rhetorical analysis essay on a music video

• Title Index
• Practicing Rhetorical Analysis with Music Videos

Author: 

Deb Streusand

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Screenshot by Deb Streusand from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-ORhEE9VVg, Taylor Swift's video for "Blank Space"

            In my Rhetoric of Performance class, we begin each class day by watching and discussing a brief performance a student has brought in to share with the class. Since these performances are supposed to be 3-5 minutes, students frequently bring in music videos. With each performance, we do an informal rhetorical analysis.

             First I ask the students what they noticed about the performance while they were watching. They frequently make note of things like symbolism and imagery – in other words, they tend to close read the videos. The goal of my line of questioning after that, however, is to bring them away from that tendency and into the world of rhetorical analysis.

            I ask the students what they think the argument of the performance is. The argument of a performance is not like the argument of a written piece. With a good piece of persuasive writing, as a rule, everyone should come away from it with the same general idea of what the argument was. With a performance, it’s not a bad thing if we come away with some disagreement as to what the argument might be. The students often debate what the argument is, or bring in a multiplicity of answers, but they never have trouble finding some argument in the piece, even though music videos aren’t necessarily designed to make and defend a claim. One of the principles I put forth in teaching this class is that every performance has an argument. I believe this is true, but making the claim makes me a little nervous, because defending it is inevitably inductive – I will never conclusively prove that every single performance has an argument. However, each class day, my students add credence to my gradual inductive proof of this claim, because they have never failed to find an argument in any performance we’ve watched.

            After we’ve wrangled over the argument for a while, we start talking rhetorical appeals. They don’t know that’s what we’re doing yet, though. We haven’t actually entered the rhetorical analysis unit. But we’ve been doing this all semester, from the second class day. By the time they get to rhetorical analysis, they’re already going to be pros at doing it – all that will be new to them is the terminology.

            Every day, I ask them: what kind of persona does the performer present in making this argument? What is the intended audience, and how are they supposed to feel? How is the argument supported? What are the current social conversations to which this argument is contributing? Ethos, pathos, logos, kairos – all in a 4 minute video. My students practice rhetorical analysis 10-15 minutes per class day, all semester long. And because music videos are fun to watch and take apart, they have a great time while they’re doing it.

             We don’t always watch music videos. Some students bring in short dance pieces, or political rants, or slam poetry. I mention music videos because they would be easy to incorporate into a non-performance rhetoric class as a warmup for rhetorical analysis. To make it simpler, the professor might choose them instead of having students bring them in, to make sure there’s lots to talk about – I always start the semester with Beyonc é’s video for “Flawless,” which has never failed to spark dialogue. The main point is to get the students used to doing rhetorical analysis while talking about something that’s fun.

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Project #1: A Rhetorical Analysis of “This is America”

I chose to do my rhetorical analysis project on the “This is America” music video by Donald Glover, or his more well known rapper alter ego, Childish Gambino. During his hosting of “Saturday Night Live,” he released the four minute, one-take music video. The video quickly accumulated millions of views totaling more than thirty million on Youtube in forty-eight hours. The video itself was filled to the brim with references to African American violence in the USA and was created to start a discussion about guns and violence in America and how it is so closely intertwined with the African American community. He released it following recent cases of shootings when tensions were high. A month prior to the release, there was a national student walkout to protest gun violence in America. He chose to use his music video to elevate the issues that society was dealing with.

The song creates a strong juxtaposition of the two main types of music that are often associated with black people in America: the close-knit South African choirs and trap music. The video starts off with the choral singing and immediately shifts to a trap style of music following the initial gunshot fired by Donald Glover, referencing the violence associated with that kind of music. The poses and the dances that the people perform in the music video reference the highly racist minstrel shows that were performed in the early 19th century as a way to mock people of African descent. Later on in the music video, an all black choir is seen performing and is shortly gunned down by Donald Glover as the song suddenly switches to a trap style once again. This sudden act of violence is a reference to the 2015 church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina where a white supremacist shot and murdered nine African Americans during a prayer service at an important old African Methodist Episcopal Church. Amidst all this, there is chaos happening in the background of the video with African American students dancing along with Donald Glover in uniform. All these changes in visual and audio elements follow a cyclical pattern that likely alludes to the shift in the state of mind of the American population whenever a major incident of gun violence occurs. The nation will be in a state of anger and grief and demand that change must happen but ultimately nothing is ever achieved and the mood will once again die down and be forgotten until the next tragedy happens. The masses become outraged one second but becomes unconcerned and happy the next much like the shift in style for this song. The trap music closely associated with gun violence shifts to a happy carefree choral style in a cycle.

During the music video, Donald Glover says “this a celly. That’s a tool.” which can either be a reference to the shooting of Stephon Clark which occurred two months prior to the release of the video. Stephon Clark was an African American teenager who was shot due to the police’s claim that he had a pointed a gun at them when in reality he had only been carrying a cell phone. This line can also be stating that cell phones are important tools in documenting the unjust treatment of black people in America since the camera pans over to a bunch of black children filming the violence and chaos happening in the video on their phones. Donald Glover also says, “ Look how I’m geekin’ out. I’m so fitted. I’m on Gucci. I’m so pretty. I’m gon’ get it. Watch me move,” which alongside the odd dance moves, seems to represent how Americans are often so distracted with the black people in the entertainment industry that they neglect and often choose to ignore the violence and unfair treatment that black people experience everyday. This is also supported by the last few lines where he says “You just a black man in this world.You just a barcode, ayy. You just a black man in this world. Drivin’ expensive foreigns, ayy. You just a big dawg, yeah. I kenneled him in the backyard.” He says that black men are just barcodes which means that they’re just numbers in this society. They are “kenneled in the backyard” because Americans refuse to deal with the fucked up way black people are treated in this country. All of the unfair treatment and violence happens in their backyard but they kennel it away to not deal with it. They choose to focus on the superficial aspects of the black community and not deal with the real danger that they are put through on a day to day basis despite this country’s promise of equal rights to all and an equal right to life, liberty, and a pursuit of happiness.

This music video leave s you with a feeling of uncomfortability. All the violence and sudden shifts in mood create a sense of unease much like what black people experience everyday. Their lives can go from happiness to sudden violence and tragedy and they can’t help but feel unsure of what the next day has in store for them due to the prejudice against them. There isn’t a particular audience that Donald Glover is trying to communicate to. He is showing the entire world that America is incredibly flawed. He doesn’t really rely on Logos as much since the entire video is meant to show how illogical the country is. (I suppose that is a way of showing Logos I guess? To show that something is illogical is to help divert it from that illogical route.” The use of Pathos is very apparent in the sudden violence shown. Much like what Aristotle thought of rhetoric, the violence can be used to teach the audience to not imitate these bad actions. The feeling of dread, anger, pity, and uneasiness mix together during the video. The children dancing amidst all the violence will spark a feeling of fear and dread in the viewer since it is natural for humans to care for children. It almost sparks an evolutionary parental instinct in all of us.

Donald Glover uses Ethos just for starring in the video since he is widely known for being a jack-of-all-trades. His career has spanned from comedy writing to a successful musical career to directing and starring in his own TV series. The TV series, “Atlanta” was created to be a black comedy-drama that showed the viewers the African American experience without altering it to be more relatable to non-African American people. Donald Glover weaves these artistic narratives under the guise of commercial media. The only limits he really has is to not create material that is too disturbing for public viewing since all of his work is presented on regulated platforms like FX and Youtube.

I personally believe that Donald Glover accomplished his goal with the video. He used it to spark a discussion and garner attention for the issue via an incredibly popular social media platform alongside national television. The song immediately went to the top of the charts. I have incredible respect for him as a per son and an artist and his proper use of ethos, logos, and pathos has left a grim reminder of the horrible state our society is currently in.

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Firework: A Rhetorical Analysis

Teaching the value of literacy, wise village at nc state: an ethnography, invention for understanding, wise village infographic, thoughts on writing, kerrigan shagena.

• March 3, 2019

Imagine a time in your life where you felt unhappy. Were you anxious or uncertain of your future? Were you disappointed with the direction your life has taken you? As portrayed in Katy Perry’s music video, “Firework,” feelings of despair, hopelessness, and insecurity are common emotions we all share as humans from time to time. From a child battling cancer in the hospital, a young girl struggling with insecurities at a pool party, and two homosexual men afraid to share their sexualities, this music video depicts various hardships one may be forced to face throughout their life. Despite the difficulty of their circumstances, each individual discovers a way to ignite their “inner firework”, which gives them the strength and courage to stand up for themselves and live their lives authentically. Through the use of meaningful lyrics, her powerful influence in society, and timely, captivating visuals, Katy Perry effectively instills ideas of self-love, confidence, and resilience in listeners in her music video “Firework”.

Standing in a floor-length, sparkly dress, the music video begins with Katy Perry singing directly to the camera addressing a specific audience. She lyrically addresses anyone who has experienced “wanting to start again” or feeling “already buried deep” in their current struggles. People who can relate to these emotions are the target audience for this piece. Perry wants to spread a positive message by showing that although life isn’t always fair, every person has the power to overcome adversities inside of them. Those listening to Perry’s song can take away that with a positive mindset, personal acceptance and peace are attainable goals.

Logically, the “Firework” video persuades the viewer to want to become self-empowered. We are flooded with optimistic images of fireworks shooting out of the chests of those who bypass personal roadblocks and stick up for themselves. Watching the two men finally pursue a relationship and seeing the young girl jump into the pool despite her insecurities are two breathtaking moments in the video. The viewer is consumed by the pure joy and lively, upbeat atmosphere surrounding these individuals after they finally overcome their fears. Katy Perry can also be seen with colorful fireworks exploding from her heart and a huge smile on her face. Why wouldn’t we want to experience this same feeling of euphoria? Naturally, viewers will come to understand that following the brave actions of those in the video will allow them to obtain the same level of happiness in their own lives.

Overall, the music video emphatically appeals to the emotions of viewers. Through the use of explosive colors, vivid imagery, and darker scenes revealing troubling scenarios, the video truly invokes an array of emotions in the short four minutes of film. Visually, several of Molly Bang’s Principles of Design are evident. Principle 2 states that “Vertical shapes rebel against Earth’s gravity. They imply energy and a reaching towards heights or the heavens” (Bang 229). A recurrent visual throughout the video was that of fireworks shooting out from people’s chests and radiating upwards. This visual implies a lot of energy and excitement in the motion of the fireworks and relates back to the special meaning behind the bursts of light. Secondly, Principle 8 mentions that “The larger an object is in a picture, the stronger it feels.” (Bang 239). This idea can be applied to the ending scene of the music video, when the camera pans out to reveal hundreds of huge fireworks flooding the night sky. The fireworks are so large they overtake the screen, which reiterates the importance of the firework’s symbolism.

Another rhetorical element seen in the music video is representation. In the words of Sturken and Cartwright, “Over time, images have been used to represent, make meaning of, and convey various sentiments about nature, society, and culture…” (Sturken and Cartwright 245). The appearance of fireworks flashing across the Budapest skyline is a very dynamic image. We can connect this strong imagery with feelings of empowerment, bravery, and freedom – all of which are themes of the Fourth of July. Katy Perry also alludes to the patriotic holiday lyrically, singing “Just own the night like the Fourth of July”. This overlap between the messages and meanings of the holiday with the song allows us to further understand the message Katy Perry was trying to share with the audience.

