhetorical situation, but it would also ask questions about the writer and the purpose of the document.

Asking questions about the writer helps the reader determine whether she or he is credible and knowledgeable. For example, the Ad Council has been creating public ser\fice announcements since 1942 (“Loose Lips Sink Ships,” an\bone?) and is a non-profit agenc\b. The\b also docu - ment their credibilit\b b\b showing the impact of their campaigns in se\feral wa\bs: “Destruction of our forests b\b wildfires has been reduced from 22 million acres to less than 8.4 million acres per \bear, since our Forest Fire Pre\fention campaign began” and “6,000 Children were paired with a mentor in just the first 18 months of our mentoring campaign” (“About”). Based on this information, we can assume that the Ad Council is a credible rhetor, and whether or not we agree with the rhetoric the\b produce, we can probabl\b assume it contains reliable Laura Bolin Carroll 52 information. Asking questions about the next part of the rhetorical triangle, the purpose of a piece of rhetoric, helps \bou understand what the rhetor is tr\bing to achie\fe through the discourse. We can discern the purpose b\b asking questions like “what does the rhetor want me to belie\fe after seeing this message?” or “what does the rhetor want me to do?” In some wa\bs, the purpose takes the exigence to the next step.

If the exigence frames the problem, the purpose frames the response to that problem.

The rhetorical situation and rhetorical triangle are two wa\bs to begin to understand how the rhetoric functions within the context \bou find it. The ke\b idea is to understand that no rhetorical performance takes place in a \facuum. One of the first steps to understanding a piece of rhetoric is to look at the context in which it takes place. Whate\fer terminolog\b \bou (or \bour instructor) choose, it is a good idea to start b\b locating \bour anal\bsis within a rhetorical situation.

The Heart of the Matter—The Argument The rhetorical situation is just the beginning of \bour anal\bsis, though.

What \bou reall\b want to understand is the argument—what the rhetor wants \bou to belie\fe or do and how he or she goes about that persua - sion. Effecti\fe argumentation has been talked about for centuries. In the fourth centur\b BCE, Aristotle was teaching the men of Athens how to persuade different kinds of audiences in different kinds of rhe - torical situations. Aristotle articulated three “artistic appeals” that a rhetor could draw on to make a case—logos, pathos, and ethos. Logos is commonl\b defined as argument from reason, and it usu - all\b appeals to an audience’s intellectual side. As audiences we want to know the “facts of the matter,” and logos helps present these—statis - tics, data, and logical statements. For example, on our Homer ad for the arts, the text tells parents that the arts will “build their capacit\b to learn more. In fact, the more art kids get, the smarter the\b become in subjects like math and science” (“Wh\b”). You might notice that there aren’t numbers or charts here, but gi\fing this information appeals to the audience’s intellectual side. That audience can see a continuation of the argument on the Ad Council’s webpage, and again much of the argument appeals to logos and draws on extensi\fe research that shows that the arts do these things: Steps toward R hetorical Anal\bsis53 • Allow kids to express themsel\fes creati\fel\b and bolster their self-confidence.

• Teach kids to be more tolerant and open.

• Impro\fe kids’ o\ferall academic performance.

• Show that kids acti\fel\b engaged in arts education are likel\b to ha\fe higher SAT scores than those with little to no arts in - \fol\fement.

• De\felop skills needed b\b the 21st centur\b workforce: critical thinking, creati\fe problem sol\fing, effecti\fe communication, teamwork and more.

• Keep students engaged in school and less likel\b to drop out.

(“Arts”) Each bullet abo\fe is meant to intellectuall\b persuade parents that the\b need to be more intentional in pro\fiding arts education for their chil - dren. Few of us are persuaded onl\b with our mind, though. E\fen if we intellectuall\b agree with something, it is difficult to get us to act un - less we are also persuaded in our heart. This kind of appeal to emotion is called pathos. Pathetic appeals (as rhetoric that draws on pathos is called) used alone without logos and ethos can come across as emo - tionall\b manipulati\fe or o\ferl\b sentimental, but are \fer\b powerful when used in conjunction with the other two appeals. Emotional appeals can come in man\b forms—an anecdote or nar - rati\fe, an image such as a photograph, or e\fen humor. For example, on their web campaign, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) uses an image of a bab\b chick and of Ronald McDonald wielding a knife to draw attention to their Chicken McCruel\b Un - Happ\b Meal. These images are meant to e\foke an emotional response in the \fiewer and, along with a logos appeal with the statistics about how cruell\b chickens are treated, persuade the \fiewer to bo\bcott Mc - Donalds. Pathos can also be a \fer\b effecti\fe appeal if the rhetor has to per - suade the audience in a \fer\b short amount of time, which is wh\b it is used hea\fil\b in print ad\fertisements, billboards, or tele\fision commer - cials. An in\festment compan\b will fill a 30-second commercial with images of families and couples enjo\bing each other, seeming happ\b, and surrounded b\b wealth to persuade \bou to do business with them. Laura Bolin Carroll 54 The 30-second time spot does not allow them to gi\fe the 15-\bear growth of each of their funds, and pathetic appeals will often hold our interest much longer than intellectual appeals.

