Rhetorical move essay

Writing a rhetorical analysis essay is like writing a literary analysis essay, except the focus is on one or more non-fiction texts and the analysis targets an author’s style or rhetorical “moves” (a.k.a. use of rhetorical appeals and/or devices). Rhetorical analysis essays usually prove a claim about the author’s message or purpose for writing.

That’s why the body paragraphs have to answer many questions. In this part of your writing assignment, analyze and explain how the author maintains his statement and which strategies and devices he applies. Explain the thesis and persuasive statements of the author. Devote each paragraph to a particular strategy.

Rhetorical Move. As a result, literature review statements are no longer always separable elements in either placement or in function and so can no longer be automatically used as signals for independent moves as part of a move analysis.". (John Swales, Research Genres: Explorations and Applications.

Every academic writer makes rhetorical moves, for example, entering a debate, using evidence to support an argument, winding down to a conclusion, opening up a topic, and critiquing another writer’s argument. “Metalanguage” is the way authors talk about their writing, for example, “In this study, I will explore…” and this may vary by discipline.