Jonathan P. Lamb's Courses

Essay 1
Rhetorical Analysis of a Quotation of Shakespeare

In this 3-4 page paper, you will analyze the persuasive strategies of a quotation of Shakespeare somewhere in public discourse. Whether the quotation constitutes the whole of a rhetorical text, or whether it’s one among several elements of that text, your analysis should focus on the rhetorical work the quotation does. In fact, the paper should attempt to answer the question, “How and why does this quotation persuade?” Your audience for the essay will be readers familiar with the text you’ve chosen and looking to you for a thoughtful analysis of its rhetoric, particularly the Shakespearean quotation’s rhetorical function.

Unless you’ve stumbled on something far more compelling, use the quotation you found for SRA #1. The two assignments form a streamlined process, and you should refer to the questions on the SRA assignment sheet to jump-start your thinking about the quotation.

Remember that you’re not just describing the quotation; you’re explaining it. In other words, you should not simply discuss what the text argues, but how it does, why it does so in that way, and what it means that the text does so in that way and for those reasons. A superior thesis statement will manage to encompass both the how and the why, and a quality conclusion will address the what it means. We’ll discuss this more in class.

Depending on the text and context in which the quotation appears, you might discuss the following aspects of the rhetorical situation:
• the author/speaker/creator’s intended audience
• the cultural context in which the text was written
• where and when the text was published and how that fact is significant
• the reasons and evidence offered in support of the argument (logos)
• the appeals to the audience's emotions or to the speaker’s credibility (pathos and ethos)
• what is at stake in this argument (what is to be gained or lost in it?)
• how the quotation of Shakespeare relates to any of the above
• whether the audience is intended to recognize the quotation as one from Shakespeare, and what that fact means rhetorically
• the way the Shakespearean line is altered and what that means rhetorically

To understand fully the significance of your Shakespearean quotation, you may want to familiarize yourself with its original context—that is, the play or poem from which it comes. It might be helpful, for example, to know that the phrase “slings and arrows” comes from Hamlet’s famous soliloquy on suicide. Feel free to use any available guides to Shakespeare, including and especially your instructor.

Format: The essay should be typed, double-spaced with 12-point Times New Roman font and one-inch margins all around. Be sure to place quoted text within quotation marks and type your name, the date, and a title at the top of the first page. Please provide a copy, URL, or brief description of the context in which the quotation occurs (even if you’re using the same quotation as you did for SRA #1).

For a grade C or better, your paper should:
- have undergone the paper workshop
- be properly formatted
- be clearly written and free of grammatical errors or typos
- analyze and explain, rather than simply describe, the rhetorical text
- provide evidence for analytic claims.

A superior essay will:
- contain a thesis statement that encompasses how and why the text argues what it does
- take into account possible contexts (e.g., someone actually wearing the apron)
- show some cognizance of the text’s audience(s)
- articulate as clearly as possible what the text argues or convinces its audience(s) of (this doesn’t necessarily have to happen in the introductory paragraph)
- offer some sense of what it means or what it tells us that the text argues what it does in the way it does for the reasons it does.

Sample Thesis and Outline for Paper 1