Analysis of JFK’s Ich Bin ein Berliner

Ideological criticism analyzes and criticizes the ideas within a speech and the systems of belief that the ideas belong to, often in terms of differences in ideological position.

Wander, Philip. "The ideological turn in modern criticism." Communication Studies 34.1 (1983): 1-18;

Wander, Philip. "The third persona: An ideological turn in rhetorical theory." Communication Studies 35.4 (1984): 197-216;

Crowley, Sharon. "Reflections on an argument that won't go away: Or, a turn of the ideological screw." Quarterly Journal of Speech 78.4 (1992): 450-465;

McKerrow, Raymie E. "Critical rhetoric: Theory and praxis." Communications Monographs 56.2 (1989): 91-111;

Charland, Maurice. "Finding a horizon and telos: The challenge to critical rhetoric." (1991): 71-74.

Genre studies notes the recurring exigencies and occasions that give rise to speeches. This method compares and contrasts speeches that were given in similar circumstances.

Jamieson, Kathleen M. Hall. "Generic constraints and the rhetorical situation." Philosophy & Rhetoric (1973): 162-170;

Ware, B. Lee, and Wil A. Linkugel. "They spoke in defense of themselves: On the generic criticism of apologia." Quarterly Journal of speech 59.3 (1973): 273-283 ;

Conley, Thomas M. "Ancient rhetoric and modern genre criticism." Communication Quarterly 27.4 (1979): 47-53;

Miller, Carolyn R. "Genre as social action." Quarterly journal of speech 70.2 (1984): 151-167.

Beginning with the human tendency to tell stories, the narrative paradigm method considers the persuasiveness of narratives in speeches in terms of the truths and coherence unique to storytelling.

Fisher, Walter R. "The narrative paradigm: In the beginning." Journal of Communication 35.4 (1985): 74-89;

Fisher, Walter R. "The narrative paradigm: An elaboration." Communications Monographs 52.4 (1985): 347-367; 

Warnick, Barbara. "The narrative paradigm: Another story." Quarterly Journal of Speech 73.2 (1987): 172-182.

Dramatism  analyzes and criticizes a speech in terms of scene, act, agent, agency, and purpose by considering which pair of these elements is most influential and the philosophical position such a pairing represents.

Burke, Kenneth, and Margaret Schlauch. "Twelve propositions by Kenneth Burke on the relation between economics and psychology." Science & Society (1938): 242-253;

Gronbeck, Bruce E. "Dramaturgical theory and criticism: The state of the art (or science?)." Western Journal of Speech Communication 44.4 (1980): 315-330;

Rountree, J. Clarke. "Coming to terms with Kenneth Burke’s pentad." American Communication Journal 1.3 (1998): web;

Ling, David A. "A pentadic analysis of Senator Edward Kennedy's address to the people of Massachusetts, July 25, 1969." Communication Studies 21.2 (1970): 81-86;

Kelley, Colleen E. "The 1984 campaign rhetoric of representative George Hansen: A pentadic analysis." Western Journal of Communication 51.2 (1987): 204-217;

Griffin, Cindy L. "Teaching rhetorical criticism with Thelma and Louise." (1995): 165-176.

Visual rhetoric and criticism – applying critical perspectives to non-verbal messages,

images, photography, and the plastic, performative, and visual arts.

McComiskey, Bruce. "Visual Rhetoric and the New Public Discourse." JAC: A Journal of Rhetoric, Culture, & Politics. 24: 187–206;

Hariman, Robert, and John Louis Lucaites. "Performing civic identity: The iconic photograph of the flag raising on Iwo Jima." Quarterly Journal of Speech 88.4 (2002): 363-392;

Stein, Sarah R. "The “1984” Macintosh ad: Cinematic icons and constitutive rhetoric in the launch of a new machine." Quarterly Journal of Speech 88.2 (2002): 169-192;

Cyphert, Dale. "The problem of PowerPoint: Visual aid or visual rhetoric?" Business Communication Quarterly 67.1 (2004): 80-84.