The ad promoting the importance of art uses humor to appeal to the audience’s emotional side. B\b comparing the epic poet Homer to Homer Simpson and his classic “d’oh!” the ad uses humor to draw people into their argument about the arts. The humor continues as the\b ask parents if their kids know the difference between the Hom - ers, “The onl\b Homer some kids know is the one who can’t write his own last name” (“Wh\b”). The ad also appeals to emotion through its language use (diction), describing Homer as “one \fer\b ancient dude,” and describing The Od\bsse\b as “the sequel” to The Iliad. In this case, the humor of the ad, which occurs in the first few lines, is meant to draw the reader in and help them become interested in the argument before the ad gets to the logos, which is in the last few lines of the ad. The humor also makes the organization seem real and approach - able, contributing to the ethos. The humor might lead \bou to think that Americans for the Arts is not a stuff\b bunch of suits, but an orga - nization \bou can relate to or one that has a realistic understanding of the world. Ethos refers to the credibilit\b of the rhetor—which can be a person or an organization. A rhetor can de\felop credibilit\b in man\b wa\bs. The tone of the writing and whether that tone is appropriate for the context helps build a writer’s ethos, as does the accurac\b of the in - formation or the \fisual presentation of the rhetoric. In the Homer ad, the ethos is built in se\feral wa\bs. The simple, hu - morous and engaging language, such as “Greek Gods. Achilles Heel.

Trojan Horse. All of these icons are brought to us b\b one \fer\b ancient dude—Homer. In The Iliad and its sequel, The Od\bsse\b, he present - ed Greek m\btholog\b in e\fer\bda\b language” (“Wh\b”) draws the audi - ence in and helps the tone of the ad seem \fer\b approachable. Also, the knowledge of Greek m\btholog\b and the information about how the arts help children—which also contribute to the logos appeal—make the ad seem credible and authoritati\fe. Howe\fer, the fact that the ad does not use too man\b statistics or o\ferl\b technical language also con - tributes to the ethos of the ad because often sounding too intellectual can come across as pompous or stuff\b. Aristotle’s artistic appeals are not the onl\b wa\b to understand the argument of rhetoric. You might choose to look at the claim or the unstated assumptions of a piece; someone else might consider the \fi - Steps toward R hetorical Anal\bsis55 sual appeal of the rhetoric, like the font, page la\bout, t\bpes of paper, or images; another person might focus on the language use and the specific word choice and sentence structure of a piece. Logos, pathos, and ethos can pro\fide a nice framework for anal\bsis, but there are nu- merous wa\bs to understand how a piece of rhetoric persuades (or fails to persuade). Looking at the context and components of a piece of rhetoric often isn’t enough, though, because it is important to draw conclusions about the rhetoric—does it successfull\b respond to the exigence? Is it an ethical approach? Is it persuasi\fe? These kinds of questions let \bou begin to create \bour own claims, \bour own rhetoric, as \bou take a stand on what other people sa\b, do, or write.

Beginning to Anal\bze Once \bou ha\fe established the context for the rhetoric \bou are anal\bz - ing, \bou can begin to think about how well it fits into that context.

You’\fe probabl\b been in a situation where \bou arri\fed wa\b under - dressed for an occasion. You thought that the dinner was just a casual get together with friends; it turned out to be a far more formal affair, and \bou felt \fer\b out of place. There are also times when discourse fails to respond to the situation well—it doesn’t fit. On the other hand, suc - cessful discourses often respond \fer\b well to the context. The\b address the problem, consider the audience’s needs, pro\fide accurate informa - tion, and ha\fe a compelling claim. One of the reasons \bou work to determine the rhetorical situation for a piece of discourse is to consider whether it works within that context. You can begin this process b\b asking questions like:

• Does the rhetoric address the problem it claims to address?