It is evident that Perry’s attempt to convey themes of self-acceptance, love, and confidence was undoubtedly successful in her “Firework” music video. Due to the inspirational lyrics, her powerful stance as a pop culture icon, and the enchanting imagery, her compelling message was well received by many around the world. “Firework” portrays strong examples of how having the right mindset can make even the worst situations a little brighter, just as fireworks can illuminate even the darkest night sky.

Works Cited

Bang, Molly. “Excerpts from ‘Picture This: How Pictures Work.’” Everything’s a Text. Eds. Dan Melzer and Deborah Coxwell-Teague. Boston: Rearson Education, Inc., 2011. 227-44.

Perry, Katy (katyperry). “I am officially dedicating my new video to #itgetsbetter, because everyone has the spark to be a FIREWORK.” 28 October 2010, 12:37 a.m.. Tweet.

Sturken, Marita and Lisa Cartwright. “Excerpts from ‘Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture.’” Everything’s a Text. Eds. Dan Melzer and Deborah Coxwell-Teague. Boston: Rearson Education, Inc., 2011. 244-51.

Author’s Note:

This piece was one of my favorites to create for several reasons. First of all, who doesn’t love Katy Perry?! In this essay, I decided to dive deeper than the surface to recognize various rhetorical elements present in Perry’s “Firework” music video. After this assignment, I came to understand how often rhetorical devices are used in our society, especially in pop culture and advertisements. Identifying these devices and different principles of design in “Firework” was an engaging but relatively simple task. I included several hyperlinks that provide more context for the reader, such as the link to Katy Perry’s Wikipedia biography and the screenshot of her Twitter profile. The gif also allows the reader to better visualize the ideas I discuss throughout the paper. Lastly, I also felt it was important to embed the “Firework” music video within the post ( for obvious reasons ☺).

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Rhetorical Analysis Essays in Music Appreciation: A Sample Assignment

Many of us college music professors have struggled to create writing assignments that meet our pedagogical goals and engage students. As music teachers, we need to create equitable assignments that meet our students where they are, help them gain the skills that will be necessary for their success, and meet our course general objectives for thinking and writing about music. In this post, I discuss the rhetorical analysis assignment I use in my music appreciation sections and how I scaffold the informal low-stakes writing and research skills necessary for students to be successful.

• Post date 7 August 2022
• Post categories In Pedagogy Study Group , Resources , Teaching Tips

Many of us college music professors have struggled to create writing assignments that meet our pedagogical goals AND engage students. Additionally, many college professors have found that students are unequipped to engage in college-level writing activities, which may become even more widespread as we deal with first-time college students in the COVID era. As music teachers, we need to create equitable assignments that meet our students where they are, help them gain the skills that will be necessary for their success, and meet our course general objectives for thinking and writing about music. In this post, I discuss the rhetorical analysis assignment I use in my music appreciation sections and how I scaffold the informal low-stakes writing and research skills necessary for students to be successful. The structure of this assignment reinforces what students learn in their writing courses, helping them become more proficient in the skills they will need to be successful in college. This assignment could be adapted to other music courses, especially those for non-majors, and to other forms that are becoming popular in college classes including the long blog post, the podcast, or the album review.

Rhetorical analyses are common assignments in first-year college courses because they allow students to work on building the skills of analyzing information and creating an argument about that information. I chose a rhetorical analysis because I wanted to align the curriculum goals in my class with other core classes at the university level. Studies have shown that aligning curriculum across courses improves student learning and outcomes (Grubb & Cox, 2005; Fink, 2013). For many of my college students, especially those who have not had the advantage of advanced placement courses in high school, this is the first time they are exposed to academic writing, and they benefit by a wider exposure.

I teach Music Appreciation at two Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) in Texas that enroll many first-generation and underserved students. To supplement my in-class teaching, I use Kevin Salfen’s Pathways to Music as the textbook. Pathways to Music models a variety of ways of analyzing and writing about music through its five sections or “pathways”: Ritual, Emotion, Work, Art, and Politics. For each of these pathways, students see different models of discussing music from across the world and make connections to their own musical experiences. They get to learn about musical rituals, musical expression of emotions, the work involved in creating music, musical art (aesthetics), and musical politics (messages) not only from the textbook, but from each other. Furthermore, musical rhetoric is discussed during the second pathway. Students learn that rhetoric is communication, and the six major components of rhetoric can be applied to music analysis: topic, audience, persona, context, purpose, and genre.

To plan this assignment, I began with my expectations for what I want students to do in the final paper. Students are to choose a piece of music and analyze it for what it says and how it musically conveys this message. Considering this goal, I reverse-engineered the course to cover the skills they would need to achieve that goal and build them throughout the semester. The final project prompt, given below, is similar to other rhetorical paper prompts used in college courses. The prompt addresses all six elements of a rhetorical situation. It asks students to think about the topic of the music, who listens to the music, how the performer(s) want(s) to be perceived by the audience, and the context, purpose, and genre of the piece of music.

The skills required to perform this rhetorical analysis are then broken down into “write to learn” activities in the form of weekly blog posts. Music, as an aural art, can be very difficult to write about, even for trained professionals, so blogs provide regular opportunities to build such skills. Weekly blogs require students to continually practice communicating about music, and ideas seen in the blogs can be discussed during class time. About half of the blog posts in my class directly engage students in the process of writing their final paper.

One of the first blog posts I have students tackle during the semester is to listen to and reflect on the “How to Listen to Music in 4 Easy Steps” from the Switched on Pop podcast . Hosts Nate Sloan and Charlie Harding walk listeners through their four steps of how to listen to and interpret music through the example of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” I let the students know that while this is not the only way of listening to music, it provides a good model for those unfamiliar with actively listening to music. The first step is the “liner notes,” where the listener learns the contextual information of the song: who made it, when, where, and how. Next, they model the “needle drop,” which is simply listening to the song all the way through. The third step is the “scratch,” where the listener goes back to the recording and focuses on short sections that draw them in. For this step, listeners need to listen multiple times and consider what it is that is drawing them into the piece. Finally, the fourth step is “remixing” a song. “Remixing” in the Switched on Pop method is not a re-creation of the song, but encourages the students to make connections and interpret what they hear. The “remix” asks them to consider what they think the song means and why, which is primarily what I want students to be able to do by the end of the semester. In their blog post, students summarize the four steps from Switched on Pop and compare that method of listening to their own style of listening to music.

The second pathway from the textbook introduces the idea of musical rhetoric for conveying musical emotion. For an in-class activity, I have the students look at an example mentioned in the textbook to see how the musical choices made impact the message of the music. In class, we listen to “Hurt,” first by Nine Inch Nails and then Johnny Cash’s cover.  Through this activity, students can hear and compare how the different choices of instrumentation, singing style, slight lyrical changes, and the context in which the musicians made their music can affect how the music makes them feel different emotions.

After we have learned about rhetorical analysis, I have the students listen to another music podcast and analyze how the hosts discuss the music. I provide a list of suggested podcasts that cover a variety of musical styles for students to choose from. Students are able to bring podcast episodes to me for approval. In order for the podcast to be approved, it has to discuss the music (or musician) in some informative way and not be just a radio show. Students listen to the episode and write about the context of the podcast episode. This information includes who the hosts are, when the hosts made it, and the purpose the hosts made the episode—what did the hosts want the listeners to do with the information they provided? Students then share their insights during class. Because of the diversity of student interests, we get to hear about many musical styles and ways of discussing music. This assignment is useful because it provides another model of discussing music and has students practice their rhetorical analysis skills.

Suggested list of podcasts:

• Brown, Angela & Joshua Thompson.  Melanated Moments in Classical Music.  https://www.classicalmusicindy.org/podcasts/melanated-moments/ .
• Coe, Tyler. Cocaine & Rhinestones: The History of Country Music Podcast. https://cocaineandrhinestones.com/episodes/season-one .
• Conger, Cristen and Caroline Ervin. Stuff Mom Never Told You from How Stuff Works. https://www.stuffmomnevertoldyou.com/podcasts . (Students must find an episode on a musical topic).
• Contreras, Felix.  Alt Latino from NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/altlatino/192684845/our-show .
• Giddens, Rhiannon.  Aria Code Podcast . https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/aria-code .
• Golan, Ross.  And the Writer Is… Podcast. http://www.andthewriteris.com/band/ .
• Hamilton, Kirk. Strong Songs. https://strongsongspodcast.com/ .
• Ronson, Mark.  Fader Uncovered. https://www.thefader.com/podcasts/uncovered .
• Sloan, Nate and Charlie Harding. Switched on Pop. https://www.switchedonpop.com .
• Weilerstein, Joshua. Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast . https://stickynotespodcast.libsyn.com
• Wilson, Tracy and Holly Frey. Stuff You Missed in History Class. https://www.missedinhistory.com . (Students must find an episode on a musical topic).

To promote good writing habits, I have the students submit a “Topic Proposal” blog in the first half of the semester. This assignment ensures that they are already thinking about their music example and can collect resources and practice their analyses throughout the semester. In the topic proposal, students indicate what piece they want to analyze for their final project and why they chose this piece. Students are not allowed to choose the same piece as another student. Additionally, allowing students to choose what piece they want to analyze increases student excitement in the project and allows them to explore and reflect on their own musical values.

Information literacy is another important skill for student success in their academic careers. To help with information literacy, I introduce students to the library, teach them how to find sources, and then discuss how to evaluate those sources. I prefer to do this by taking the students to the library and meeting with a librarian, but that is not always possible. Many of our academic librarians have created short library introduction videos that could be helpful as well. During these tutorials, I introduce the students to databases that would be particularly helpful to them in this class, like Credo Reference or Oxford Music Online. Students learn the acronym CRAAP (Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose) and practice evaluating sources in order to find reliable sources. On the reflection post for this assignment, many students have divulged that this is the first time these topics have been taught to them. Once we have covered the CRAAP test and library sources, students then do a “source report” blog. Students have to find a source related to their topic, summarize it, and evaluate it with the CRAAP test. While there are not many articles on the specific songs, works, and artists in which the students are interested, I encourage them to look up sources on related genres and styles to contextualize their piece. Practicing evaluating sources helps build their critical thinking skills.

At this point in the semester, I have students do a Rhetorical Situation Chart for their chosen example. I adapted this rhetorical situation chart, linked below, from an Advanced Placement Summer Institute English Language and Composition workshop led by Teri Marshall. By this time in class, students are used to rhetorical analysis because they have encountered it in other course activities. They research the context, the audience, the persona, the purpose, and the style of their example and begin figuring out what they want to say about the piece. The synthesis statement at the bottom of the worksheet can then be revised into a thesis statement for their papers.

Now that students have some sources and ideas regarding what they want to discuss, I have them submit a “half-draft” of their paper where they begin translating all of the information they have into a prose paper. The half-draft is also a low-stakes assignment where students get credit for turning in two to three paragraphs and an outline of further points. This shows that they are thinking about the music and what it conveys, and we can focus on higher-order issues with the writing. At this point, I also look at the sources students are using and let them know if they need to find more and point them in the right direction. I do not evaluate the drafts for grammar, but I do provide feedback on common errors. The goal is to encourage early writing and continuing the “write to learn” process.

The final paper is due a few weeks after students have received feedback on the half draft and is evaluated for thesis, structure, effectiveness of analysis, and use of sources. Since implementing this assignment in the fall of 2020, the papers I have received are much improved from previous semesters. While the writing still is not perfect, these papers make for a much more enjoyable read and demonstrate that students are able to communicate about music. For those in my classes who have had effective writing pedagogy before, this provides another opportunity for them to practice and apply their skills to writing about music they love.

