antigone rhetorical analysis essay

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Analysis of Sophocles’ Antigone

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on July 29, 2020 • ( 0 )

Within this single drama—in great part, a harsh critique of Athenian society and the Greek city-state in general—Sophocles tells of the eternal struggle between the state and the individual, human and natural law, and the enormous gulf between what we attempt here on earth and what fate has in store for us all. In this magnificent dramatic work, almost incidentally so, we find nearly every reason why we are now what we are.

—Victor D. Hanson and John Heath, Who Killed Homer? The Demise of Classical Education and the Recovery of Greek Wisdom

With Antigone Sophocles forcibly demonstrates that the power of tragedy derives not from the conflict between right and wrong but from the confrontation between right and right. As the play opens the succession battle between the sons of Oedipus—Polynices and Eteocles—over control of Thebes has resulted in both of their deaths. Their uncle Creon, who has now assumed the throne, asserts his authority to end a destructive civil war and decrees that only Eteocles, the city’s defender, should receive honorable burial. Polynices, who has led a foreign army against Thebes, is branded a traitor. His corpse is to be left on the battlefield “to be chewed up by birds and dogs and violated,” with death the penalty for anyone who attempts to bury him and supply the rites necessary for the dead to reach the underworld. Antigone, Polynices’ sister, is determined to defy Creon’s order, setting in motion a tragic collision between opposed laws and duties: between natural and divine commands that dictate the burial of the dead and the secular edicts of a ruler determined to restore civic order, between family allegiance and private conscience and public duty and the rule of law that restricts personal liberty for the common good. Like the proverbial immovable object meeting an irresistible force, Antigone arranges the impact of seemingly irreconcilable conceptions of rights and responsibilities, producing one of drama’s enduring illuminations of human nature and the human condition.

Antigone is one of Sophocles’ greatest achievements and one of the most influential dramas ever staged. “Between 1790 and 1905,” critic George Steiner reports, “it was widely held by European poets, philosophers, [and] scholars that Sophocles’ Antigone was not only the fi nest of Greek tragedies, but a work of art nearer to perfection than any other produced by the human spirit.” Its theme of the opposition between the individual and authority has resonated through the centuries, with numerous playwrights, most notably Jean Anouilh, Bertolt Brecht, and Athol Fugard grafting contemporary concerns and values onto the moral and political dramatic framework that Sophocles established. The play has elicited paradoxical responses reflecting changing cultural and moral imperatives. Antigone, who has been described as “the first heroine of Western drama,” has been interpreted both as a heroic martyr to conscience and as a willfully stubborn fanatic who causes her own death and that of two other innocent people, forsaking her duty to the living on behalf of the dead. Creon has similarly divided critics between censure and sympathy. Despite the play’s title, some have suggested that the tragedy is Creon’s, not Antigone’s, and it is his abuse of authority and his violations of personal, family, and divine obligations that center the drama’s tragedy. The brilliance of Sophocles’ play rests in the complexity of motive and the competing absolute claims that the drama displays. As novelist George Eliot observed,

It is a very superficial criticism which interprets the character of Creon as that of hypocritical tyrant, and regards Antigone as a blameless victim. Coarse contrasts like this are not the materials handled by great dramatists. The exquisite art of Sophocles is shown in the touches by which he makes us feel that Creon, as well as Antigone, is contending for what he believes to be the right, while both are also conscious that, in following out one principle, they are laying themselves open to just blame for transgressing another.

Eliot would call the play’s focus the “antagonism of valid principles,” demonstrating a point of universal significance that “Wherever the strength of a man’s intellect, or moral sense, or affection brings him into opposition with the rules which society has sanctioned, there is renewed conflict between Antigone and Creon; such a man must not only dare to be right, he must also dare to be wrong—to shake faith, to wound friendship, perhaps, to hem in his own powers.” Sophocles’ Antigone is less a play about the pathetic end of a victim of tyranny or the corruption of authority than about the inevitable cost and con-sequence between competing imperatives that define the human condition. From opposite and opposed positions, both Antigone and Creon ultimately meet at the shared suffering each has caused. They have destroyed each other and themselves by who they are and what they believe. They are both right and wrong in a world that lacks moral certainty and simple choices. The Chorus summarizes what Antigone will vividly enact: “The powerful words of the proud are paid in full with mighty blows of fate, and at long last those blows will teach us wisdom.”

