Ethos, Logos, and Pathos in a Meat and Morality Article

EWP 290
Rhetorical Analysis Paper
The goal of this paper is to jump start your research and to evaluate a source. In a 2-3 page paper, you will identify writing strategies and appeals authors use to create persuasive, credible arguments. An analysis of the rhetorical choices writers make allows us to evaluate their arguments more effectively and respond appropriately.  
Step 1: Select an article to analyze.
Choose an op-ed in a newspaper, or articles that appears in magazines such as Orion, National Geographic or Nutrition Action, or Websites of activist organizations. Document this source in APA format.

Step 2: Analyze the context.
- Through research, learn all you can about the author. What motivated the author to write? What is the author's purpose for writing this argument?
- Through research, learn all you can about the publication and the audience. Who is the anticipated audience? What type of reader would be engaged with this argument? Try and go beyond an identification of a general audience by identify the age, gender, interests, demographics, reading level, education, profession, etc.
- Through research, find out what else is being said about the subject. Track down references made to the text you are analyzing. When did the article appear? What other concurrent pieces of “cultural conversations” (e.g. other articles, speeches, Web sites, TV shows) does the article respond to or answer?
- What is the medium and genre? What expectations does the audience have about this genre?
Step 3: Analyze the text.
- What is the main claim?
- How is the article organized (sequential, chronological, general to specific, specific to general, compare/contrast, sequential, spatial, problem/solution, etc.)
- What are the appeals?
o Analyze the ethos. Does the author have any credentials? Do you trust this author?
o Analyze the logos. Where do you find facts or evidence to support this argument? What kinds of facts and evidence does the author present? Direct observation? Anecdotes? Statistics? Surveys? Interviews? Quotations from authorities?
o Analyze the pathos. Does the author attempt to invoke an emotional response? Where do you find appeals to shared values or common experiences?
Step 4: Draft
In your draft, you are going to employ writing strategies to convince your audience that you thoroughly understand this text. Introduction: Describe briefly the argument you are analyzing, including where it was published, how long it is, and who wrote it. If the argument is about an issue your audience may be unfamiliar with, supply the necessary background.
Body: Include analysis of context and text.
Conclusion: Do more than simply summarize. You should determine how the strategies used in this article advance a concept, issue or argument. You do not necessarily need to agree with the author. If the article made you think or moved you emotionally, it may be an effective piece of writing. Make certain you add evidence for your conclusion.
NOTE: Your analysis should be just that—yours—in that you're presenting and defending your own understanding of what the author is doing in the text.   There's no need, however, to mention yourself at any point in the essay.   Phrases like “I think” or “in my opinion” tend to weaken this sort of essay, so avoid them.
Likewise, your own opinion of the subject matter of the text is irrelevant.   This assignment does not ask you to agree or disagree with the author, only to analyze how he or she is making a point.