There are a few things I particularly love about this assignment and the thought processes students go through in creating their analyses. The assignment uses low-stakes writing for students to practice their musical analyses without fear of failure. Students also become better informed consumers of music who can contextualize and discuss musical performances. Finally, this assignment provides a tangible way for students to explain to me why they love the music they love. Students reflect at the end of the semester about what they have learned and their relationship to music. For some final thoughts about the paper, this is what the students themselves say they learned in their final blog post of the semester:

I was very hesitant that I wouldn’t enjoy this class when I was signed up for it and saw it on my schedule, but I was very pleasantly surprised! I really did enjoy this class and I think I’ve learned so many new ways that I can listen to music. As a musician, it was really nice and interesting to get to see where some of the pieces that I’ve played or even just listened to came from. I also really liked comparing the music we listen to now to music that was popular in different time periods, and how music from so many years ago is still influencing music today ! I really enjoyed the “Music as Art” section, because it goes to show how much work goes into some of the songs we listen to, as well as how often times, many musicians don’t intend for their pieces to be formal art, but the connections we make to the piece give it meaning and a whole different purpose. I really enjoyed this class! I think I have a bigger appreciation for all the work and talent and craft that goes into making all the pieces I know and love today. 🙂

I didn’t have any expectations for this class due to never taking any sort of music class before. I thought it was going to focus more on instruments and reading music. Learning about how to analyze music and music history was eye-opening. As odd as it sounds, I actually learned how to listen to music and how aspects of music created and used many years ago are still used today. Before this class, I just thought lyrics were the only meaningful part of a song and everything else was just put in to make the song sound better. Now I know that every part of the song holds meaning and nothing is added or done unintentionally, everything has a purpose. Now when I listen to music I can feel the emotion beyond the lyrics and have a better understanding of the message the artist is trying to send. This class definitely gave me a new perspective on music. When I listen to music now I can identify the type of message the artist is sending, the emotion they were trying to provoke, and who their intended audience is. When we first analyzed music I thought it was going to be such a long process and would turn into me disliking music, but it is the complete opposite. I am able to analyze the song after listening to it a few times and after each analysis, I am amazed by what I discover. After taking this course I have a deeper appreciation for music. 

I never gave much thought to the way I listened to music before this class or even thought about the evaluation of music at all. My favorite part of this class was learning about all of the different eras of music and how they impacted each generation. When I listen to music now I find myself trying to hear the different instruments being played along with trying to figure out the style and patterns throughout the song. Doing this has made me find new meaning in songs that I’ve listened to forever. I also like that I can hear certain music and relate it back or hear similarities from music that was made long ago. Learning how present day artist implement parts of music from a different age and era is really cool. This class has definitely changed the way I listen to music and without even thinking about it I find myself hearing part of a song or hearing the instruments being played and I think about where that came from and why the artist chose that instrument for the specific piece being played. It’s interesting how much goes into making music that I never even knew. I have a new found appreciation for music and the artist who make it. 

Sources and Further Reading

Burkholder, J. Peter. “Decode the Discipline of Music History for Our Students.” Journal of Music History Pedagogy 1, no. 2 (2011): 93–111.

Crain, Timothy. “Beyond Coverage: Teaching for Understanding in the Music History Survey Classroom.” Journal of Music History Pedagogy 4, no. 2 (2014): 301–318.

Deadman, Alison. “Sonata, What Do You Want of Me?”: Teaching Rhetorical Strategies for Writing About Music.” Journal of Music History Pedagogy 6, no. 1 (2013): 23–40.

Epstein, Louis, Taylor Okonek, and Anna Perkins. “Mind the Gap: Inclusive Pedagogies for Diverse Classrooms.” Journal of Music History Pedagogy 9, no. 2 (2019): 119–172.

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How to Write a Rhetorical Analysis | Key Concepts & Examples

Published on August 28, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on July 23, 2023.

A rhetorical analysis is a type of essay  that looks at a text in terms of rhetoric. This means it is less concerned with what the author is saying than with how they say it: their goals, techniques, and appeals to the audience.

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Table of contents

Key concepts in rhetoric, analyzing the text, introducing your rhetorical analysis, the body: doing the analysis, concluding a rhetorical analysis, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about rhetorical analysis.

Rhetoric, the art of effective speaking and writing, is a subject that trains you to look at texts, arguments and speeches in terms of how they are designed to persuade the audience. This section introduces a few of the key concepts of this field.

Appeals: Logos, ethos, pathos

Appeals are how the author convinces their audience. Three central appeals are discussed in rhetoric, established by the philosopher Aristotle and sometimes called the rhetorical triangle: logos, ethos, and pathos.

Logos , or the logical appeal, refers to the use of reasoned argument to persuade. This is the dominant approach in academic writing , where arguments are built up using reasoning and evidence.

Ethos , or the ethical appeal, involves the author presenting themselves as an authority on their subject. For example, someone making a moral argument might highlight their own morally admirable behavior; someone speaking about a technical subject might present themselves as an expert by mentioning their qualifications.

Pathos , or the pathetic appeal, evokes the audience’s emotions. This might involve speaking in a passionate way, employing vivid imagery, or trying to provoke anger, sympathy, or any other emotional response in the audience.

These three appeals are all treated as integral parts of rhetoric, and a given author may combine all three of them to convince their audience.

Text and context

In rhetoric, a text is not necessarily a piece of writing (though it may be this). A text is whatever piece of communication you are analyzing. This could be, for example, a speech, an advertisement, or a satirical image.

In these cases, your analysis would focus on more than just language—you might look at visual or sonic elements of the text too.

The context is everything surrounding the text: Who is the author (or speaker, designer, etc.)? Who is their (intended or actual) audience? When and where was the text produced, and for what purpose?

Looking at the context can help to inform your rhetorical analysis. For example, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech has universal power, but the context of the civil rights movement is an important part of understanding why.

Claims, supports, and warrants

A piece of rhetoric is always making some sort of argument, whether it’s a very clearly defined and logical one (e.g. in a philosophy essay) or one that the reader has to infer (e.g. in a satirical article). These arguments are built up with claims, supports, and warrants.

A claim is the fact or idea the author wants to convince the reader of. An argument might center on a single claim, or be built up out of many. Claims are usually explicitly stated, but they may also just be implied in some kinds of text.

The author uses supports to back up each claim they make. These might range from hard evidence to emotional appeals—anything that is used to convince the reader to accept a claim.

The warrant is the logic or assumption that connects a support with a claim. Outside of quite formal argumentation, the warrant is often unstated—the author assumes their audience will understand the connection without it. But that doesn’t mean you can’t still explore the implicit warrant in these cases.

For example, look at the following statement:

We can see a claim and a support here, but the warrant is implicit. Here, the warrant is the assumption that more likeable candidates would have inspired greater turnout. We might be more or less convinced by the argument depending on whether we think this is a fair assumption.

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Rhetorical analysis isn’t a matter of choosing concepts in advance and applying them to a text. Instead, it starts with looking at the text in detail and asking the appropriate questions about how it works:

• What is the author’s purpose?
• Do they focus closely on their key claims, or do they discuss various topics?
• What tone do they take—angry or sympathetic? Personal or authoritative? Formal or informal?
• Who seems to be the intended audience? Is this audience likely to be successfully reached and convinced?
• What kinds of evidence are presented?

By asking these questions, you’ll discover the various rhetorical devices the text uses. Don’t feel that you have to cram in every rhetorical term you know—focus on those that are most important to the text.

The following sections show how to write the different parts of a rhetorical analysis.

Like all essays, a rhetorical analysis begins with an introduction . The introduction tells readers what text you’ll be discussing, provides relevant background information, and presents your thesis statement .

Hover over different parts of the example below to see how an introduction works.

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech is widely regarded as one of the most important pieces of oratory in American history. Delivered in 1963 to thousands of civil rights activists outside the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., the speech has come to symbolize the spirit of the civil rights movement and even to function as a major part of the American national myth. This rhetorical analysis argues that King’s assumption of the prophetic voice, amplified by the historic size of his audience, creates a powerful sense of ethos that has retained its inspirational power over the years.

The body of your rhetorical analysis is where you’ll tackle the text directly. It’s often divided into three paragraphs, although it may be more in a longer essay.

Each paragraph should focus on a different element of the text, and they should all contribute to your overall argument for your thesis statement.

Hover over the example to explore how a typical body paragraph is constructed.

King’s speech is infused with prophetic language throughout. Even before the famous “dream” part of the speech, King’s language consistently strikes a prophetic tone. He refers to the Lincoln Memorial as a “hallowed spot” and speaks of rising “from the dark and desolate valley of segregation” to “make justice a reality for all of God’s children.” The assumption of this prophetic voice constitutes the text’s strongest ethical appeal; after linking himself with political figures like Lincoln and the Founding Fathers, King’s ethos adopts a distinctly religious tone, recalling Biblical prophets and preachers of change from across history. This adds significant force to his words; standing before an audience of hundreds of thousands, he states not just what the future should be, but what it will be: “The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.” This warning is almost apocalyptic in tone, though it concludes with the positive image of the “bright day of justice.” The power of King’s rhetoric thus stems not only from the pathos of his vision of a brighter future, but from the ethos of the prophetic voice he adopts in expressing this vision.

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The conclusion of a rhetorical analysis wraps up the essay by restating the main argument and showing how it has been developed by your analysis. It may also try to link the text, and your analysis of it, with broader concerns.

Explore the example below to get a sense of the conclusion.

It is clear from this analysis that the effectiveness of King’s rhetoric stems less from the pathetic appeal of his utopian “dream” than it does from the ethos he carefully constructs to give force to his statements. By framing contemporary upheavals as part of a prophecy whose fulfillment will result in the better future he imagines, King ensures not only the effectiveness of his words in the moment but their continuing resonance today. Even if we have not yet achieved King’s dream, we cannot deny the role his words played in setting us on the path toward it.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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The goal of a rhetorical analysis is to explain the effect a piece of writing or oratory has on its audience, how successful it is, and the devices and appeals it uses to achieve its goals.

Unlike a standard argumentative essay , it’s less about taking a position on the arguments presented, and more about exploring how they are constructed.

The term “text” in a rhetorical analysis essay refers to whatever object you’re analyzing. It’s frequently a piece of writing or a speech, but it doesn’t have to be. For example, you could also treat an advertisement or political cartoon as a text.

Logos appeals to the audience’s reason, building up logical arguments . Ethos appeals to the speaker’s status or authority, making the audience more likely to trust them. Pathos appeals to the emotions, trying to make the audience feel angry or sympathetic, for example.

Collectively, these three appeals are sometimes called the rhetorical triangle . They are central to rhetorical analysis , though a piece of rhetoric might not necessarily use all of them.

In rhetorical analysis , a claim is something the author wants the audience to believe. A support is the evidence or appeal they use to convince the reader to believe the claim. A warrant is the (often implicit) assumption that links the support with the claim.

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Taylor Swift’s Blank Space Music Video: Analysis Example

Blank space video analysis: introduction, analyzing the ‘blank space’ video, blank space music video analysis: conclusion, works cited.

A music video is a short film integrating song and imagery. It is produced for promotional and artistic purposes (Machin 52). Music videos have evolved significantly over the years. Most of the traditional and modest scenes in the videos, which mainly involved bands and artists playing their own instruments, have been replaced by multimillion dollar high conceptual performances. The replacement is mainly as a result of the emergence and availability of cheap and free digital video equipment and platforms, such as YouTube. A song is always produced before the conception of a video (Machin 64). It is mainly because directors and video producers use the song as a guide in the production of images and film that sell the song to the intended audience (Gomez 53).