As the play opens Antigone declares her intention to her sister Ismene to defy Creon’s impious and inhumane order and enlists her sister’s aid to bury their brother. Ismene responds that as women they must not oppose the will of men or the authority of the city and invite death. Ismene’s timidity and deference underscores Antigone’s courage and defiance. Antigone asserts a greater allegiance to blood kinship and divine law declaring that the burial is a “holy crime,” justified even by death. Ismene responds by calling her sister “a lover of the impossible,” an accurate description of the tragic hero, who, according to scholar Bernard Knox, is Sophocles’ most important contribution to drama: “Sophocles presents us for the first time with what we recognize as a ‘tragic hero’: one who, unsupported by the gods and in the face of human opposition, makes a decision which springs from the deepest layer of his individual nature, his physis , and then blindly, ferociously, heroically maintains that decision even to the point of self-destruction.” Antigone exactly conforms to Knox’s description, choosing her conception of duty over sensible self-preservation and gender-prescribed submission to male authority, turning on her sister and all who oppose her. Certain in her decision and self-sufficient, Antigone rejects both her sister’s practical advice and kinship. Ironically Antigone denies to her sister, when Ismene resists her will, the same blood kinship that claims Antigone’s supreme allegiance in burying her brother. For Antigone the demands of the dead overpower duty to the living, and she does not hesitate in claiming both to know and act for the divine will. As critic Gilbert Norwood observes, “It is Antigone’s splendid though perverse valor which creates the drama.”

Before the apprehended Antigone, who has been taken in the act of scattering dust on her brother’s corpse, lamenting, and pouring libations, is brought before Creon and the dramatic crux of the play, the Chorus of The-ban elders delivers what has been called the fi nest song in all Greek tragedy, the so-called Ode to Man, that begins “Wonders are many, and none is more wonderful than man.” This magnificent celebration of human power over nature and resourcefulness in reason and invention ends with a stark recognition of humanity’s ultimate helplessness—“Only against Death shall he call for aid in vain.” Death will test the resolve and principles of both Antigone and Creon, while, as critic Edouard Schuré asserts, “It brings before us the most extraordinary psychological evolution that has ever been represented on stage.”

When Antigone is brought in judgment before Creon, obstinacy meets its match. Both stand on principle, but both reveal the human source of their actions. Creon betrays himself as a paranoid autocrat; Antigone as an individual whose powerful hatred outstrips her capacity for love. She defiantly and proudly admits that she is guilty of disobeying Creon’s decree and that he has no power to override divine law. Nor does Antigone concede any mitigation of her personal obligation in the competing claims of a niece, a sister, or a citizen. Creon is maddened by what he perceives to be Antigone’s insolence in justifying her crime by diminishing his authority, provoking him to ignore all moderating claims of family, natural, or divine extenuation. When Ismene is brought in as a co-conspirator, she accepts her share of guilt in solidarity with her sister, but again Antigone spurns her, calling her “a friend who loves in words,” denying Ismene’s selfless act of loyalty and sympathy with a cold dismissal and self-sufficiency, stating, “Never share my dying, / don’t lay claim to what you never touched.” However, Ismene raises the ante for both Antigone and Creon by asking her uncle whether by condemning Antigone he will kill his own son’s betrothed. Creon remains adamant, and his judgment on Antigone and Ismene, along with his subsequent argument with his son, Haemon, reveals that Creon’s principles are self-centered, contradictory, and compromised by his own pride, fears, and anxieties. Antigone’s challenge to his authority, coming from a woman, is demeaning. If she goes free in defiance of his authority, Creon declares, “I am not the man, she is.” To the urging of Haemon that Creon should show mercy, tempering his judgment to the will of Theban opinion that sympathizes with Antigone, Creon asserts that he cares nothing for the will of the town, whose welfare Creon’s original edict against Polynices was meant to serve. Creon, moreover, resents being schooled in expediency by his son. Inflamed by his son’s advocacy on behalf of Antigone, Creon brands Haemon a “woman’s slave,” and after vacillating between stoning Antigone and executing her and her sister in front of Haemon, Creon rules that Antigone alone is to perish by being buried alive. Having begun the drama with a decree that a dead man should remain unburied, Creon reverses himself, ironically, by ordering the premature burial of a living woman.