Public memory studies notes the persuasive energies of commemorations, memorials, monuments, and museums. This area of rhetorical study considers the formation of identity and citizenship.

Dickinson, Greg. "Memories for sale: Nostalgia and the construction of identity in Old Pasadena." Quarterly Journal of Speech 83.1 (1997): 1-27;

Browne, Stephen H. "Review essay: Reading, rhetoric, and the texture of public memory." Quarterly journal of speech 81.2 (1995): 237-250;

Phillips, Kendall R. "The failure of memory: Reflections on rhetoric and public remembrance." Western Journal of Communication 74.2 (2010): 208-223;

Schudson, Michael. "Lives, laws, and language: Commemorative versus non‐commemorative forms of effective public memory." Communication Review (The) 2.1 (1997): 3-17.

Social movement studies notes that speeches often do not exist in isolation, but are part of ongoing social and political movements. This method situates speeches in conversation with each other and within the history of ideas. (Some critics and theorists argue that speeches are unique, and that genre studies and social movement studies impose patterns that exist only in the critics' minds.)

Leland M. Griffin, "The Rhetoric of Historical Movements,“ Quarterly Journal of Speech, 38 (1952), 184-88;

Simons, Herbert W. "Requirements, problems, and strategies: A theory of persuasion for social movements." Quarterly Journal of Speech 56.1 (1970): 1-11;

Jensen, Richard J. "Analyzing social movement rhetoric." Rhetoric Review 25.4 (2006): 372-375;

Andrews, James R. “History and Theory in the Study of the Rhetoric of Social Movements.” Central States Speech Journal, vol. 31, Winter 1980, pp. 274–281;

Cathcart, Robert S. "New approaches to the study of movements: Defining movements rhetorically." Western Journal of Communication 36.2 (1972): 82-88;

Zarefsky, David. "A skeptical view of movement studies." Communication Studies 31.4 (1980): 245-254.

Feminist Criticism – notes that women’s issues are often overlooked in an emphasis on the patriarchic audience. (Invitational Rhetoric is the theory that female patterns of speech and discussion work as alternative to the agon of persuasion.)

Dow, Bonnie J. "Authority, invention, and context in feminist rhetorical criticism." Review of Communication 16.1 (2016): 60-76;

Dow, Bonnie J. "Femininity and feminism in Murphy Brown." Southern journal of Communication 57.2 (1992): 143-155;

Dow, Bonnie J., and Mari Boor Tonn. "“Feminine style” and political judgment in the rhetoric of Ann Richards." Quarterly journal of Speech 79.3 (1993): 286-302;

Foss, Sonja K., and Cindy L. Griffin. "Beyond persuasion: A proposal for an invitational rhetoric." Communications Monographs 62.1 (1995): 2-18.

Identity Rhetoric and Criticism - examines how texts shape and express gender, racial, cultural, and political identity.

Charland, Maurice. "Constitutive rhetoric: The case of the Peuple Quebecois." Quarterly journal of Speech 73.2 (1987): 133-150;

Hunt, Scott A., and Kimberly A. Miller. "The discourse of dress and appearance: Identity talk and a rhetoric of review." Symbolic Interaction 20.1 (1997): 69-82;

Lessl, Thomas M. "The priestly voice." Quarterly Journal of Speech 75.2 (1989): 183-197.

Close textual analysis examines the persuasive dynamics within the unfolding text itself, apart from the situation and circumstances in which the speech was produced.

Leff, Michael. "Textual criticism: The legacy of GP Mohrmann." Quarterly Journal of Speech 72.4 (1986): 377-389;

Slagell, Amy R. "Anatomy of a masterpiece: A close textual analysis of Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address." Communication studies 42.2 (1991): 155-171;

Ceccarelli, Leah. "Rhetorical criticism and the rhetoric of science." Western Journal of Communication 65.3 (2001): 314-329;

Osborn, Michael. "The trajectory of my work with metaphor." Southern Communication Journal 74.1 (2009): 79-87.

See, also, Rhetorical Devices, especially “the four master tropes” of metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, and irony.