In most cases, music videos are an interpretation of the lyrics in the song. However, some are produced without a set out concept and are merely a filmed version to the song’s live performance (Gomez 54). In spite of the logic behind the production of music videos, most people agree that they are mainly meant to help an artist or band promote a song or album (Vernallis 221). A number of factors are taken into consideration in the production of a video. Such elements are used to determine, for instance, how different moments are set up and ‘departed from’. Most importantly, they determine why some scenes are more significant than others.

In this paper, the author will provide a critical and an in-depth analysis of a contemporary music video. The aim is to discern the relationship between the song and how the lyrics are animated through the techniques of the film. The analysis largely draws from the tools used in the book “Experiencing Music Video: Aesthetics and Cultural Context”. The author selected the video for Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” song.

The song “Blank Space” is an electropop composition by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It is from her fifth studio album, “1989”, released in 2014. It is written by Swift, Max Martin, and Shellback. The song became a critical and commercial success, hitting a record four hundred million views on YouTube in its first week of release. The video accompanying the song was shot for over three days at Oheka Castle in Huntington, New York.

The Narrative

Taylor Swift’s video for the song “Blank Space” is based on a narrative. It is mainly because the film presents the storyline described in the lyrics of the song (Gomez 78). All the actions in the video describe what is said in the song itself. The film tells the story of a dating couple whose relationship goes up in flames when the man cheats on the lady. As a result, the lady seeks revenge. The arguments arising from this incidence are captured in the video and are also evident in the song. For example, the girl sings “I can make the tables turn, roses garden filled with thorns, keep you second guessing like Oh My God who is she?” ( Blank Space ). The anger and jealousy of the woman is also evident as she throws a potted plant at her cheating boyfriend. She shouts “I get drunk on jealousy” ( Blank Space ).

The story tells of how Taylor Swift takes revenge by setting her boyfriend’s clothes on fire and tearing down his pictures. She screams “so it’s going to be forever or it’s going to go down in flames” ( Blank Space ). She goes ahead to inflict more pain on him by damaging his car with a golf stick. Eventually, the man leaves her, becoming her ex-lover. However, as the video ends, a new man pulls up into the driveway, continuing the long list of ex-lovers depicted in the song. The girl sings “got a long list of ex-lovers they will tell you I’m insane, but I have a blank space baby and I will write your name” ( Blank Space ).

Lyrical Connection

As stated earlier, the video to the song “Blank Space” is based on a narrative. As such, it presents the storyline described in the lyrics. For instance, the line “nice to meet you, where have you being, I can show incredible things” ( Blank Space ) is accompanied by video images of a man walking into the castle and Taylor Swift walking down the stairs to meet him. Taylor goes ahead to describe her guest in the song. She says “new money, suit and tie I can read you like a magazine” ( Blank Space ). The description is followed by an up-close shot of the man and his clothes.

Word painting, which links images to words and music, is also evident in the video (Cooper 57). For instance, when Taylor says the word ‘scar’, there appears a picture of a man with nasty scars on his face. In most scenes, Taylor Swift’s lips also sync to the rhythm of the lyrics playing in the music video. As such, there is a strong connection between the lyrics and the visuals (Vernallis 128). The video illustrates the lyrics and showcases the story.

Musical Connection

There is always a relationship between the music and the visuals of its video (Vernallis 161). In the electropop genre, the link can either be amplifying, illustrative, or contradicting (Machin 34). The strong relationship between the visuals and the music in “Blank Space” can be seen in the order and timing of the cuts. The cuts are produced according to the beats of the track. They are smooth and run evenly without being edgy or peculiar. The video also strikes a balance between instances where Taylor Swift acts as a crazy and vengeful girl and close up shots of her singing. Such a musical-visual connection not only establishes one as an artist, but also as an actor and a performer (Machin 55).

Color Scheme

The “Blank Space” music video uses neutral color schemes as is the norm in most electropop videos (Vernallis 34). However, in some parts of the video, the color system is subdued to bring about a classical and country feel to the film. The costumes used in the music video play a major role in the alteration of the color scheme. In one instance, Taylor Swift wears a brightly colored pink dress and shades. The combination signifies happier times. When the relationship ends, she switches to darker colors, which signifies sadness ( Blank Space ). By applying this technique, the producers are able to use the color scheme to control the mood in the film. However, at times, the sarcasm in the music video suppresses the mood brought about by the combination of colors. The setting is striking and natural. The house and outdoors are neutral in color, which is within the neutral color scheme.

Video Foreground

Most music videos show the artist or band that sang the song in the foreground (Vernallis 57). However, this is not always the norm. In some instances, especially in album promotional videos or song teasers, the artist is at times in the background (Cooper 57). It can be equated to playing a film with a soundtrack. It is especially seen in videos where the lyrics, music, and rhythm do not match the visuals in the video. In “Blank Space”, the artist is the foreground of the video. The reason is that her movements and actions match the lyrics and rhythm of the song.

Target Audience

Taylor Swift presents cheating, which is one of the major problems that lovers go through, in a fun and sarcastic way. The music video is a depiction of her love life as depicted in the mainstream media. Taylor Swift’s romantic streak has often been the center of attention. She is usually put on the spotlight for being in many relationships. In the video, she acts the part of a “boy-crazy” and jealous woman that is depicted in real life. For example, she sings “Got a long list of ex-lovers, they’ll tell you I’m insane” ( Blank Space ). Her mockery of her image in the media outlets shows a world where the narrow and sexist caricatures attached to women are acted out for the amusement of the audience (Vernallis 120). As such, the video can be seen as directed towards all those who stereotype her as a ‘boy crazy’ woman.

It is clear that a music video contains various technical and aesthetic features. The elements are clearly seen through an in-depth assessment of the video itself. An analysis of “Blank Space” reveals that one has to clearly discern the relationship between the song and the animations depicted through the techniques used in the film. It is the only way through which the audience can fully appreciate a music video.

Blank Space . Ex. Prod. Max Martin. New York: Big Machine Records. 2014. DVD.

Cooper, Lee. “Lyrical Commentaries: Learning from Popular Music.” Music Educator Journal 77.8 (2001): 56-58. Print.

Gomez, Isabel. “Narrative on Music Video.” Contemporary Film Studies 4.1 (2008): 51-82. Print.

Machin, David. Analyzing Popular Music, Los Angeles: Sage, 2010. Print.

Vernallis, Carol. Experiencing Music Video: Aesthetics and Cultural Context, New York: Columbia University Press, 2004. Print.

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How to Write a Rhetorical Analysis Essay–Examples & Template

What is a Rhetorical Analysis Essay?

A rhetorical analysis essay is, as the name suggests, an analysis of someone else’s writing (or speech, or advert, or even cartoon) and how they use not only words but also rhetorical techniques to influence their audience in a certain way. A rhetorical analysis is less interested in what the author is saying and more in how they present it, what effect this has on their readers, whether they achieve their goals, and what approach they use to get there. 

Its structure is similar to that of most essays: An Introduction presents your thesis, a Body analyzes the text you have chosen, breaks it down into sections and explains how arguments have been constructed and how each part persuades, informs, or entertains the reader, and a Conclusion section sums up your evaluation. 

Note that your personal opinion on the matter is not relevant for your analysis and that you don’t state anywhere in your essay whether you agree or disagree with the stance the author takes.

In the following, we will define the key rhetorical concepts you need to write a good rhetorical analysis and give you some practical tips on where to start.

Key Rhetorical Concepts

Your goal when writing a rhetorical analysis is to think about and then carefully describe how the author has designed their text so that it has the intended effect on their audience. To do that, you need to consider a number of key rhetorical strategies: Rhetorical appeals (“Ethos”, “Logos”, and “Pathos”), context, as well as claims, supports, and warrants.

Ethos, Logos, and Pathos were introduced by Aristotle, way back in the 4th century BC, as the main ways in which language can be used to persuade an audience. They still represent the basis of any rhetorical analysis and are often referred to as the “rhetorical triangle”. 

These and other rhetorical techniques can all be combined to create the intended effect, and your job as the one analyzing a text is to break the writer’s arguments down and identify the concepts they are based on.

Rhetorical Appeals

Rhetorical appeal #1: ethos.

Ethos refers to the reputation or authority of the writer regarding the topic of their essay or speech and to how they use this to appeal to their audience. Just like we are more likely to buy a product from a brand or vendor we have confidence in than one we don’t know or have reason to distrust, Ethos-driven texts or speeches rely on the reputation of the author to persuade the reader or listener. When you analyze an essay, you should therefore look at how the writer establishes Ethos through rhetorical devices.

Does the author present themselves as an authority on their subject? If so, how? 

Do they highlight how impeccable their own behavior is to make a moral argument? 

Do they present themselves as an expert by listing their qualifications or experience to convince the reader of their opinion on something?

Rhetorical appeal #2: Pathos

The purpose of Pathos-driven rhetoric is to appeal to the reader’s emotions. A common example of pathos as a rhetorical means is adverts by charities that try to make you donate money to a “good cause”. To evoke the intended emotions in the reader, an author may use passionate language, tell personal stories, and employ vivid imagery so that the reader can imagine themselves in a certain situation and feel empathy with or anger towards others.

Rhetorical appeal #3: Logos

Logos, the “logical” appeal, uses reason to persuade. Reason and logic, supported by data, evidence, clearly defined methodology, and well-constructed arguments, are what most academic writing is based on. Emotions, those of the researcher/writer as well as those of the reader, should stay out of such academic texts, as should anyone’s reputation, beliefs, or personal opinions. 

Text and Context

To analyze a piece of writing, a speech, an advertisement, or even a satirical drawing, you need to look beyond the piece of communication and take the context in which it was created and/or published into account. 

Who is the person who wrote the text/drew the cartoon/designed the ad..? What audience are they trying to reach? Where was the piece published and what was happening there around that time? 

A political speech, for example, can be powerful even when read decades later, but the historical context surrounding it is an important aspect of the effect it was intended to have. 

Claims, Supports, and Warrants

To make any kind of argument, a writer needs to put forward specific claims, support them with data or evidence or even a moral or emotional appeal, and connect the dots logically so that the reader can follow along and agree with the points made.

The connections between statements, so-called “warrants”, follow logical reasoning but are not always clearly stated—the author simply assumes the reader understands the underlying logic, whether they present it “explicitly” or “implicitly”. Implicit warrants are commonly used in advertisements where seemingly happy people use certain products, wear certain clothes, accessories, or perfumes, or live certain lifestyles – with the connotation that, first, the product/perfume/lifestyle is what makes that person happy and, second, the reader wants to be as happy as the person in the ad. Some warrants are never clearly stated, and your job when writing a rhetorical analysis essay is therefore to identify them and bring them to light, to evaluate their validity, their effect on the reader, and the use of such means by the writer/creator. 

What are the Five Rhetorical Situations?

A “rhetorical situation” refers to the circumstance behind a text or other piece of communication that arises from a given context. It explains why a rhetorical piece was created, what its purpose is, and how it was constructed to achieve its aims.

Rhetorical situations can be classified into the following five categories:

Asking such questions when you analyze a text will help you identify all the aspects that play a role in the effect it has on its audience, and will allow you to evaluate whether it achieved its aims or where it may have failed to do so.

Rhetorical Analysis Essay Outline

Analyzing someone else’s work can seem like a big task, but as with every assignment or writing endeavor, you can break it down into smaller, well-defined steps that give you a practical structure to follow. 