Antigone, being led to her entombment, is shown stripped of her former confidence and defiance, searching for the justification that can steel her acceptance of the fate that her actions have caused. Contemplating her living descent into the underworld and the death that awaits her, Antigone regrets dying without marriage and children. Gone is her reliance on divine and natural law to justify her act as she equivocates to find the emotional source to sustain her. A husband and children could be replaced, she rationalizes, but since her mother and father are dead, no brother can ever replace Polynices. Antigone’s tortured logic here, so different from the former woman of principle, has been rejected by some editors as spurious. Others have judged this emotionally wrought speech essential for humanizing Antigone, revealing her capacity to suffer and her painful search for some consolation.

The drama concludes with the emphasis shifted back to Creon and the consequences of his judgment. The blind prophet Teiresias comes to warn Creon that Polynices’ unburied body has offended the gods and that Creon is responsible for the sickness that has descended on Thebes. Creon has kept from Hades one who belongs there and is sending to Hades another who does not. The gods confirm the rightness of Antigone’s action, but justice evades the working out of the drama’s climax. The release of Antigone comes too late; she has hung herself. Haemon commits suicide, and Eurydice, Creon’s wife, kills herself after cursing Creon for the death of their son. Having denied the obligation of family, Creon loses his own. Creon’s rule, marked by ignoring or transgressing cosmic and family law, is shown as ultimately inadequate and destructive. Creon is made to realize that he has been rash and foolish, that “Whatever I have touched has come to nothing.” Both Creon and Antigone have been pushed to terrifying ends in which what truly matters to both are made starkly clear. Antigone’s moral imperatives have been affirmed but also their immense cost in suffering has been exposed. Antigone explores a fundamental rift between public and private worlds. The central opposition in the play between Antigone and Creon, between duty to self and duty to state, dramatizes critical antimonies in the human condition. Sophocles’ genius is his resistance of easy and consoling simplifications to resolve the oppositions. Both sides are ultimately tested; both reveal the potential for greatness and destruction.

24 lectures on Greek Tragedy by Dr. Elizabeth Vandiver.

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Antigone: Introduction

Antigone: plot summary, antigone: detailed summary & analysis, antigone: themes, antigone: quotes, antigone: characters, antigone: symbols, antigone: theme wheel, brief biography of sophocles.

Historical Context of Antigone

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Full Title: Antigone
When Written: Circa 442 B.C.E.
Where Written: Athens, Greece
Literary Period: Classical
Genre: Tragic drama
Setting: The royal house of Thebes
Climax: The suicides of Antigone and Haemon
Antagonist: Creon

Extra Credit for Antigone

World War II Antigone: In 1944, when Paris was occupied by the Nazis, Jean Anouilh produced a version of Antigone in which the audience was able to identify Antigone with the French Resistance fighters and Creon with the occupying forces.

World War II Antigone 2: The German poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht produced a version of the play in German, in 1948, which had even more obvious references to the Nazis. Brecht's version of the play begins in a Berlin air-raid shelter.