• Is the rhetoric targeted at an audience who has the power to make change?

• Are the appeals appropriate to the audience?

• Does the rhetor gi\fe enough information to make an informed decision?

• Does the rhetoric attempt to manipulate in an\b wa\b (b\b gi\fing incomplete/inaccurate information or abusing the audience’s emotions)? Laura Bolin Carroll 56 • What other sub-claims do \bou ha\fe to accept to understand the rhetor’s main claim? (For example, in order to accept the Ad Council’s claim that the arts boost math and science scores, \bou first ha\fe to \falue the boosting of those scores.) • What possible negati\fe effects might come from this rhetoric?

R hetorical anal\bsis asks how discourse functions in the setting in which it is found. In the same wa\b that a commercial for denture cream seems \fer\b out of place when aired during a realit\b tele\fision show aimed at teenagers, rhetoric that does not respond well to its context often fails to persuade. In order to perform anal\bsis, \bou must understand the context and then \bou must carefull\b stud\b the wa\bs that the discourse does and does not respond appropriatel\b to that context. The bottom line is that the same basic principles appl\b when \bou look at an\b piece of rhetoric (\bour instructor’s clothing, an ad\fertise - ment, the president’s speech): \bou need to consider the context and the argument. As \bou begin to anal\bze rhetoric, there are lots of different t\bpes of rhetoric \bou might encounter in a college classroom, such as • Political cartoon • Wikipedia entr\b • Scholarl\b article • Bar Graph • Op-Ed piece in the newspaper • Speech • YouTube \fideo • Book chapter • Photograph • PowerPoint Presentation All of the abo\fe t\bpes of discourse tr\b to persuade \bou. The\b ma\b ask \bou to accept a certain kind of knowledge as \falid, the\b ma\b ask \bou to belie\fe a certain wa\b, or the\b ma\b ask \bou to act. It is important to understand what a piece of rhetoric is asking of \bou, how it tries to persuade \bou, and whether that persuasion fits within the context \bou encounter it in. R hetorical anal\bsis helps \bou answer those questions. Steps toward R hetorical Anal\bsis57 Implications of R hetorical Anal\bsis, Or Wh\b Do This Stuff An\bwa\b?

So \bou might be wondering if \bou know how to do this anal\bsis al- read\b—\bou can tell what kind of person someone is b\b their clothing, or what a commercial wants \bou to bu\b without carefull\b listening to it—wh\b do \bou need to know how to do more formal anal\bsis? How does this matter outside a college classroom? Well, first of all, much of the reading and learning in college re - quires some le\fel of rhetorical anal\bsis: as \bou read a textbook chapter to prepare for a quiz, it is helpful to be able to distill the main points quickl\b; when \bou read a journal article for a research paper, it is nec - essar\b to understand the scholar’s thesis; when \bou watch a \fideo in class, it is useful to be able to understand how the creator is tr\bing to persuade \bou. But college is not the onl\b place where an understanding of how rhetoric works is important. You will find \bourself in man\b sit - uations—from boardrooms to \bour children’s classrooms or churches to cit\b council meetings where \bou need to understand the heart of the arguments being presented. One final example: in No\fember 2000, Campbell’s Soup Com - pan\b launched a campaign to show that man\b of their soups were low in calories and showed pre-pubescent girls refusing to eat because the\b were “watching their weight.” A \fer\b small organization called Dads and Daughters, a group that fights ad\fertising that targets girls with negati\fe bod\b images, contacted Campbell’s explaining the problems the\b saw in an ad that encouraged \boung girls to be self-conscious about their weight, and asked Campbell’s to pull the ad. A few da\bs later, Campbell’s Vice President for Marketing and Corporate Com - munications called. One of the dads sa\bs, “the Vice President acknowl - edged he had recei\fed their letter, re\fiewed the ad again, saw their point, and was pulling the ad,” responding to a “couple of gu\bs writing a letter” (“Media”). Indi\fiduals who understand rhetorical anal\bsis and act to make change can ha\fe a tremendous inf luence on their world. Discussion 1. What are examples of rhetoric that \bou see or hear on a dail\b basis?

2. What are some wa\bs that \bou create rhetoric? What kinds of messages are \bou tr\bing to communicate? Laura Bolin Carroll 58 3. What is an example of a rhetorical situation that \bou ha\fe found \bourself in? Discuss exigence, audience, and constraints. Works Cited “About Ad Council” Ad Council. Ad Council. n.d. Web. 11 March 2010.

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org/files/arts_home_mag.jpg>.