Argumentative and genre analysis

Rhetoric for Innovative Education

Output 2 Online Course in Rhetoric

Research module

Argumentative and genre analyses

  • Presentation of the module

  • Rhetorical analysis by 13 criteria

  • Argumentative and genre analyses

  • Analysis of political rhetoric

  • Analysis of virtual rhetoric

  • Online resources

Argumentative analysis

Violeta Ashikova presents some possibilities for analysis of parliamentary debates from an interesting angle.

  • Ашикова, В. (2015). Реторическа аргументация в дебати по вот на недоверие в българската парламентарна практика. Теоретична рамка и инструментариум. Реторика и комуникации, бр. 19, http://rhetoric.bg/, http://journal.rhetoric.bg/. Retrieved on 12.09.2021.

  • Ashikova, V. (2015). Rhetorical argumentation in debates on votes of no confidence in Bulgarian parliamentary practice. Theoretical framework and toolkit. Rhetoric and Communications, no. 19, http://rhetoric.bg/, http://journal.rhetoric.bg/. Retrieved on 12.09.2021.

Methodius Rozhdestvensky presents an in-depth analysis of ethotic arguments, their definition, etymology, meanings, and use in speeches.

  • Рождественский, Методий. (2014). Аргументът Ad Auctoritatem в реторическа перспектива: към въпроса за систематичното му изследване. Реторика и комуникации, бр. 13, https://rhetoric.bg/. Retrieved on 12.09.2021.

  • Rozhdestvensky, Methodius. (2014). The argument Ad Auctoritatem in rhetorical perspective: towards the question of its systematic study. Rhetoric and Communications, No. 13, https://rhetoric.bg/. Retrieved on 12.09.2021.

Metin Ibriyamov studies argumentation in judicial rhetoric and presents the results of this review.

  • Ибриямов, М. (2015). Правната аргументация: многофакторен анализ като метод за изследване и оценка на юридическата аргументация. Реторика и комуникации, бр. 20 https://rhetoric.bg/. последно посещение на 12.09.2021.

  • Ibriyamov, M. (2015). Legal argumentation: multifactor analysis as a method for research and evaluation of legal argumentation. Rhetoric and Communications, No. 20 https://rhetoric.bg/. last accessed 12.09.2021.

Proletina Velichkova presents results from a visual analysis of visual argumentation presentations at TED.

  • Velichkova, P. (2017). Visual argumentation in TED (influential videos from expert speakers). Rhetoric and Communications, issue 29, 1-7. https://rhetoric.bg/. Retrieved on 12.09.2021.

  • Jens Kjeldsen, Christian Kock, Orla Vigsø. (2021). Political rhetoric in Scandinavia. In book: Power, communication, and politics in the Nordic countries, 365-383. DOI: 10.48335/9789188855299-18

  • Villadsen, L. (2013). The regretful acknowledgement: A dignified end to a disgraceful story? In D. Cuypers, D. Janssen, J. Haers, & B. Segaert (Eds.), Public apology between ritual and regret (pp. 209–228). Leiden, Netherlands: Brill Rodopi. Villadsen, L. (2014). More than a nice ritual. In H. van Belle, K. Rutten, P. Gillaerts, D. van de Mieroop, & B. van Gorp (Eds.), Let’s talk politics: New essays on deliberative rhetoric (pp. 27–43). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Villadsen, L. (2017). Doxa, dissent, and challenges of rhetorical citizenship: “When I criticize Denmark, it is not the white nights or the new potatoes I have in mind”. Javnost – The Public, 24(3), 235–250.

  • Kock, C. (2016). Inception: How the unsaid may become public knowledge. In M. Załęska, & U. Okulska (Eds.), Rhetoric, discourse and knowledge (pp. 275–286). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. Kock, C. (2017). Deliberative rhetoric: Arguing about doing (5th ed.). Windsor: Windsor Studies in Argumentation.

Georgi Nalbantov analyses Brazilian President Lula, examining his overall development, his participation in electoral debates and his positioning through the media. The author analyzes rhetorical and PR approaches, the means applied in building a successful political image, and shaping a spatial public image. Results of such a multifactorial analysis are presented in a publication.

  • Налбантов, Г. (2015). Медийното поведение на бразилския президент Луис Инасио Лула да Силва, Реторика и комуникации, бр. 15. https://rhetoric.bg/. Retrieved on 12.09.2021.

Nalbantov, G. (2015). The media behavior of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Rhetoric and Communications, No. 15. https://rhetoric.bg/. Retrieved on 12.09.2021.

Genre analysis

Genre analysis from a rhetorical perspective can stand alone, or it can be part of a more comprehensive analysis. Most often, the subject of analysis is speeches on a wide spectrum, from congratulatory and thank-you speeches or anniversary speeches to conceptual and celebratory New Year’s speeches; from addresses on significant occasions by politicians to motivational, inspirational, uplifting, and critical speeches; from official statements to speeches in crisis situations.

Original speeches may be the object of genre analysis.

Genre analysis from a rhetorical point of view can also cover speeches that are part of literary works: short stories, novellas, novels, dramas. They have their specificity as written texts, they are an element of a literary genre. At the same time, they are also rhetorical expressions at the level of fiction, creative idea and invention, and reflect some individual characteristics of the writer, of the creator. Thus, literature and rhetoric are combined.

Cinema and films can also include speeches. They can be both original, for example in the film The King’s Speech, or part of the script of a film, for example Every Sunday, Wall Street, Stolen Lives, etc. It is possible to analyse speeches, even debates or parts of them, from a rhetorical point of view.

Here are a few sample options for analysis.

  • Hyland, K. (1990). A Genre Description of the Argumentative Essay. First Published June 1, 1990 Research Article. https://doi.org/10.1177/003368829002100105, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/003368829002100105. Retrieved on 12.09.2021.

  • Huiling, D. (2007). Genre analysis of personal statements: Analysis of moves in application essays to medical and dental schools, English for Specific Purposes 26 (2007) 368–392, Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The American University. doi:10.1016/j.esp.2006.09.004, https://faculty.washington.edu/farkas/TC510-Fall2011/Ding-GenreAnalysisPersonalStatementsDF.pdf. Retrieved on 12.09.2021.

  • Brian A. Rutherford (201^). Genre analysis of corporate annual report narratives, A Corpus Linguistics–Based Approach Brian A. Rutherford University of Kent, Journal of Business Communication, Volume 42, Number 4, October 2005 349-378 DOI: 10.1177/0021943605279244 © 2005 by the Association for Business Communication. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.925.6975&rep=rep1&type=pdf. Retrieved on 12.09.2021.

  • Basthomi, Y. (2007). Contrastive rhetoric, Discourse, and Genre analysis: Methodological issues. BAHASA DAN SENI, Tahun 35, Nomor 2, Agustus 2007, pp. 137-147.