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Introduction of Antigone

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The Ancient Greek Tragedy “Antigone” Essay

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The modern person’s interest in ancient tragedies is quite extraordinary. In their works many centuries ago, Ancient authors raised ethical and philosophical issues relevant to their time. After more than two millennia, these same problems find a response in the heart of modern man. A modern person unexpectedly finds answers to many difficult questions when he gets acquainted with the works of ancient poets, philosophers, and playwrights. This tragedy raises many questions, the importance of which is reflected and relevant even today, and the main character can teach people of the twenty-first century a lot.

The ancient Greek tragedy “Antigone” was written by Sophocles and narrates about a woman fighting against a royal decree that hurt her personal feelings and principles. Antigone is a girl who has crossed out her future by her act and has incurred the wrath of King Creon. She has the following features: courage, pluck, and some notes of asceticism. The heroic line intersects with the lyrical one: she cries and does not want to die, making Antigone a living person with a lively character. A distinctive feature of the main characters of Sophocles is their pronounced individualization.

The conflict began with the fact that Antigone’s brothers – Eteocles and Polynices – fought with each other and, unfortunately, died. According to the decree of the Theban king Creon, Eteocles was to be buried as a hero. The body of Polynices was ordered to be left unburied, under the scorching sun, as a traitor who went to war against Thebes. Disobeying the decree, Antigone herself buries her brother’s body according to the funeral rite established by the gods. For this, Creon ordered Antigone to be walled up in a cave, but the girl, faithful to her duty to fulfill sacred laws, did not humble before Creon. She preferred death to obedience to a cruel king and committed suicide.

The key feature of the image of Antigone is her fantastic willpower. She demonstrates this feature in the struggle with Creon for the right to bury her brother according to the ancestral rite. “I know that I will die— of course I do— even if you had not doomed me by proclamation. If I shall die before my time, I count that a profit” (505-510). She honors the ancient law of the tribal society, and she does not doubt the correctness of the decision made. Feeling that she is right, Antigone boldly challenges Creon. Sophocles’ Antigone consciously goes towards death, but, like any person, it is bitter for her to part with a life that promises so many joys to a young girl. She does not regret what happened, but about her dying youth, she is dying, not mourned by anyone.

By the power of her mind and a big heart that knows how to love, not hate, Antigone chose her fate, which confronted Antigone with Creon. Creon embodies the image of a stern and inflexible ruler who puts his will above everything. This man considers any resistance to his order as an anti-state act, and he is ready to apply the cruelest laws to people who go against the state. From the very beginning, the dialogue with Ismene reveals the strong personality of Antigone, which, according to the choir, she inherited from her father. “Be as you choose to be; but for myself I myself will bury him. It will be good to die, so doing” (80-85). Antigone is shown as a determined and firm girl who challenged the autocracy of Creon.

One of the most profound conflicts of modern society – the conflict between generic unwritten laws and state laws – is revealed in this tragedy. In the ancestral community, religious beliefs, rooted in the depths of centuries, prescribed a person to sacredly honor blood relations and observe all rites about blood relatives. On the other hand, every citizen of the polis in Sophocles was obliged to follow state laws, which sometimes sharply contradicted traditional family and tribal norms. Sophocles’ Creon is a supporter of the idea of unswerving observance of state laws, written ones. On the other hand, Antigone puts family and ancestral laws, sanctified by religious authority, above these laws.

The great tragedian wanted to carry out in his work the idea that for the happiness of the citizens of the polis, unity between state and family-generic laws is necessary. The condemnation of tyranny is also expressed at the end of the tragedy in Creon’s remorse and self-flagellation. The theme raised by Sophocles in the play is the theme of duty and family, which is still relevant to this day. Only a person whose thoughts are pure and whose actions are guided by virtue can realize the concept of duty and family and the need to defend it. Sacrifice in the name of the family is another cornerstone theme of this play, the relevance of which has not disappeared even today.

