• Reasoning
• Evidence
• RhetoricWe are going to go into more detail later, but you know what those three
things are. Reasoning is the argument of the passage. The evidence comprises
those facts, figures, and anecdotes used to bolster or strengthen the argument.
Rhetoric is by far the hardest because it requires that we take a magnifying glass
to each sentence. But rhetoric refers to the specific words and sentences that
help deliver the argument. Let’s try a mini-analysis of Ms. Fizzlethwaite’s
passage to demonstrate how this is done.
In this paragraph, the author argues that hyacinths are beautiful, primarily
by citing their popularity. To make this point, she uses the example of
Queen Elizabeth surrounding herself with them, details the variety of
widespread locations where the flower is popular, and names a few artistic
mediums that include the hyacinth. Her tone is arch and fairly humorous,
referring to “the Royal Bath,” and personifying flowers by having them
“stand in the background” of portraits. She is also authoritative. She does
not cite studies to show that hyacinths can be found in Trinidad or
Afghanistan. She simply states that they are there, and we are meant to
accept it. This authority is also communicated in her precise knowledge of
the number of stamps on which hyacinths appear.See what we did? First, we summarized the argument—that’s the easy part—and
named the evidence—a bit tougher—then we talked about the rhetoric of the
paragraph, including specific words and phrases, to show how the argument is
stated persuasively. This last bit is the most sophisticated, and we will talk about
it in more detail in a moment.