Top 10 Rhetorical Analysis Essay Topics

A piece of rhetorical analysis might seem a real problem to students. It seems a never-ending torture to start all over again every time your writing is not what it is expected to be. Some students continue to struggle with it; others search for a way out. Indeed, this problem can easily be solved when you understand what a rhetorical analysis essay is and how to pick the right topic. The main point is that a rhetoric paper isn’t either a narrative or a reflective piece of writing. Your opinion is still very valuable, but you should form it following the strict rules of analysis. That is why there are, for want of a better word, ‘inconvenient’ topics, that is, they are not about analyzing the subject rhetorically. In this article, we’ve collected the top 10 topics for a rhetorical analysis essay that will help you to write a perfect paper.

Fictional Topic: Not the Best Choice

The approaches to writing a rhetorical analysis and choosing topics for it can vary to this or that extent. It is easier to select a nonfiction piece of writing. Speeches really stand out among others. Your ultimate goal is to show your audience how different aspects of this piece of writing have become something integral. You should base your analysis on the main principles of rhetorics. One of the greatest examples of these principles is a question that doesn’t need to be answered. It is also important to make a sound thesis and give the arguments proving your point throughout the whole paper.

It is also very beneficial to choose a notable piece of writing which doesn’t have to be introduced to the audience. If you pick a speech or a sermon given by a prominent leader (there are plenty of such speeches, and they are easy to be found) you can save a lot of time and make sure that your analysis will lead to the desired effect. You can also pick a poem or a monologue, but only if the end will justify the means. To make your paper more interesting, you may adopt a point of view that differs a little from the public opinion, but be really careful about it.

Examples of topics for a rhetorical analysis essay:

1. Analyze Edgar Allen Poe’s poem ‘Raven.’
2. The rhetorical analysis of a speech that you’ve listened to and that has struck you the most.
3. Analyze by Martin Luther King Jr.’s last speech that he delivered in 1968 in Memphis.
4. Analyze the famous William Wallace’s speech rhetorically in Mel Gibson’s Braveheart (1995).
5. Jonathan Edwards’ sermon ‘Sinners in the Hands of Angry God’ preached in 1741.
6. Provide a rhetorical analysis of the speech of a Nobel Peace Prize winner that you admire.
7. Analyze an Inaugural Address of a President, either acting or former.
8. The rhetorical analysis of the speech referred to as ‘I’m not a Crook’ given by Richard Nixon in Nov 1973 in Orlando, Fl.
9. Provide a rhetorical analysis of any monologue by Shakespearian characters.
10. Analyze rhetorically the eminent Pearl Harbor Address given by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941.