Unfortunately, the family is gradually moving into second place in the modern world, giving way to a career. People increasingly prefer to live for their pleasure, travel, build a career rather than start a family and have children. Of course, each person decides how to live, but the family was and still remains the foundation of human society. Antigone is a character who loves desperately and furiously; she does not put any restrictions or conditions on love. Perhaps this is the kind of dedication and passion that modern people lack because they most often prefer comfort and safety. On the other hand, Antigone represents love and rage, which neither the king nor even death itself will stop. The themes of self-sacrifice, love, family and the conflict between the written and unwritten laws are reflected in this play and are still relevant.

Mythology. Dogon: The First Words
"Oedipus Rex": The Gods’ Role in Human Affairs
Antigone’s Courage in "Antigone" by Sophocles
The Ancient Greek Play Antigone by Sophocle
Sophocles’ “Antigone”: The Synopsis of the Play
“Antigone”: Evaluation and Synthesis
The Figure of Hector in Homer’s “The Iliad”
Hubris (Pride) of Odysseus and Oedipus
Telemachus: The Son of Ithaca Tsar, Odysseus, and Penelope
Neoclassicism and Aurora and Cephalus (1811)
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Chicago (N-B)

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Annotated Full Text
Literary Period: Classical
Publication Date: -442
Flesch-Kincaid Level: 7
Approx. Reading Time: 48 minutes

Antigone is set in front of the palace of Thebes, exactly as in Sophocles's Oedipus the King . The sons of Oedipus, Eteocles and Polynices, originally agreed to share their father's kingship over Thebes, but soon afterwards Eteocles claimed sole power and drove Polynices into exile. Polynices found sanctuary and support in the powerful city of Argos, so much so that the king of Argos betrothed his daughter to Polynices. Raising an Argive army led by himself and six other famous heroes, Polynices marched on Thebes, where each of the city's seven gates was attacked by one of the heroes, who were slain there by a Theban hero, but Polynices and Eteocles fought and slew each other. On the morning our play opens, the Argive army has just left Theban territory; the city is filled with relief. Creon—brother to Oedipus's queen, Jocasta—has taken the kingship without controversy.

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Discussion Questions

Discuss the theme of blindness, both literal and metaphorical, in Antigone .

In Scene 1, Antigone and Ismene argue over what is right to do with the body of Polyneikes. In your opinion, who was in the right? Explain with references from the text.

Aside from Teiresias , who has the gift of foresight, who is the wisest character in Antigone ? Explain with references from the text.

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Analysis of Antigone by Sophocles

This essay will provide an in-depth analysis of Sophocles’ tragedy “Antigone.” It will explore the play’s themes, including the conflict between individual moral duty and state law, the role of gender, and the concept of hubris. The piece will examine key characters like Antigone, Creon, and Ismene, and how their actions and beliefs drive the plot. Additionally, the essay will discuss the play’s historical and cultural context and its relevance in contemporary discussions of ethics and morality. Moreover, at PapersOwl, there are additional free essay samples connected to Analysis.

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Sophocles, one of the three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived, created the main character, Antigone, as a civil disobedience. The play embellishes the opposing conflicts between Antigone who stands for the values of family, and Creon who stands for the values of the state. It includes terms that are demonstrated throughout the Discovering Literature textbook. Antigone is one of the great Greek Tragedies remembered today, and it contains an important message to readers.

Throughout Antigone essay , many literary devices such as plot, foreshadowing, and allusion are used to enhance the play.

Plot is the chain of events in fiction or drama. Antigone begins with the death of her two brothers, Polyneices and Eteocles. The two men fought for authority over Thebes. However, they each lost their lives in the struggle for power. Polyneices is considered a traitor by Creon, the new king and Antigone’s uncle. Creon declares no one can bury Polyneices’s body due to his actions towards Thebes. Antigone disagrees with her uncle’s commandment, and she goes against his order. Creon sentences Antigone to death. However, he has a change of heart after speaking with a prophet. Creon decides to let Antigone go, but it is too late when he finds her. The play concludes with Antigone taking her own life, and Haemon, Antigone’s fiance and Creon’s son, taking his own life. After Haemon’s mother discovers the death of her son, she takes her life as well. Creon is left to grieve alone. Foreshadowing occurs when the playwright gives a hint pointing forward to a future development. In Antigone, foreshadowing is shown right off the bat.

