ABSTRACT
Careful, systematic description is especially important in rhetorical criticism since rhetoric is such an emotional thing to study: If the rhetoric being examined is powerful, the tendency to applaud or condemn it. All rhetorical criticism, in a way, is the study of ideas. Because of the complexity of rhetoric, it makes sense to initially isolate, and list a message's main ideas. The chapter presents techniques for doing so, which offer these benefits: Analyzing ideas tells what is present and what is not, Analyzing ideas alerts us to rhetorical patterns and Analyzing ideas helps explain rhetorical "tone." Nobody knows precisely where ideas come from or why some are more common in public discussion than others. Analyzing ideas allows critics to start their criticism where persuaders start their persuasion. The system urges the critic to set aside the original form of a message by reducing it to its most basic ideational units. This runs the risk of distorting the audience's original experience.
