Rhetorical Analysis Unit, Extensive Slide Show

This is a complete rhetoric study on one slide show. No more need to search for Aristotle's appeals in one place, rhetorical or literary devices in another, and propaganda techniques and logical fallacies in yet another. Everything you'll possibly need for rhetorical analysis is here.

A very comprehensive (171 slides), but well-organized and visually appealing, slide show covering rhetorical strategies and devices. All devices are broken into convenient categories, and each section begins with the most often used for high school rhetorical analysis. The categories are... Aristotle's three appeals, rhetorical (or literary) devices broken into trope (like metaphor, simile, etc.) and scheme (like repetition, parallelism), propaganda techniques, logic and logical fallacies. The slide show then precedes to rhetorical analysis with examples and practical lessons and applications.

I also offer a bundle for the lesson plans and all the formative and summative assessments I created for this unit.

In the Rhetorical Analysis portion of the slide show, I provide a systematic look at evaluating a speech (SPACE CAT) as well as the steps toward writing an analytical essay. I have found that a very detailed outline for their essays, especially at the 9th and 10th grade levels, are important--even at high-performing prep schools. So, I go into detail in the slide show and with the handouts about how to organize the most important information in an introductory paragraph with a strong thesis. This is followed by teaching a strong topic sentence followed by evidence and detailed analysis. From there, transitioning into new evidence with detailed analysis, ending with a linking sentence. So, I teach the introduction and a solid body paragraph. This can be scaled to suit your needs--you can extend that into a complete analysis essay with a concluding paragraph.

Convenient links are provided to all the devices in each section and a bigger one in the appendix. For example, here's a list of the tropes and schemes that are linked in the slide show: allegory, alliteration, allusion, anadiplosis, anaphora, antanaclasis, antimetabole, antistasis, antithesis, assonance, auxesis, chiasmus, cacophony, comparison, consonance, diction, epanalipsis or epiphora, epistrophe, epizeuxis or palilogia, ethos, euphemism, euphony, figurative language, hyperbole, irony, jargon, juxtaposition, litotes, logos, metaphor, metonymy, onomatopoeia, oxymoron, parallelism, pathos, personification, polyptoton, pun or paronomasia, repetition, rhetorical question, satire, sentence length and structure, simile, syllepsis (or zeugma), symploce, synecdoche, synesthesia, symbolism, tone and tone shifts, word connotations.