In Creon’s opening speech to the people, he describes his loyalty to the city of Thebes over anyone, including his family. Creon tells the people that for a leader to really be known, they must be tested. As the audience, we know that Antigone has already planned to bury her brother, Polyneices. This will test Creon as the leader of Thebes. Creon’s speech foreshadows the future conflict with Antigone. Another example of foreshadowing is shown in the Prologue of Antigone. Here, Antigone foreshadows her own death in a conversation with her sister, Ismene. Antigone welcomes death by stating she would rather risk her life and die with honor. Antigone wants to do the right thing for her brother. She tells Ismene that when she completes the task of burying Polyneices, she will openly welcome death. The final literary device is allusions. An allusion is a brief mention that calls a character, event or idea to the reader’s mind. It taps into associations and meanings already in the reader’s memory. At the end of the play, Creon is unable to save Antigone, his son, and his wife. An allusion is made to the goddess Nemesis, the goddess of punishment and resentment. Creon is left with nothing, due to his harsh punishment towards Antigone. Creon, himself, is punished for his actions, and he finally admits to his wrong doings and acknowledges his faults. Another allusion is made when Antigone is sent to captivity in a cave. The chorus alludes to the goddess Danae. Danae was locked away in a tower by her father when prophecy stated her son would kill him. Both Antigone and Danae were summoned to captivity.

Antigone is considered one of the most famous tragedies ever written. The play fits into the category of Greek Tragedy. Greek Tragedy is one of the more unique categories in drama. The tragedy contains a plot, a tragic hero, theme, diction, a chorus, and spectacles. Sophocles used these six characteristics when creating Antigone. One of the more noticeable characteristics is the chorus. The chorus is introduced to the audience near the beginning of the play. The chorus comes in celebrating the recent victory in Thebes. Here, the chorus provides background information about the scene. It is clear to the audience that Thebes has just won a battle. In Greek Tragedies, the purpose of the chorus is to describe the background information about a scene, and help the audience follow along with the play. In Antigone, the chorus does just that. Another important characteristic contained in Antigone is the use of a tragic hero. Throughout the play, Antigone displays herself as the tragic hero in a variety of ways. In the play, Antigone is pure in the eyes of others. However, she is guilty in the eyes of Creon. Antigone is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice, death, to do what she considers an honorable act towards her brother. Antigone receives sympathy because she chooses to stand alone. In Greek Tragedy, the tragic hero is the character who has heroic traits, but often has flaws or make mistakes that lead to their own downfall. Antigone’s tragic flaw is her arrogance.

Although Antigone may be difficult to understand, I believe it contains many important lessons that others should read. I first became familiar with Antigone my sophomore year of high school, when I read it in English class. At first, I honestly was not interested in the play because I had a difficult time comprehending what was happening. However, after completely dissecting the play in class, everything was put into perspective for me. I became aware of Creon’s unbelievable pride in Thebes over his family. I was in awe after reading and understanding Creon’s opening speech. However, I believe he got what he deserved in the end. A reoccurring theme in Antigone is how power both corrupts and blinds the characters in the play. Creon is the most evident example of this theme.

Sophocles’ tragedy, Antigone, is a play that is still widely known today. Antigone’s character is described as a civil disobedience, and the tragic hero of the play. Antigone believed that Creon’s law was unjust, and she had the moral right to defy it. Antigone’s belief in family values ultimately sentenced her to death. Antigone embodies the characteristics of a Greek Tragedy and contains important terms from our Discovering Literature textbook. Antigone also contains a memorable lesson readers should take away from the play.

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How to write a rhetorical analysis | Key concepts & examples

How to Write a Rhetorical Analysis | Key Concepts & Examples

Published on August 28, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on July 23, 2023.