To give you an example of how the different parts of your text may look when it’s finished, we will provide you with some excerpts from this rhetorical analysis essay example (which even includes helpful comments) published on the Online Writing Lab website of Excelsior University in Albany, NY. The text that this essay analyzes is this article on why one should or shouldn’t buy an Ipad. If you want more examples so that you can build your own rhetorical analysis template, have a look at this essay on Nabokov’s Lolita and the one provided here about the “Shitty First Drafts” chapter of Anne Lamott’s writing instruction book “Bird by Bird”.

Analyzing the Text

When writing a rhetorical analysis, you don’t choose the concepts or key points you think are relevant or want to address. Rather, you carefully read the text several times asking yourself questions like those listed in the last section on rhetorical situations to identify how the text “works” and how it was written to achieve that effect.

Start with focusing on the author : What do you think was their purpose for writing the text? Do they make one principal claim and then elaborate on that? Or do they discuss different topics? 

Then look at what audience they are talking to: Do they want to make a group of people take some action? Vote for someone? Donate money to a good cause? Who are these people? Is the text reaching this specific audience? Why or why not?

What tone is the author using to address their audience? Are they trying to evoke sympathy? Stir up anger? Are they writing from a personal perspective? Are they painting themselves as an authority on the topic? Are they using academic or informal language?

How does the author support their claims ? What kind of evidence are they presenting? Are they providing explicit or implicit warrants? Are these warrants valid or problematic? Is the provided evidence convincing?  

Asking yourself such questions will help you identify what rhetorical devices a text uses and how well they are put together to achieve a certain aim. Remember, your own opinion and whether you agree with the author are not the point of a rhetorical analysis essay – your task is simply to take the text apart and evaluate it.

If you are still confused about how to write a rhetorical analysis essay, just follow the steps outlined below to write the different parts of your rhetorical analysis: As every other essay, it consists of an Introduction , a Body (the actual analysis), and a Conclusion .

Rhetorical Analysis Introduction

The Introduction section briefly presents the topic of the essay you are analyzing, the author, their main claims, a short summary of the work by you, and your thesis statement . 

Tell the reader what the text you are going to analyze represents (e.g., historically) or why it is relevant (e.g., because it has become some kind of reference for how something is done). Describe what the author claims, asserts, or implies and what techniques they use to make their argument and persuade their audience. Finish off with your thesis statement that prepares the reader for what you are going to present in the next section – do you think that the author’s assumptions/claims/arguments were presented in a logical/appealing/powerful way and reached their audience as intended?

Have a look at an excerpt from the sample essay linked above to see what a rhetorical analysis introduction can look like. See how it introduces the author and article , the context in which it originally appeared , the main claims the author makes , and how this first paragraph ends in a clear thesis statement that the essay will then elaborate on in the following Body section:

Cory Doctorow ’s article on BoingBoing is an older review of the iPad , one of Apple’s most famous products. At the time of this article, however, the iPad was simply the latest Apple product to hit the market and was not yet so popular. Doctorow’s entire career has been entrenched in and around technology. He got his start as a CD-ROM programmer and is now a successful blogger and author. He is currently the co-editor of the BoingBoing blog on which this article was posted. One of his main points in this article comes from Doctorow’s passionate advocacy of free digital media sharing. He argues that the iPad is just another way for established technology companies to control our technological freedom and creativity . In “ Why I Won’t Buy an iPad (and Think You Shouldn’t, Either) ” published on Boing Boing in April of 2010, Cory Doctorow successfully uses his experience with technology, facts about the company Apple, and appeals to consumer needs to convince potential iPad buyers that Apple and its products, specifically the iPad, limit the digital rights of those who use them by controlling and mainstreaming the content that can be used and created on the device . 

Doing the Rhetorical Analysis

The main part of your analysis is the Body , where you dissect the text in detail. Explain what methods the author uses to inform, entertain, and/or persuade the audience. Use Aristotle’s rhetorical triangle and the other key concepts we introduced above. Use quotations from the essay to demonstrate what you mean. Work out why the writer used a certain approach and evaluate (and again, demonstrate using the text itself) how successful they were. Evaluate the effect of each rhetorical technique you identify on the audience and judge whether the effect is in line with the author’s intentions.

To make it easy for the reader to follow your thought process, divide this part of your essay into paragraphs that each focus on one strategy or one concept , and make sure they are all necessary and contribute to the development of your argument(s).

One paragraph of this section of your essay could, for example, look like this:

One example of Doctorow’s position is his comparison of Apple’s iStore to Wal-Mart. This is an appeal to the consumer’s logic—or an appeal to logos. Doctorow wants the reader to take his comparison and consider how an all-powerful corporation like the iStore will affect them. An iPad will only allow for apps and programs purchased through the iStore to be run on it; therefore, a customer must not only purchase an iPad but also any programs he or she wishes to use. Customers cannot create their own programs or modify the hardware in any way. 

As you can see, the author of this sample essay identifies and then explains to the reader how Doctorow uses the concept of Logos to appeal to his readers – not just by pointing out that he does it but by dissecting how it is done.

Rhetorical Analysis Conclusion

The conclusion section of your analysis should restate your main arguments and emphasize once more whether you think the author achieved their goal. Note that this is not the place to introduce new information—only rely on the points you have discussed in the body of your essay. End with a statement that sums up the impact the text has on its audience and maybe society as a whole:

Overall, Doctorow makes a good argument about why there are potentially many better things to drop a great deal of money on instead of the iPad. He gives some valuable information and facts that consumers should take into consideration before going out to purchase the new device. He clearly uses rhetorical tools to help make his case, and, overall, he is effective as a writer, even if, ultimately, he was ineffective in convincing the world not to buy an iPad . 

Frequently Asked Questions about Rhetorical Analysis Essays 

What is a rhetorical analysis essay.

A rhetorical analysis dissects a text or another piece of communication to work out and explain how it impacts its audience, how successfully it achieves its aims, and what rhetorical devices it uses to do that. 

While argumentative essays usually take a stance on a certain topic and argue for it, a rhetorical analysis identifies how someone else constructs their arguments and supports their claims.

What is the correct rhetorical analysis essay format?

Like most other essays, a rhetorical analysis contains an Introduction that presents the thesis statement, a Body that analyzes the piece of communication, explains how arguments have been constructed, and illustrates how each part persuades, informs, or entertains the reader, and a Conclusion section that summarizes the results of the analysis. 

What is the “rhetorical triangle”?

The rhetorical triangle was introduced by Aristotle as the main ways in which language can be used to persuade an audience: Logos appeals to the audience’s reason, Ethos to the writer’s status or authority, and Pathos to the reader’s emotions. Logos, Ethos, and Pathos can all be combined to create the intended effect, and your job as the one analyzing a text is to break the writer’s arguments down and identify what specific concepts each is based on.

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What Is a Rhetorical Analysis and How to Write a Great One

Helly Douglas

Do you have to write a rhetorical analysis essay? Fear not! We’re here to explain exactly what rhetorical analysis means, how you should structure your essay, and give you some essential “dos and don’ts.”

What is a Rhetorical Analysis Essay?

How do you write a rhetorical analysis, what are the three rhetorical strategies, what are the five rhetorical situations, how to plan a rhetorical analysis essay, creating a rhetorical analysis essay, examples of great rhetorical analysis essays, final thoughts.

A rhetorical analysis essay studies how writers and speakers have used words to influence their audience. Think less about the words the author has used and more about the techniques they employ, their goals, and the effect this has on the audience.

In your analysis essay, you break a piece of text (including cartoons, adverts, and speeches) into sections and explain how each part works to persuade, inform, or entertain. You’ll explore the effectiveness of the techniques used, how the argument has been constructed, and give examples from the text.

A strong rhetorical analysis evaluates a text rather than just describes the techniques used. You don’t include whether you personally agree or disagree with the argument.

Structure a rhetorical analysis in the same way as most other types of academic essays . You’ll have an introduction to present your thesis, a main body where you analyze the text, which then leads to a conclusion.

Think about how the writer (also known as a rhetor) considers the situation that frames their communication:

• Topic: the overall purpose of the rhetoric
• Audience: this includes primary, secondary, and tertiary audiences
• Purpose: there are often more than one to consider
• Context and culture: the wider situation within which the rhetoric is placed

Back in the 4th century BC, Aristotle was talking about how language can be used as a means of persuasion. He described three principal forms —Ethos, Logos, and Pathos—often referred to as the Rhetorical Triangle . These persuasive techniques are still used today.

Rhetorical Strategy 1: Ethos

Are you more likely to buy a car from an established company that’s been an important part of your community for 50 years, or someone new who just started their business?

Reputation matters. Ethos explores how the character, disposition, and fundamental values of the author create appeal, along with their expertise and knowledge in the subject area.

Aristotle breaks ethos down into three further categories:

• Phronesis: skills and practical wisdom
• Arete: virtue
• Eunoia: goodwill towards the audience

Ethos-driven speeches and text rely on the reputation of the author. In your analysis, you can look at how the writer establishes ethos through both direct and indirect means.

Rhetorical Strategy 2: Pathos

Pathos-driven rhetoric hooks into our emotions. You’ll often see it used in advertisements, particularly by charities wanting you to donate money towards an appeal.

Common use of pathos includes:

• Vivid description so the reader can imagine themselves in the situation
• Personal stories to create feelings of empathy
• Emotional vocabulary that evokes a response

By using pathos to make the audience feel a particular emotion, the author can persuade them that the argument they’re making is compelling.

Rhetorical Strategy 3: Logos

Logos uses logic or reason. It’s commonly used in academic writing when arguments are created using evidence and reasoning rather than an emotional response. It’s constructed in a step-by-step approach that builds methodically to create a powerful effect upon the reader.

Rhetoric can use any one of these three techniques, but effective arguments often appeal to all three elements.

The rhetorical situation explains the circumstances behind and around a piece of rhetoric. It helps you think about why a text exists, its purpose, and how it’s carried out.

The rhetorical situations are:

• 1) Purpose: Why is this being written? (It could be trying to inform, persuade, instruct, or entertain.)
• 2) Audience: Which groups or individuals will read and take action (or have done so in the past)?
• 3) Genre: What type of writing is this?
• 4) Stance: What is the tone of the text? What position are they taking?
• 5) Media/Visuals: What means of communication are used?

Understanding and analyzing the rhetorical situation is essential for building a strong essay. Also think about any rhetoric restraints on the text, such as beliefs, attitudes, and traditions that could affect the author's decisions.

Before leaping into your essay, it’s worth taking time to explore the text at a deeper level and considering the rhetorical situations we looked at before. Throw away your assumptions and use these simple questions to help you unpick how and why the text is having an effect on the audience.

1: What is the Rhetorical Situation?

• Why is there a need or opportunity for persuasion?
• How do words and references help you identify the time and location?
• What are the rhetoric restraints?
• What historical occasions would lead to this text being created?

2: Who is the Author?

• How do they position themselves as an expert worth listening to?
• What is their ethos?
• Do they have a reputation that gives them authority?
• What is their intention?
• What values or customs do they have?

3: Who is it Written For?

• Who is the intended audience?
• How is this appealing to this particular audience?
• Who are the possible secondary and tertiary audiences?

4: What is the Central Idea?

• Can you summarize the key point of this rhetoric?
• What arguments are used?
• How has it developed a line of reasoning?

5: How is it Structured?

• What structure is used?
• How is the content arranged within the structure?

6: What Form is Used?

