40 Unique Rhetorical Analysis Essay Topics

By
, Staff Writer
Updated May 1, 2020
words have power
  • DESCRIPTION
    words have power
  • SOURCE
    ogichobanov / iStock / Getty Images Plus

When it comes to rhetorical analysis essays, you might be wondering where to begin. Choosing your rhetorical analysis essay topic is a great starting point. To help you choose the best topic, explore these 40 unique rhetorical analysis essay topics covering media, movies, speeches, and literature.

What Is a Rhetorical Analysis Essay?

When it comes to rhetorical analysis, you are looking at something and analyzing its effect on you and its audience. While many times a rhetorical analysis essay is about a piece of literature or a speech, it can be about a piece of art or a movie. You might even do a rhetorical analysis of a commercial or billboard. However, to create an effective rhetorical analysis essay, you need to make sure that you have enough information available to analyze it.

Best Topics for Writing Rhetorical Essay

When choosing a topic for a rhetorical essay, choose a topic you are interested in. It should also have enough information for you to use in the essay. Popular topics to choose are famous poems, speeches, movies, art, literature, etc.

Relevant Rhetorical Analysis Essay Topics

Rhetorical analysis topics can go beyond just famous presidents and Mel Gibson in Braveheart. Explore these unique rhetorical analysis topics that cover current events, art, and movies.

  1. Do Schools Kill Creativity?” from Ted Talk or another interesting TedTalk topic
  2. “A Starry Night” by Van Gogh
  3. The Dove Real Beauty campaign
  4. Speech from President Trump
  5. The movie The Blind Side
  6. The meaning behind Mona Lisa’s smile
  7. A blog that you are passionate about
  8. A billboard that made you think
  9. A popular song
  10. Rachel Platten’s Fight Song
  11. BBC World “See Both Sides of the Story” Billboard
  12. Controversial Les Demoiselles d’Avignon by Pablo Picasso
  13. The rhetoric used by your favorite product’s campaign
Advertisement

Unique Literature Rhetorical Analysis Essay Topics

Topics lists are full of rhetorical analysis topics covering Shakespeare’s Hamlet and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. However, to make your essay truly memorable, you might want to give these literary topics a try.

  1. An impactful new writer
  2. The Hunger Games vs The Lottery
  3. How different writers define heroism
  4. Use of symbolism Harry Potter series
  5. Animal Farm
  6. Meaning in the book I am the Cheese
  7. Importance of theme of hope in literature
  8. Issues of race and prejudice as the theme in a current novel
  9. The importance symbolism plays in novels
  10. Rhetorical strategies used in your favorite novel
  11. Feminism and Louisa May Alcott
  12. Literary devices used by Jane Austen
  13. Symbolism in The Things They Carried
Advertisement

Unique Speech Ideas for Rhetorical Analysis Essay Topics

When it comes to rhetorical analysis essays, it’s easy to jump on the bandwagon of Martin Luther King Jr. However, if you want a truly unique rhetorical analysis essay, look beyond the obvious to these unique and current speech topics.

  1. Bob Dylan’s “Banquet Speech” for Nobel Banquet
  2. Malala Yousafzai’s speech at the Youth Takeover of the United Nations
  3. “Soul of a Man” speech in Remember the Titans
  4. Pink's 2017 VMA acceptance speech
  5. Saving Private RyanThe Farther From Home I Feel
  6. Ashton Kutcher Teen Choice Awards
  7. Winston Churchill “We Shall Fight on the Beaches
  8. Seize the Day” from Dead Poets Society
  9. Chief Joseph “Surrender Speech
  10. Alexander the Great Speech
  11. Charlie Chaplin The Great Dictator
  12. Any Given Sunday speech
  13. MLK’s “The Other America” speech
  14. Virginia Woolf’s “A Room of One’s Own
Advertisement

Rhetorical Analysis Essays Topics

When it comes to rhetorical analysis topics, you are only limited by your imagination. For more information on rhetoric, you might want to look at examples of rhetoric. You can also explore pathos, logos and ethos along with rhetorical question examples.