Comparative Rhetorical Analysis Assignment Analyzing Ulysses & The Tempest
Question
For this comparative rhetorical analysis assignment, you will write a comparative rhetorical analysis. First, identify two different texts on the same topic, though the texts should be intended for different audiences. Then, make observations about each of your texts, keeping careful notes in order to eventually notice patterns that will help you come up with your overall argument for your analysis. Because you’ve already given some attention to each text’s patterns by this point, the next step will be easy; you’ll identify which rhetorical strategies or features are most valuable for each of the texts you’ve chosen and decide which text is most rhetorically effective/moving/persuasive.
Answer
Introduction
In this v, the primary focus is on writing a comparative rhetorical analysis. A rhetorical analysis regards all the rhetorical situation's aspects which are the purpose, context, medium, and the audience in which the generation and delivery of the communication have been to create an argument over the same. A strong analysis not only enables the analysis and describing the text but also helps in the evaluation which represents the argument. Here, there will be the identification of two different texts under the same topic and intended for a different audience. The two texts selected for this assignment are Ulysses by James Joyce and The Tempest by William Shakespeare. Following this there are observations have been made on each of the texts and eventually noticing the patterns that help in coming up with the overall argument for the analysis. By providing attention to the text's patterns, there will be the identification of the rhetorical strategies which are most valuable for the texts selected. The entire analysis down in the assignment will help in contrasting the two texts and deciding which text is most rhetorically persuasive or effective.
Identification of the texts
The two texts selected in this assignment are Ulysses by James Joyce and The Tempest by William Shakespeare. Ulysses is a novel first published in the form of a book in the year 1992 and written by an Irish writer James Joyce. It is generally observed as a masterpiece since it is exhilarating and stylistically dense and also has been the focus of various analyses and subjects of commentary. The poem Ulysses is a dramatic monologue whose audience addressed is unknown (Punter, p.8). The poem is spoken by a single person whose audience is unknown and can be any one person or the group of people who are referred to in the poem. The tempest on the other hand is a masterpiece written by William Shakespeare which is a play based on forgiveness, betrayal, love, and magic presenting the issue of confinement and freedom whose setting is on a beautiful island near Italy. The audience plays an important role in the Tempest as Prospero in the end requests the audience to free him stating that he has thrown his magic away as well pardoned the one that injured him. It is indicated that the applause of the audience is the signal of him being forgiven and freed.
Observation of the texts
The poem is a dramatic monologue that speaks of a man Ulysses who is an ambitious man and illustrates how he gains pleasure with the search and exploration of new places. The major themes in this poem are exploration, death, and life fulfillment. The literary devices used in the poem are alliteration, enjambment, assonance, personification, metaphor, and imagery. Since the poem is a dramatic monologue it is spoken to the audience by a single person and the audience can be a group of people or one person (Mambrol, p.4). The poem consists of three stanzas each encompassing a different length. Also, this poem is free verse with no restrictions to the metrical pattern or rhyme scheme. The utmost desires of the speaker are reflected by the poem that says the speaker is willing to explore the universe before death. His desire to explore remains consistent even he gained much popularity in relation to his history of traveling. The tempest is a romantic comedy that observes the classical play's structure observing the unities of action, place, and time. The play is held together by the action’s singularity through the repetitive theme building and the series of parallels. For unifying the play, there is using of a technical problem by Shakespeare of bridging the gulf between the real and the supernatural (Butler, p.6-7). The audience is addressed well and has an important role in the play as Prospero seeks forgiveness and indicates that forgiveness to his former enemies is what is craved by the men. This play is termed as the master of construction as it masters and accepts the difficulties of technicality by presenting the reconciliation's long process in a short duration gulfing the bridge between the supernatural and natural.
Rhetorical Strategies
Since the chosen texts for this assignment is Ulysses and Tempest, the rhetorical strategies that are suitable for Ulysses are Assonance, which is the repetition of the vowel sounds in the same line, Alliteration, which is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession. Another strategy for this text would be Consonance, which is the repetition of consonant sounds in a similar line or sentence (Khany et al., p.19). On the other hand, the most valuable rhetorical strategies for Tempest are Metaphor, which is straighter and maintain the comparison as one and the same to invoke acknowledgment in their audiences. Another valuable rhetorical strategy for this text would be Personification, which is said to be the strategy that is the same as the metaphor as it is a creative and most attractive way of illustrating a point. In addition to that, Similes can also be one of the strategies for Tempest as it aims to use similes in order to compare two things for establishing a link so that the audiences can end up in common understanding (Suryani et al., p.30). As compared to both of the texts, it can be said that the Tempest has been the most effective as well as persuasive as the main characters have been able to interact with the audiences in the most attractive way.
Conclusion
The primary focus of this assignment is writing about comparative rhetorical analysis identifying two different texts on the same topic but intending different audiences. The two texts selected for the assignment is Ulysses by James Joyce and The Tempest by William Shakespeare whose text patterns have been discussed. As per the analysis it has been seen that the audience in Ulysses is unknown and can be referred to as one person or a group of people. On the other hand, in The Tempest, it has been observed that the audiences play an important role. The rhetorical features and strategies used in the Ulysses are alliteration, enjambment, and assonance and in The Tempest, the strategies used are personification, simile, and metaphor. Finally, it is observed that The Tempest is the text that is most rhetorically effective, moving, and persuasive.
Works Cited
Butler, Martin. “The Tempest and the Literature of Wonder.” The British Library, vol. 5, 2016, https://doi.org/https://www.bl.uk/shakespeare/articles/the-tempest-and-the-literature-of-wonder.
Khany, Reza, et al. “A Model of Rhetorical Markers Competence in Writing Academic Research Articles: A Qualitative Meta-Synthesis.” comparative rhetorical analysis assignment
Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education, vol. 4, no. 1, Jan. 2019, https://doi.org/10.1186/s40862-018-0064-0.
Mambrol, Nasrullah. “Analysis of Tennyson’s Ulysses.” Literary Theory and Criticism, 17 Feb. 2021, literariness.org/2021/02/17/analysis-of-tennysons-ulysses/.
Punter, David. “Ulysses | Summary, Analysis, Characters, & Facts.” Encyclopædia Britannica, 12 Feb. 2019, www.britannica.com/topic/Ulysses-novel-by-Joyce.
Suryani, Ina, et al. “Rhetorical Structures in Academic Research Writing by Non- Native Writers.” International Journal of Higher Education, vol. 3, no. 1, Nov. 2013, https://doi.org/10.5430/ijhe.v3n1p29.