A rhetorical analysis is a type of essay that looks at a text in terms of rhetoric. This means it is less concerned with what the author is saying than with how they say it: their goals, techniques, and appeals to the audience.

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Key concepts in rhetoric, analyzing the text, introducing your rhetorical analysis, the body: doing the analysis, concluding a rhetorical analysis, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about rhetorical analysis.

Rhetoric, the art of effective speaking and writing, is a subject that trains you to look at texts, arguments and speeches in terms of how they are designed to persuade the audience. This section introduces a few of the key concepts of this field.

Appeals: Logos, ethos, pathos

Appeals are how the author convinces their audience. Three central appeals are discussed in rhetoric, established by the philosopher Aristotle and sometimes called the rhetorical triangle: logos, ethos, and pathos.

Logos , or the logical appeal, refers to the use of reasoned argument to persuade. This is the dominant approach in academic writing , where arguments are built up using reasoning and evidence.

Ethos , or the ethical appeal, involves the author presenting themselves as an authority on their subject. For example, someone making a moral argument might highlight their own morally admirable behavior; someone speaking about a technical subject might present themselves as an expert by mentioning their qualifications.

Pathos , or the pathetic appeal, evokes the audience’s emotions. This might involve speaking in a passionate way, employing vivid imagery, or trying to provoke anger, sympathy, or any other emotional response in the audience.

These three appeals are all treated as integral parts of rhetoric, and a given author may combine all three of them to convince their audience.

Text and context

In rhetoric, a text is not necessarily a piece of writing (though it may be this). A text is whatever piece of communication you are analyzing. This could be, for example, a speech, an advertisement, or a satirical image.

In these cases, your analysis would focus on more than just language—you might look at visual or sonic elements of the text too.

The context is everything surrounding the text: Who is the author (or speaker, designer, etc.)? Who is their (intended or actual) audience? When and where was the text produced, and for what purpose?

Looking at the context can help to inform your rhetorical analysis. For example, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech has universal power, but the context of the civil rights movement is an important part of understanding why.

Claims, supports, and warrants

A piece of rhetoric is always making some sort of argument, whether it’s a very clearly defined and logical one (e.g. in a philosophy essay) or one that the reader has to infer (e.g. in a satirical article). These arguments are built up with claims, supports, and warrants.

A claim is the fact or idea the author wants to convince the reader of. An argument might center on a single claim, or be built up out of many. Claims are usually explicitly stated, but they may also just be implied in some kinds of text.

The author uses supports to back up each claim they make. These might range from hard evidence to emotional appeals—anything that is used to convince the reader to accept a claim.

The warrant is the logic or assumption that connects a support with a claim. Outside of quite formal argumentation, the warrant is often unstated—the author assumes their audience will understand the connection without it. But that doesn’t mean you can’t still explore the implicit warrant in these cases.

For example, look at the following statement:

We can see a claim and a support here, but the warrant is implicit. Here, the warrant is the assumption that more likeable candidates would have inspired greater turnout. We might be more or less convinced by the argument depending on whether we think this is a fair assumption.

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Rhetorical analysis isn’t a matter of choosing concepts in advance and applying them to a text. Instead, it starts with looking at the text in detail and asking the appropriate questions about how it works:

What is the author’s purpose?
Do they focus closely on their key claims, or do they discuss various topics?
What tone do they take—angry or sympathetic? Personal or authoritative? Formal or informal?
Who seems to be the intended audience? Is this audience likely to be successfully reached and convinced?
What kinds of evidence are presented?

By asking these questions, you’ll discover the various rhetorical devices the text uses. Don’t feel that you have to cram in every rhetorical term you know—focus on those that are most important to the text.

The following sections show how to write the different parts of a rhetorical analysis.

Like all essays, a rhetorical analysis begins with an introduction . The introduction tells readers what text you’ll be discussing, provides relevant background information, and presents your thesis statement .

Hover over different parts of the example below to see how an introduction works.

