Textual Analysis of the essay “Bad Bet”

Outline for Textual Analysis-Spring ′20
I. Introduction:
1) What is the issue?
2) Why is the issue important? How did it become important?
3) Title or essay
4) Author of essay
5) Audience of essay-see where it was originally published
6) which side of argument this author is on (not his argument
points)
7) end with a thesis that says whether or no the author is
persuasive (no, you cannot say that he is somewhat persuasive).
The thesis must reference ethos, logos, and pathos (though
synonyms may be used—e.g., subject knowledge, reasons,
feelings he evokes)
IMPORTANT NOTE FOR THE BODY OF THE ESSAY—if you
are trying to convince your reader that the author is
persuasive, his ethos and pathos may be weak, but his logos
must be strong. Similarly, if you are saying that he is not
persuasive, his logos cannot be strong.
Note: writing about text, art, or authors is done using the present
tense for verbs (e.g., Einstein says e=mc²).
A.Topic sentence: General evaluation of his character
1. What supports this evaluation?—use quote from text
2. How does this effect his ability to convince those who are on
the other side of the debate that his point of view is the correct
one; or how does it fail to do this?
3. Note: it is very difficult to prove intelligence. Suggestion: select
another manifestation of character (e.g., knowledge of the
subject at hand).
B. Topic sentence: General evaluation of his use of pathos
1. Give example of his use of pathos—use quote from text
2. What emotion does it evoke in the audience?
3. Does this convince those who may disagree with him of his
point of view?
4. Why or why not?
5. If it could help persuade his audience, but his overall argument
is not persuasive, explain why pathos is not enough to persuade
his audience.
6. If it does not help persuade his audience, but his overall
argument is persuasive, explain why failure in pathos is not
sufficient to torpedo his argument.
C. Topic sentence: General evaluation of his reasoning
1. what is a reason he gives that answers Why should . . .? Use
quote from his text.
2. Is it convincing to his audience? (Keep in mind the
priorities/concerns of those who disagree-could this reason
convince them?)
3. Why or why not?
4. If more than one use of logos is evaluated in your paper (e.g.,
reason, use of examples, quote from authoritative figure), make
sure that the above (a reason he gives is evaluated) is done first.
D.Topic sentence: how could his rhetoric be improved?
1. Specify something that you have not already criticized
2. Examples of improvement: what information should have been
given (that wasn’t), where would statistics help (specify what
should have counted), what changes in the organization of the
text should have been made, what kind of quote from an expert
(of what type) should have been added, etc.
II. Conclusion1. Brief summary
Important notes follow (OVER)
NOTE:
1. You cannot use the same quotation from an essay more than once
in your paper.
2. A transition must be at the beginning of a topic sentence. It carries
your reader from one topic to another.
e.g., Although A has good reasoning, his pathos is not very
effective.
e.g., Though A has his audience feeling anger/pity/patriotism, his
flawed character reduces the impact of his persuasiveness.
3. The final sentence of a paragraph(s) should NOT restate your
topic sentence, in a short paper! However, if the paragraph is a
long one, you can say: these two samples from his text support the
idea that A’s ethos is a persuasive one, or With these pieces of
evidence in mind, it is clear that A’s logic has too many flaws to be
convincing. (Note that more than one example has been given in
paragraphs that end in this manner.)
4. Do not give the definitions of ethos, logos, pathos in your paper—
audience awareness; your audience knows these already.
5. Do not lecture on rhetoric e.g., one needs to evoke emotion from a
reader so pathos is used.—audience awareness; your audience
knows this already.
6. You will need a works cited page. This is a separate page and the
last page of your essay. It receives a page number also.
7. If you use information written by the author of the textbook, and
not the author you’re analyzing, don’t forget to add the textbook
author as a separate source on your Works Cited page.