• Does this follow a specific literary genre?
• What type of style and tone is used, and why is this?
• Does the form used complement the content?
• What effect could this form have on the audience?

7: Is the Rhetoric Effective?

• Does the content fulfil the author’s intentions?
• Does the message effectively fit the audience, location, and time period?

Once you’ve fully explored the text, you’ll have a better understanding of the impact it’s having on the audience and feel more confident about writing your essay outline.

A great essay starts with an interesting topic. Choose carefully so you’re personally invested in the subject and familiar with it rather than just following trending topics. There are lots of great ideas on this blog post by My Perfect Words if you need some inspiration. Take some time to do background research to ensure your topic offers good analysis opportunities.

Remember to check the information given to you by your professor so you follow their preferred style guidelines. This outline example gives you a general idea of a format to follow, but there will likely be specific requests about layout and content in your course handbook. It’s always worth asking your institution if you’re unsure.

Make notes for each section of your essay before you write. This makes it easy for you to write a well-structured text that flows naturally to a conclusion. You will develop each note into a paragraph. Look at this example by College Essay for useful ideas about the structure.

1: Introduction

This is a short, informative section that shows you understand the purpose of the text. It tempts the reader to find out more by mentioning what will come in the main body of your essay.

• Name the author of the text and the title of their work followed by the date in parentheses
• Use a verb to describe what the author does, e.g. “implies,” “asserts,” or “claims”
• Briefly summarize the text in your own words
• Mention the persuasive techniques used by the rhetor and its effect

Create a thesis statement to come at the end of your introduction.

After your introduction, move on to your critical analysis. This is the principal part of your essay.

• Explain the methods used by the author to inform, entertain, and/or persuade the audience using Aristotle's rhetorical triangle
• Use quotations to prove the statements you make
• Explain why the writer used this approach and how successful it is
• Consider how it makes the audience feel and react

Make each strategy a new paragraph rather than cramming them together, and always use proper citations. Check back to your course handbook if you’re unsure which citation style is preferred.

3: Conclusion

Your conclusion should summarize the points you’ve made in the main body of your essay. While you will draw the points together, this is not the place to introduce new information you’ve not previously mentioned.

Use your last sentence to share a powerful concluding statement that talks about the impact the text has on the audience(s) and wider society. How have its strategies helped to shape history?

Before You Submit

Poor spelling and grammatical errors ruin a great essay. Use ProWritingAid to check through your finished essay before you submit. It will pick up all the minor errors you’ve missed and help you give your essay a final polish. Look at this useful ProWritingAid webinar for further ideas to help you significantly improve your essays. Sign up for a free trial today and start editing your essays!

You’ll find countless examples of rhetorical analysis online, but they range widely in quality. Your institution may have example essays they can share with you to show you exactly what they’re looking for.

The following links should give you a good starting point if you’re looking for ideas:

Pearson Canada has a range of good examples. Look at how embedded quotations are used to prove the points being made. The end questions help you unpick how successful each essay is.

Excelsior College has an excellent sample essay complete with useful comments highlighting the techniques used.

Brighton Online has a selection of interesting essays to look at. In this specific example, consider how wider reading has deepened the exploration of the text.

Writing a rhetorical analysis essay can seem daunting, but spending significant time deeply analyzing the text before you write will make it far more achievable and result in a better-quality essay overall.

It can take some time to write a good essay. Aim to complete it well before the deadline so you don’t feel rushed. Use ProWritingAid’s comprehensive checks to find any errors and make changes to improve readability. Then you’ll be ready to submit your finished essay, knowing it’s as good as you can possibly make it.

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Helly Douglas is a UK writer and teacher, specialising in education, children, and parenting. She loves making the complex seem simple through blogs, articles, and curriculum content. You can check out her work at hellydouglas.com or connect on Twitter @hellydouglas. When she’s not writing, you will find her in a classroom, being a mum or battling against the wilderness of her garden—the garden is winning!

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RCL Discussion Blog

Rhetoric Everywhere

Music’s Place in Rhetoric and Vice Versa

Since my civic artifact was Logic’s suicide prevention music video , I decided to stick with the music video theme when choosing my second artifact. For my Rhetorical Analysis essay, I am comparing this music video to “Where is the Love” by the Black Eyed Peas. Whereas Logic chose to examine the disregard for the value of human life from an internal standpoint, the Black Eyed Peas urges a higher regard for human life through the elimination of external factors in their song Where is the Love. This song directs the question, “Where is the love?”, to the world in an attempt to globally unite in incite social, economic, and political change. The video focuses on the acts of both domestic and foreign terror, as opposed to a single individual’s journey, to create a sense of urgency that compassion, perhaps the most notable characteristic of humanity, needs to be restored. In simplest terms, the video is arguing that violence has no place in the world and instead we should all promote love and its power.

This artifact stood out to me the most as I was researching different options to compare my original artifact. In particular, I was drawn to the fact that it was a newer version of their “Where is the Love” song, with the original having been released in 2009. After watching the remake, I was curious to see the differences, not only in the video, but also in the song itself. The final convincing factor that made me believe this artifact was truly the most appropriate for my analysis was the strong kairos evident. Because the lyrics had changed to reflect the tumultuous times, there was a much clearer argument conveyed in such a rhetorical manner. Even from the first watch, I could easily identify the fundamentals of rhetoric and those that extend beyond just ethos, logos, pathos. As far as exploration goes, I think I will use the actual song lyrics, as opposed to the music video, to highlight the aspects of kairos, but I will use the cinematic choices of the music video to analyze the more in-depth rhetoric. Overall, the way the music video was shot, entirely in black and white with red question marks scattered throughout and featured at the end with children, made it uniquely interesting.

My primary comparison between these two artifacts is the fact that Logic’s song is about suicide, which is more of an internal issue that has associated external factors, and “Where is the Love” by the Black Eyed Peas tackles the issue of foreign and domestic terror, primarily an external issue affected by individuals. Another comparison that is evident throughout my essay, is the different cinematic techniques. Whereas Logic’s song follows specifically the story of a young boy’s struggle with gaining acceptance for being gay, the Black Eyed Peas’ song focuses in on hate crimes in general. With this in mind and the variation of cinematic techniques, I plan to heavily compare the way in which these affect the communication or creation of rhetoric within the artifact. In addition, the Black Eyed Peas’ song features a multitude of celebrities; however, unlike in Logic’s video, these celebrities aren’t actors playing a part of a script (i.e. Don Cheadle plays the boy’s father in 1-800-273-8255). Comparing these two songs will turn out to be my best option since they both offer different variations in differing manners of an anti-death message.

3 Comments on Music’s Place in Rhetoric and Vice Versa

Sarah Duffy

It’s interesting that you chose videos as media for civic artifacts. I wouldn’t have thought about doing that, but it works well for your topic. you seemed to have researched your topic well and I like how your comparisons flow with each other. I’m sure this essay will be really great.

I think you have a great comparison here. I like that you took a nontraditional route and decided to compare music videos. It is easy to overlook entertainment as fluff, but there are many deeper messages that we can derive from music and music videos.

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• Jul 13, 2020

A Guide to Rhetorical Analysis (YouTube Script)

Hey, glad you’re back! Today we’re taking on the challenge of writing a rhetorical analysis. To start, here’s a pro tip from someone who has graded a lot them: it really is rhetorical analysis—analyzation just isn’t a word.

Rhetorical analysis is something that can sound a little complicated, but it’s really not that hard once you understand what you’re really doing. So, in today’s video we’re going to break down the process and explain each part.

Sound good? Let’s get to it—

Rhetoric & Analysis

If you’re interested in a more in-depth explanation of rhetoric, there’s a video up here you can watch. Just as a quick review, though, rhetoric is what we do when we’re trying to get other people on the same page, to see a situation as we see it, and to respond to that situation in the way we think is best.

The first place to start with a rhetorical analysis paper, then, is to find a text, video, song, object, picture, or whatever else that was created by someone in order to get other people on the same page.

When it comes to rhetorical analysis, then, your job is to explain how your rhetorical artifact works.

Think of it this way: if you want to understand how a toaster works (and you have an extra one lying around) you could take it apart, look at the pieces, figure out how they work together, and then draw conclusions about a toaster works. That would be a process of analysis. Rhetorical analysis works the same way, you take something apart, look at its individual pieces, explain how they work together, and then draw conclusions about how a rhetorical artifact gets its message across to an audience. You don’t need to uncover a deeper meaning; you don’t need to do additional research; you don’t need to find interviews with the creator to see what was going on inside their head—you only need to look carefully at a text and tell your reader how it works. Piece of cake.

Details, Interpretations, Justifications

So, when you’re writing a rhetorical analysis, your goal is to explain to a reader how the thing your analyzing works to get its audience on the same page. It’s a pretty straightforward goal—but how do you go about doing it?

Of course, you’ll want to start with a basic understanding of where the thing you’re analyzing fits in the world. Who created it? Why was it created—what was the creator’s goal? Think carefully about that purpose: why does this thing really exist? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read papers that say that a sentimental commercial from an insurance company about a dad watching his daughter grow up was created to make people feel like family is important. That might be true, but it’s not why the ad was created—it was created to sell insurance (The question then becomes why would they use the growing-up story to sell insurance)

You’ll also want to have a sense of who the audience is—and, like with purpose, be as specific as possible. You might be tempted to say that a trailer for a big superhero movie is “for everyone,” but if you can notice obscure references to the comics in the trailer, you can be sure that those references aren’t for “everyone”: those details are trying to get people to go see the movie—but they aren’t going to work on someone who doesn’t notice them. A trailer like that is probably meant for devoted fans, not just anyone.

It’s practically impossible to be too specific when you’re identifying details for a rhetorical analysis. When you’re gathering details just make a list of what you see or hear—and be as specific as possible. Don’t just say that the music video is colorful—identify the specific colors and start thinking about how those colors relate to each other (are they similar to each other or do they contrast?) Are there specific words that get repeated over and over again? How many people or characters are there?

As you identify details, your next job is to interpret them—to explain how they work to get the audience on the same page. Maybe you notice that there are a lot of bright colors on a poster—perhaps they’re meant to get the audience to feel cheerful and excited (why would the creator want the audience to feel that way?) Remember to tie these interpretations back to the main purpose of the thing you’re analyzing—how do these details help the creator to accomplish their rhetorical goal?

When you interpret details, it might also be helpful to consider our old friends ethos, pathos, and logos. Those classical rhetorical terms can help you to understand how specific details are working in a rhetorical artifact.

Then, when you have details and interpretations, don’t forget to justify your interpretations. How do you know, for example, that bright colors will make the audience feel excited and cheerful—and how do you know that that will help the creator accomplish their goal? Remember, your job as a rhetorical analyst is not just to list out what you found but to explain to your reader how the rhetorical artifact works. There’s a difference between reporting and explaining—show your reader not just what you know but how you know it’s true .

These three basic components of rhetorical analysis aren’t really steps—you don’t have to do them in any particular order. But an effective rhetorical analysis will contain all three: an identification of details, an interpretation of those details, and a justification explaining that your interpretation is valid.

Also, it’s worth noting that this isn’t a game of getting inside the creator’s head and explaining their original intent. All you have to work with is the thing you’re analyzing—not the creator’s thoughts. And that’s good because the audience doesn’t have access to the creator’s head either.

