One reading assigned this week was about Rhetorical Analysis. Before reading this I did not know what rhetorical analysis was. I knew what rhetoric was and what analysis was, so I had an idea to what it was. It is a way of understanding and interpreting texts by examining the rhetorical devices used, the context of the text, and the audience. In away we use rhetorical analysis everyday . Under the section Understanding Rhetorical Analysis the write says "You react to what others say or write all the time", but its not just writing. We look at commercials, billboards, and Ads that are around us everyday and we have some type of reaction to them. Such as the rains picture they use.
Most people have hears of Sun Made Raisins and seen the young pretty girl on the cover. In the book the picture has changed to a skeleton of a women. At first I only noticed the skeleton and then I read the text underneath. The picture of the skeleton would not be the best choice for advertising the raisins. The people selling the raisins (the topic) are trying to show parents (their audience) how healthy and great raisins are for their children. Would you rather buy a carton with a healthy young girl or a skeleton. I think that answer is easy. This only one of the helpful ways this assignment helped us with Rhetorical Analysis.
It tells us to choose text we know how to analyze and choose text that "investigate interesting arguments that o interesting things". Also we need to choose text we can learn more about, which goes along with text that we can work with. Some text might be interesting to write about, but if you cannot understand the text, Ad, or film then what good is your analysis going to be. All these are helpful tools to have in mind when writing.