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech is widely regarded as one of the most important pieces of oratory in American history. Delivered in 1963 to thousands of civil rights activists outside the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., the speech has come to symbolize the spirit of the civil rights movement and even to function as a major part of the American national myth. This rhetorical analysis argues that King’s assumption of the prophetic voice, amplified by the historic size of his audience, creates a powerful sense of ethos that has retained its inspirational power over the years.

The body of your rhetorical analysis is where you’ll tackle the text directly. It’s often divided into three paragraphs, although it may be more in a longer essay.

Each paragraph should focus on a different element of the text, and they should all contribute to your overall argument for your thesis statement.

Hover over the example to explore how a typical body paragraph is constructed.

King’s speech is infused with prophetic language throughout. Even before the famous “dream” part of the speech, King’s language consistently strikes a prophetic tone. He refers to the Lincoln Memorial as a “hallowed spot” and speaks of rising “from the dark and desolate valley of segregation” to “make justice a reality for all of God’s children.” The assumption of this prophetic voice constitutes the text’s strongest ethical appeal; after linking himself with political figures like Lincoln and the Founding Fathers, King’s ethos adopts a distinctly religious tone, recalling Biblical prophets and preachers of change from across history. This adds significant force to his words; standing before an audience of hundreds of thousands, he states not just what the future should be, but what it will be: “The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.” This warning is almost apocalyptic in tone, though it concludes with the positive image of the “bright day of justice.” The power of King’s rhetoric thus stems not only from the pathos of his vision of a brighter future, but from the ethos of the prophetic voice he adopts in expressing this vision.

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The conclusion of a rhetorical analysis wraps up the essay by restating the main argument and showing how it has been developed by your analysis. It may also try to link the text, and your analysis of it, with broader concerns.

Explore the example below to get a sense of the conclusion.

It is clear from this analysis that the effectiveness of King’s rhetoric stems less from the pathetic appeal of his utopian “dream” than it does from the ethos he carefully constructs to give force to his statements. By framing contemporary upheavals as part of a prophecy whose fulfillment will result in the better future he imagines, King ensures not only the effectiveness of his words in the moment but their continuing resonance today. Even if we have not yet achieved King’s dream, we cannot deny the role his words played in setting us on the path toward it.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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The goal of a rhetorical analysis is to explain the effect a piece of writing or oratory has on its audience, how successful it is, and the devices and appeals it uses to achieve its goals.

Unlike a standard argumentative essay , it’s less about taking a position on the arguments presented, and more about exploring how they are constructed.

The term “text” in a rhetorical analysis essay refers to whatever object you’re analyzing. It’s frequently a piece of writing or a speech, but it doesn’t have to be. For example, you could also treat an advertisement or political cartoon as a text.

Logos appeals to the audience’s reason, building up logical arguments . Ethos appeals to the speaker’s status or authority, making the audience more likely to trust them. Pathos appeals to the emotions, trying to make the audience feel angry or sympathetic, for example.

Collectively, these three appeals are sometimes called the rhetorical triangle . They are central to rhetorical analysis , though a piece of rhetoric might not necessarily use all of them.

In rhetorical analysis , a claim is something the author wants the audience to believe. A support is the evidence or appeal they use to convince the reader to believe the claim. A warrant is the (often implicit) assumption that links the support with the claim.

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Antigone — The Power of Rebellion in Antigone

The Power of Rebellion in Antigone

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Published: Mar 6, 2024

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Defying the state, the conflict of loyalties, the tragic consequences.

"Ismene, I am going to bury him. Will you come?"

"I did not think anything which you proclaimed strong enough to let a mortal override the gods and their unwritten and unchanging laws."

"I have longer to please the dead than please the living here: in the kingdom down below I'll lie forever."

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Home / Essay Samples / Literature / Antigone / Analysis of the Character of Antigone in Sophocles’ Tragedy

Analysis of the Character of Antigone in Sophocles' Tragedy

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Literary Theory and Criticism

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Appeals: Logos, ethos, pathos

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Claims, supports, and warrants

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