So don’t worry about whether or not the creator intended for a certain detail to have a certain effect—if you can notice it, it’s there, and it can very well be affecting the audience whether it was supposed to be there or not. If you’ve ever had someone take something you said the wrong way, you know exactly what that’s like—so don’t pigeonhole yourself into thinking that you’re just writing a report on the creator’s intent: you’re really writing an analysis on anything that the audience could potentially experience, whether the creator meant for it to be there or not.

But enough talking in the abstract—let’s see what rhetorical analysis actually looks like.

Practicing with an Example Video

So here’s a short video I found on the internet. Based on some light research, it’s clear that it was created as a trailer for a YouTube channel. That means that we can have a pretty good idea of what this video is meant to accomplish: to introduce people to the channel and encourage them to watch more videos and/or subscribe.

With that purpose in mind, we can start looking for specific details or elements of the video that work together to help this creator accomplish his purpose. That is, whenever we see something that catches our interest, we can ask—how does this part of the video help to encourage people to subscribe to the channel?

Now, I know that optional assignments are the same as nonexistent assignments, so I don’t really expect you to analyze the video on your own. However, just to give you a sense of what rhetorical analysis looks like in practice, here are some examples of how you might analyze different aspects of this video.

Maybe, when you watch this video, you’re drawn to the way that the golden skull character declares that viewers are really there for him—and not for the person talking in the background. Why, you might ask, would the creator of a video cut himself out of the video—how does that help him to accomplish his purposes?

Well, after the skull introduces himself, he says “Don’t feel bad: he never has to know. Maybe we should check back in on him, though.” This statement could be meant to help the viewer feel more invested in the argument of the video: the skull is letting the viewer in on a secret and then inviting the viewer to carry on watching the video as if nothing happened.

By putting this scenario in the video, the creator gives the viewer a chance to feel like they have privileged knowledge and to be engaged in the content on a different level.

Because people are more inclined to be invested in something when they feel like they have special knowledge and a part to play, this move could be meant to get viewers to care and, therefore, to be more inclined to consume additional content.

Of course, you could also interpret the same details in a different way. The fact that the skull cuts in and talks over the “actual” video sets up an expectation for the viewer that other content on the channel will work in a similar way.

It’s not just a professor sitting in front of a green screen projecting old lecture slides about writing. Even if things don’t get much more exciting than that, there’s at least an interrupting skull bringing things back down to earth.

By having the skull interrupt in the trailer, the creator helps viewers understand a key part of the internal logic of the channel: snarky skull comments are a part of it. This isn’t the place for monotonous explanations right out of the textbook—it’s a place to talk about writing but maybe also have some fun with it.

The structure of this video helps viewers to know what they’re getting with the rest of the channel, and, hopefully, that’s a better option that will make them more likely to subscribe.

Like I mentioned earlier, you could also start with an interpretation. Let’s say you really want to understand the video in terms of ethos—so you start looking for details that work to help the viewer trust the creator and his argument.

You could talk about how the person is dressed—how does a jacket and tie convey trust? How would the video be different if he were dressed in an apron or in a dark suit with a red tie and American flag pin? Push for specifics—what does a yellow tie say that a red tie doesn’t? What if there were no tie?

Of course, you could also look at the books on the shelves—there are poetry collections, books on writing, style, classical and modern rhetorical theory, research methods, teaching. You can’t know for sure that the creator has read them all, but you do know that they’re in the background: they’re meant to show that the content on the channel is backed by real knowledge: it’s not all just stuff this guy made up out of his head.

Even the fact that the skull interrupts everything can help to establish trust with the viewer. We don’t like people who brag about what they’ve achieved, so, to avoid that, the creator has put those points in the skull’s mouth.

That way, the creator’s experience and knowledge—which is important for establishing that he knows what he’s talking about—can still be stated without making it look like he’s full of himself—another important way to establish trust with viewers.

Okay, that’s just a taste of what rhetorical analysis would look like in action. If you’d like to see a more in-depth rhetorical analysis of that video, let me know in the comments, and we can definitely spend some time going over it in greater detail, even working it into a more formal paper structure. For now, though, I just want to give you a sense of what rhetorical analysis is all about.

We have definitely covered a lot of ground today. If you’re still watching, thanks for sticking with us. Before we quit, here’s a quick recap of what we discussed:

Rhetoric is what we do when we’re trying to get people on the same page. Analysis is what we do when we break something down into its smaller parts and explain how those parts work together.

Your purpose in writing a rhetorical analysis is to break a rhetorical artifact into smaller pieces and explain how they work together to help the creator accomplish their purpose.

Effective rhetorical analysis has three key components that can happen in any order but that must all occur

The identification of specific details

A rhetorical interpretation of those details

An explanation of how you know that your interpretation of those details is valid

Do all that, and you’re well on your way to writing a truly effective rhetorical analysis.

Now I’ve definitely said enough for today, so I’ll wrap up here. If you have a question or if there’s anything you’d like me to cover in a future video, leave it in the comments, and we’ll address it in the future. And, of course, if this video was helpful, give it a like and share it with a friend.

Take care till next time!

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Visual Rhetoric

Video essay resource guide.

PAR 102 (M-Th, 9 AM- 5 PM) Fine Arts Library Media Lab (same hours as FAL) PCL Media Lab (same hours as PCL)

About video essays

What are they.

“The video essay is often described as a form of new media, but the basic principles are as old as rhetoric: the author makes an assertion, then presents evidence to back up his claim. Of course it was always possible for film critics to do this in print, and they’ve been doing it for over 100 years, following more or less the same template that one would use while writing about any art form: state your thesis or opinion, then back it with examples. In college, I was assured that in its heart, all written criticism was essentially the same – that in terms of rhetorical construction, book reviews, music reviews, dance reviews and film reviews were cut from the same cloth, but tailored to suit the specific properties of the medium being described, with greater emphasis given to form or content depending on the author’s goals and the reader’s presumed interest.”

Matt Zoller Seitz on the video essay .

what makes a good video essay? 

Tony Zhou on how to structure a video essay

Kevin B. Lee on what makes a video essay “ great “

why should we use them? what are their limits?

Kevin B. Lee’s  experimental/artistic pitch for video essays

Kevin B. Lee’s mainstream pitch for video essay

“Of all the many developments in the short history of film criticism and scholarship, the video essay has the greatest potential to challenge the now historically located text-based dominance of the appraisal and interpretation of film and its contextual cultures…”

Andrew McWhirter argues that t he video essay has significant academic potential in the Fall 2015 issue of  Screen

“Importantly, the [new] media stylo does not replace traditional scholarship. This is a new practice beyond traditional scholarship. So how does critical media differ from traditional scholarship and what advantages does it offer? First, as you will see with the works in this issue, critical media demonstrates a shift in rhetorical mode. The traditional essay is argumentative-thesis, evidence, conclusion. Traditional scholarship aspires to exhaustion, to be the definitive, end-all-be-all, last word on a particular subject. The media stylo, by contrast, suggests possibilities-it is not the end of scholarly inquiry; it is the beginning. It explores and experiments and is designed just as much to inspire as to convince…”

Eric Fadden’s “ A Manifesto for Critical Media “

Adam Westbrook’s “ The Web-Video Problem: Why It’s Time to Rethinking Visual Storytelling from the Bottom Up “

Video essayists and venues

Matt Zoller Seitz (various venues) A writer and director by trade, Zoller Seitz is nonetheless probably best known as a prominent American cultural critic.  He’s made over 1000 hours of video essays and is generally recognized as a founder of the video essay movement in high-brow periodicals.  A recognized expert on Wes Anderson, Zoller Seitz is also notable because he often mixes other cinematic media (especially television) into his analysis, as in the above example, which doubles as an experiment in the absence of voiceover.

Various contributors, Press Play Co-founded by Matt Zoller Seitz and Ken Cancelosi,  Press Play  (published by Indiewire)   is one of the oldest high-brow venues for video essays about television, cinema, and other aspects of popular culture.

Various contributors, Keyframe   (A Fandor online publication) Fandor’s video essay department publishes work from many editors (what many video essayists call themselves) on and in a range of topics and styles.  Check it out to get an idea of all that things a video essay can do!

Various contributors, Moving Image Source A high-brow publication for video essays.

Tony Zhou, Every Frame a Painting The master of video essays on filmic form, Tony’s arguments are clean, simple, and well-evidenced.  Look to Tony as an example of aggressive and precise editing and arrangement.  He’s also an excellent sound editor–pay attention to his choices and try out some of his sound-mixing techniques in your essay.

Adam Johnston, Your Movie Sucks (YMS) Although an excellent example of epideictic film rhetoric, this channel is a great example of what  not  to do in this assignment (write a movie review, gush about how good/bad you think a movie is, focus on motifs or narrative content instead of  film form  as the center of your argument).  What you  can  learn from Adam is a lot about style.  Adam’s delivery, pacing, and editing all work together to promote a mildly-disinterested-and-therefore-credible ethos through a near-monotone, which I’ll affectionately dub the “Daria” narratorial ethos.

Adam Westbrook, delve.tv Adam Westbrook is part of an emerging group of professional video essayists and delve.tv is his version of a visual podcast.  Using the video essay form, Adam has developed a professional public intellectual ethos for himself through skillful overlay of explanation/interpretation and concept.  Check out Westbrook’s work as a really good example of presenting and representing visual concepts crucial to an argument.  He’s a master at making an argument in the form of storytelling, and he uses the video essay as a vehicle for that enterprise.

:: kogonada (various venues) If you found yourself wondering what the auteur video essay might look like, :: kogonada is it.  I like to call this “expressionist” video essay style.  Kogonada is the ultimate minimalist when it comes to voiceover/text over–its message impossibly and almost excessively efficient.  Half of the videos in his library are simple, expertly-executed supercuts , highlighting how heavily video essays rely on the “supercut” technique to make an argument.  Crafting an essay in this style really limits your audience and may not be a very good fit for the constraints of assignment (very “cutting edge,” as we talked about it in class), but you will probably draw inspiration from ::kogonada’s distinct, recognizable style, as well as an idea of what a video essay can do at the outer limits of its form.

Lewis Bond,  Channel Criswell Narrating in brogue-y Northern English, Bond takes his time, releasing a very carefully-edited, high-production video essay once every couple of months.  He’s a decent editor, but I feel his essays tend to run long, and I feel rushed by his narration at times.  Bond also makes a useful distinction between video essays and analysis/reviews on his channel–and while most of his analysis/reviews focus on film content (what you don’t want to imitate), his video essays stay pretty focused on film technique (what you do).  Hearing the same author consciously engage in two different modes of analysis might help you better understand the distinction between the two, as well.

Jack Nugent,  Now You See It Nugent’s brisk, formal analysis is both insightful and accessible–a good example of what it takes to secure a significant following in the highly-competitive Youtube marketplace.  [That’s my way of slyly calling him commercial.] Nugent is especially good at pairing his narration with his images.  Concentrate and reflect upon his simple pairings as you watch–how does Nugent help you process both sets of information at the pacing he sets?

Evan Puschak, The Nerdwriter Nerdwriter  is a great example the diversity of topics a video essay can be used to craft an argument about.  Every week, Puschak publishes an episode on science, art, and culture.  Look at all the different things Puschak considers visual rhetoric and think about how he’s using the video essay form to make honed, precisely-executed arguments about popular culture.

Dennis Hartwig and John P. Hess,  FilmmakerIQ Hartwig and Hess use video essays to explain filmmaking technique to aspiring filmmakers.  I’ve included the channel here as another example of what  not  to do in your argument, although perhaps some of the technical explanations that Hartwig and Hess have produced might help you as secondary sources.  Your target audience (someone familiar on basic film theory trying to better understand film form) is likely to find the highly technical, prescriptive arguments on FilmIQ boring or alienating. Don’t focus on technical production in your essay (how the film accomplishes a particular visual technique using a camera); rather, focus on how the audience interprets the end result in the film itself; in other words, focus on choices the audience can notice and interpret–how is the audience interpreting the product of production?  How often is the audience thinking about/noticing production in that process?

Kevin B. Lee (various venues) A good example of the older, high-brow generation of video essayists, Kevin’s collection of work hosted on his Vimeo channel offers slow, deliberate, lecture-inspired readings of film techniques and form.  Note the distinct stylistic difference between Kevin’s pacing and someone like Zhou or Lewis.  How does delivery affect reception?

Software Guides

How to access Lynda tutorials (these will change your life)

Handbrake and MakeMKV  (file converters)

Adobe Premiere  (video editing)

Camtasia  (screen capture)

File management

Use your free UTBox account to upload and manage your files.  Make sure you’ve got some sort of system for tracking and assembling everything into your video editing software.   UTBox has a 2 terabyte limit (much higher than Google Drive) and is an excellent file management resource for all sorts of academic work.

Adobe Premiere saves versions with links to your video files, so it’s imperative that you keep your video files folder in the same place on every machine you open it up on.  That’s why I keep all my video files in a big folder on box that I drop on the desktop of any machine I’m working on before I open my premiere files.  The Adobe Premiere project walkthrough  has more details on this.

Where to find video and how to capture it

About fair use . Make sure your composition complies with the Fair Use doctrine and familiarize yourself with the four criteria.

The best place to capture images is always from a high-resolution DVD or video file .  The first place you should go to get the film is the library– see instructions for searching here .

To import the video and audio from your DVD or video file into your video editing software (like Premiere), you will first need to use a software to convert it to an .mkv.  See instructions on how to do that here .

Camtasia tutorials .  Camtasia is a program that allows you to capture anything that’s going on on your screen .  This is a critical tool for this assignment as you decide what kind of interface you want to present to your reader in your video essay.  Camtasia also allows you to capture any high-quality video playing on your desktop without licensing restrictions.

You can also use Clip Converter to capture images and sound from pre-existing YouTube videos , and it may be a little faster and easier than Camtasia.   I suggest converting things into .mkv before putting them into your video editor, regardless of where you get the material from.

Film theory and criticism

• /r/truefilm’s reading and viewing guide

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10 takeaways from Beyoncé's new album, 'Cowboy Carter'

Sidney Madden

Sheldon Pearce

Cowboy Carter is the hotly anticipated follow-up to to Beyoncé's 2022 album, Renaissance . Blair Caldwell/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

Cowboy Carter is the hotly anticipated follow-up to to Beyoncé's 2022 album, Renaissance .

How long have fans been speculating over the details of Beyoncé 's new album? It depends when you start counting: Some began buzzing over it the second her previous record, the dance-centric Renaissance , was released in 2022 and touted as "act one" of a trilogy. But the chatter has been especially fervent in the past two months, as singles, visuals and other teases popped up during the Grammys, Super Bowl and on the artist's own social media. The Beyhive's busiest bees analyzed clues that pointed toward a country music-inspired sound; they dissected the history of that genre, and how Black musicians have often been written out of it.

After months of anticipation, Cowboy Carter has finally arrived. Is it a country album? In many ways, yes — but it's also a sprawling work filled with disparate influences and references, while remaining a Beyoncé album at its heart. Two NPR Music staffers, reporter Sidney Madden and editor Sheldon Pearce , have been listening since the stroke of midnight. They come to you now with the 10 most important things to know about exactly what Cowboy Carter is, and is not.

Beyoncé's new album is inspired by backlash to her entering the country music genre

1. It's a sprawling Western epic...

Just as Beyoncé's 2022 album, act i: RENAISSANCE , served as a world-building homage to the unsung Black queer youth who created house music, Cowboy Carter continues the lesson plan. In a statement soon after the album's worldwide release, the artist's Parkwood Entertainment shared that each song on the 27-track project is its own version of a reimagined Western film: "She took inspiration from films like Five Fingers for Marseilles , Urban Cowboy , The Hateful Eight , Space Cowboys , The Harder They Fall and Killers of the Flower Moon , often having the films playing on a screen during the recording process."

Each track, whether an interlude, collaboration or poignant solo, rides out like a full-length film full of scenic grandeur, character and conflicts that any Chitlin' Circuit aficionado or spaghetti Western cinephile can obsess over. As a whole, Cowboy Carter serves as a well of discovery, full of samples, sonic Easter eggs, Knowles family callbacks and, most importantly, an appreciation for pioneers in the country world.

2. ... with a searing image of its titular central character.

In the cowboy, Beyoncé finds her ideal figure of the American West and South. She cites the rodeo as the first place where anyone who loved country music and culture could gather and mingle and feel welcome. It's an image that runs counter to the experience that inspired the album: performing her song "Daddy Lessons" at the CMA Awards in 2016, where she has said she "did not feel welcomed ... and it was very clear that I wasn't." The Cowboy Carter character exists in conversation with the history of Black cowboys, the loaded meaning behind the term and its function in the American imagination.

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3. It's a country album...

There are plenty of categorically country sounds on Cowboy Carter . String instruments are its sonic heartbeat, and the do-si-do of the slide guitar on "DESERT EAGLE" and "TEXAS HOLD 'EM" feel perfectly matched with Bey's feathery vocals. The jovial wiggle of the accordions on "RIIVERDANCE" tip a hat to zydeco music and the artist's Creole heritage. "PROTECTOR" (featuring Beyoncé's youngest daughter, Rumi) is anchored by acoustic guitar. "SWEET HONEY BUCKIIN' " interpolates "I Fall to Pieces," the shuffling standard made famous by Patsy Cline . Compared to Bey's past work in an R&B world full of glitz and glamor, many moments on the album, even with their layered arrangements, feel like intimate jam sessions straight out of a Nashville writing camp.

4. ... and it's also not.

Across the track list, elements of hip-hop, bluegrass and Chicano rock, with pop, rock, Jersey club music and operatic runs. "YA YA" conjures the charisma of Tina Turner and Chuck Berry , while winking in the direction of Nancy Sinatra and The Beach Boys . "BODYGUARD" is a breezy surf-rock romp with Latin percussion and a little whiskey on its breath. "AMEN" rings to the rafters in true gospel splendor. "SWEET HONEY BUCKIIN' " stacks genre upon genre and yet never overwhelms, instead connecting the dots between them with dusty horse gallops. The production credits stretch far beyond the scope of country stalwarts, making the album a treasure hunt for fans and issuing a challenge to the ways country music has come to be defined.

5. It's got country and Americana icons to set the tone...

Voices from country lore appear throughout the track list, signposts for the album's deconstructions of genre. The outlaw country pioneer Willie Nelson , who once bucked the Nashville sound himself, stands in as the host of KNTRY Radio Texas, Beyoncé's fictional pirate station. Dolly Parton draws a line from Becky with the good hair to Jolene, and turns up again before "TYRANT," encouraging Beyoncé to light up a juke joint. In a prelude to one of the album's most adventurous cuts, "SPAGHETTII," Linda Martell, an undersung, trailblazing Black country star of the '70s, lays out a sort of mission statement: "Genres are a funny little concept, aren't they? Yes, they are. In theory, they have a simple definition that's easy to understand. But in practice, well, some may feel confined."

6. ... and it's flipping some old tropes.

There are covers of country classics here that stand out for how stealthily they're reimagined. Parton's 1973 hit "Jolene" shows up early in the album, but Beyoncé adds her own sauce to flip its storied narrative. A vigilant Bey (flip-flopping between being upset and unbothered) clocks the "bird" chirping round her man; unlike Dolly, who responds to a similar threat with a plea for mercy, she puts her rival on notice: " I'm warnin' you, woman, find you your own man / Jolene, I know I'm a queen, Jolene / I'm still a Creole banjee bitch from Louisianne ." This twist renegotiates the common push and pull of rolling-stone / damsel-in-distress infidelity that's historically been a hallmark in country standards, and has only recently started to shift (see also: Carrie Underwood 's "Before He Cheats").

Jay-Z and Beyoncé's blank space

7. It gives flowers to unsung pioneers.

When Linda Martell shows up in the opening moments of "SPAGHETTII" to pose her question about genres, the slick rhetorical framing cuts to the main conceit of Cowboy Carter and centers Martell herself as a case in point. As a pioneer in the country space, Martell made history with her 1970 album, Color Me Country , and was the first Black woman to perform on the storied Grand Ole Opry. But because of the racist aggression she endured when moving from pop to country, Martell soon left the business. Now, at 82 years old, Martell's getting her due. Her voice is immortalized on both "SPAGHETTII" and "THE LINDA MARTELL SHOW," both tracks that play hopscotch with a range of genres. "I am proud that Beyoncé is exploring her country music roots," the veteran posted on Instagram . "What she is doing is beautiful, and I'm honored to be a part of it. It's Beyoncé, after all!"

8. It shines a light on the stars of country's new age.

A recent study tracking country music programming from 2000 through 2020 revealed that only 29% of country songs played on format radio were by women artists, and of that 29%, 0.01% were Black women. And so along with honoring pioneers, Cowboy Carter platforms new stars in the field who are still working their way through its entrenched gatekeeping and redlining.

Rhiannon Giddens strums her banjo on the album's lead single, "TEXAS HOLD 'EM." Virginia's Shaboozey, whose 2022 release, Cowboys Live Forever, Outlaws Never Die , offered songs for a post-"Old Town Road" country-rap world, cuts through two tracks with his unforgettable tone. "BLACKBIIRD" features the vocals of four Black women — Tanner Adell , Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy and Reyna Roberts. This soulful cover of The Beatles ' classic about Black women's plights and resilience during the American Civil Rights movement puts its subjects in a spotlight that country radio rarely does, bringing home the reality that opportunities for artists like these have scarcely grown in the years since Martell broke ground.

9. It saddles up over the pop-country middle ground.

On Cowboy Carter , Beyoncé is a pop star actively in conversation with the idea of country music, and traversing the distance between those genres seems to have made her consider the existing relationship between them. In two moments on the album, she enlists singers who have been blurring that binary for quite some time: Miley Cyrus and Post Malone . Miley, of course, is the daughter of "Achy Breaky Heart" sensation Billy Ray Cyrus , and in her own pursuit of a pop identity, fiddled with Mike WiLL trap, Flaming Lips psychedelia, glam rock and country pop before settling on the centering sounds of last year's Endless Summer Vacation , which earned her a record of the year Grammy for "Flowers." For his part, Post broke out as a watercolor trap rockstar and has since shifted toward a sound more in line with his Texas roots. Both seem to resonate with the ambiguity Bey sees running through the music.

10. There's more beneath the rhinestone jewel case.

Beyond the many featured guests, other behind-the-scenes contributors help tell the story. The-Dream , Pharrell , No I.D., Raphael Saadiq , Ryan Tedder, Ryan Beatty and Swizz Beatz all helped produce the record. It also boasts an incredibly accomplished cast of supporting players: Pulitzer-winning folk revivalist Giddens , Grammy-winning soul man Jon Batiste , session luminary Nile Rodgers, gospel pedal steelist Robert Randolph , blues rocker Gary Clark Jr. , hip-hop banjoist Willie Jones and the incomparable Stevie Wonder . The incredible variety of names and skills is the secret sauce behind Cowboy Carter 's sprawling vision.